We begin aboard the Dolly, a whaling ship in desperate need of land. After six months of laborious travel, the narrator Tommo describes his attempt to escape his employment. He partners with his buddy, Toby, and they plan to hide in the island wilderness of Nukuheva, surviving on the fruit of local trees until a better boat comes for them to work on. Tommo plans this in spite of their knowledge about the island, which is populated by violent cannibals called the Typees.
They escape. After several nights, they find a verdant valley to live in, but Tommo has injured his leg during their hike, so they consider contacting a tribe they see in the valley. However, they don't know whether it is the Typees, who will certainly kill and eat them, or someone else. They discover that they are probably not Typees, so they contact them. Instantly they are welcomed with happy songs, food, and lodging. Tommo spots a hot gal named Fayaway.
Tommo describes his luxury among the natives. His male servant feeds him by hand, and they are spoiled. Then, at a dinner, the Typees serve roast human baby for dinner, and because neither have been thinking about cannibalism at all, they are instantly horrified. Tommo and Toby are separated when a local ship comes to the island. Toby goes with the natives, and Tommo never hears from him again. Nevertheless, he sinks back into luxurious life, and his leg finally heals. He goes about his entire daily life surrounded by naked virgins, and he has long, sleepy afternoons. He waxes philosophically with the native philosophers and priests, and he thinks about cannibalism. It's not so bad, he decides.
He can't help but be paranoid though. When the Typees ask if they can tattoo ancient symbology onto his body, he wonders if they are planning to eat him. After a battle with a neighboring tribe, Tommo hears them feasting without him. He sees the natives from the dark, and he sees the mangled flesh of a cooked and eaten human being, half devoured. He decides to flee.
Then Karakoee, another native, buys him from the Typees, who were apparently keeping him as a slave for some special day when they were likely planning to eat him. Tommo finds his way to a new whaling ship. He escapes with Karakoee. In an epilogue short, "the story of Toby" we learn Toby was helped to escape by a European living on the island, Jimmy, helps him. Toby didn't know until he read about Typee in the news (Tommo himself published the novel allegedly) that Tommo had survived.
