The Common Book Program

at Windward Community College

2005-2006

Ka'a'awa

Study Questions

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Humanities

The humanities study the nature and the possibilities of human existence. Weaving together a variety of different methods,  interests, and goals, the different fields in the humanities contribute to a broader and deeper understanding of Ka‘a‘awa. This contribution is equally true when the humanities approach a work of  fiction.

English Literature might consider how the events in Ka‘a‘awa are organized, how the characters are developed, how scenes are described, and what the author is trying to say about specific events. How does Eahou’s fate connect to the rest of the novel? How might Bushnell’s depiction of Wyllie suggest the political situation at the time? How do the themes of death and loss and the two-narrator structure (Nihoa and Bristol) advance the plot?

History is also an important discipline for approaching Ka‘a‘awa because the book is historical fiction, weaving together real and fictional characters. Everyone who reads the novel wants to know if the book is historically accurate. What was the battle of Nu‘uanu? What was downtown Honolulu really like in the 1850s? Was Princess Ruth really like that? Who were the filibusters? Are the native Hawaiians described accurately? To answer these questions, there are many history books such as Gavan Daws’ Shoal of Time, which offers a history of Hawaii from Captain Cook until the 1950s, or Samuel Kamakau’s Ruling Chiefs of Hawai‘i, which is an 18th century history of Hawai‘i originally written as articles for Hawaiian-language newspapers.

Performing Arts are also important in Ka‘a‘awa. Hula is everywhere in the novel, and it plays an important role in Hawaiian culture. What are the different examples of hula in the novel, and how do they connect to what the characters are doing at the time? The reader could also wonder how it would be possible to produce a few chapters from the novel on the stage.

Philosophy, on the other hand, would consider other features of the novel. Specifically, a philosophical approach might focus on the logical arguments given in the book. Does Hiram Nihoa give good reasons for criticizing Saul Bristol’s lifestyle? What are his assumptions? A philosophical approach might also consider the ethical aspects of the novel. Is it ever morally permissable to cheat, such as putting Spanish fly in someone’s drink, if cheating leads to desirable results, such as saving someone’s life? Are there examples of people leading good, moral lives? Are the moral values that inform the traditional Hawaiian culture better than those offered by the missionaries or the haole living in Honolulu?

The conflict over different religious beliefs would be an obvious concern for someone studying Religion in Ka‘a‘awa. What are the differences between traditional Hawaiian religious beliefs and the Christian missionary beliefs that were introduced to Hawaii in the early 19th century?  How should we understand Hiram Nihoa’s belief in both Jehovah and Kane. Does he really believe that the gods can help him? And what is he trying to do when he talks about the western god “Makia Weli”?

Art and Art History would also have something to say about the novel. In particular, an art historian might consider the importance of art (carvings, paintings, and so on) for the society, and for the conflicts between native and foreign art. Take a look at Te Rangi Hiroa’s Arts and Crafts of Hawaii, which discusses the production, use and cultural significance of a wide range of different art.

The book is a political narrative that could be interesting to someone studying Political Science. What arguments are given for the legitimacy of different political systems in the novel?What role does Machiavelli play in the novel? Why do you think that Bushnell gave him such a prominent status?

A Botanist might find a plant mentioned in the book and research its uses. How was the plant introduced to the island? Did it have medicinal value? How did it fit into Hawaiian culture?

To someone studying Music, Ka‘a‘awa is full of interesting issues, such as the relationship between western forms of music and Hawaiian forms of music. How, for instance, are mele performed? What is the relationship between music and society? What musical instruments did Hawaiian have before Europeans arrived in the islands, and which instruments were introduced later? How were musical instruments used or thought about? Nihoa’s reaction to the Scottish bagpipes is worth looking at here.

To Linguistics, the key concern is what is happening to the language in terms of structure, sounds, and forms, focusing in particular on human speech. One issue in Ka‘a‘awa would be how Hawaiian and English are influencing each other, or how the structure of the one language is different from the structure of the other. How was the Hawaiian language changing in the 1850s? How is the grammatical structure of Hawaiian different from English? Was the pidgin in the novel accurate for its time? One book that talks about these topics is Albert Schütz’s  The Voices of Eden: A History of Hawaiian Language Studies.