To state my case, I’d like to quickly dissect three of Michener’s key Hawaii characters: Abner Hale, Dr.
People have a right to be angry at the man, but I believre for his godless worldview, not simply for his historical depiction of a single missionary colony in Hawaii. While I can understand many other authors’ angst, I do feel after having read the book for myself that the hatred is at least partially misplaced.
Missions books do abound with railings against James Michener’s Hawaii as some atheist’s attack against the good work of missionaries throughout history. Stated plainly in my own words, that worldview is this: “All cultures are inherently wonderful, so forcing change (even good change) upon any culture is a great way to waste your life and to kill that culture leaching onto the natural ebb and flow of any civilization (even as it dips into godless immorality) is the best way to find purpose, fulfillment, and maybe even wealth, which are all what really matter most.”
Though thoroughly entertained throughout most of Hawaii, I honestly felt a bit disappointed when I finally understood the worldview that this particular installment had been pressing into me from the very beginning. With that out of the way, I come to the third and most important method, the worldview that summarizes the novel-and for this, I need to offer a bit more explanation. Although this method struck me as I was drifting off to sleep one night, I think it offers a unique take (if not any relevance whatsoever): whereas Alaskawould be a deep-navy-blue-black chiseled with white, Centennialwould be a strawberry blonde bordered by deep forest green, and Mexicowould be pure gold lined with the tiniest threads of red, Hawaii would (more naturally) be aqua splashed with bright vegetable green. Second (and a bit more off-the-wall), the colors that summarize the novel. After considering how to summarize such a massive volume as Hawaii in such a short review, I settled on the following three methods.įirst and most simply, the two words that summarize this novel for me: “hope” and “anger.” Hawaii became my book of choice, because it has been discussed (most often negatively) in several of the missions-related books I have been reading. Having already consumed three James Michener novels at some point over the past several years, I realized that it was time to venture into yet another classic epic from this most gifted writer.
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