Hawaii: Truth Stranger Than Fiction, True Tales of Missionary Troubles and Triumphs Fictionized by Michener, by LaRue W. Piercy (TPB, 1985, autographed, $4, which is 1/3 the internet price.)
In his novel Hawaii James Michener's missionary character has many faults. Piercy became interested in finding out just how historically accurate Michener had been. He compared stories of real missionaries to Michener's. Piercy divided Michener's missionary's life into minute pieces, each followed by a comparison. After awhile, I found myself wishing he had combined a whole lot of those pieces.
Still he included some amazingly true stories, including those of Rev.s Dwight and Coan. Samual Dwight somehow managed to arrive in Hawaii without a wife. He would marry a native woman and be expelled from his church, but would remain Christian, and have a long happy marriage. Titus Coan repeatedly climbed to the rim of the world's largest active volcano, but still managed to die an old man.
Hawaiian missionaries were both courageous and inflexible. Most came from rural New England, and held conservative Puritan beliefs. They insisted on wearing clothes made out of cotton, which had to be imported from the states, so there was never enough to go around. They wore the same heavy clothes as they had in New England, and covered every bit of skin except for their hands and faces. They always wore hats. They also insisted on eating food sent from the states. They ate large, frequent meals, and they insisted on working long days in the heat. Needless to say, these people often were ill.
Missionaries waged wars again tobacco (natives would smoke until intoxicated), alcohol, infanticide, tribal wars, and that noisy, indecent dance, the hula. They would also battle with Catholic priests, and to keep their children from marrying native Hawaiians. (Those last two battles they would lose.)
Piercy concluded that the arrival of missionaries did have some negative consequences for the natives, but mostly he saw the missionaries in a positive light. They did, after all, bring medicine and education, and the decreased population due to diseases wasn't their fault. What do you think?
Look for this book on the new non-fiction table. (L-AH)
