Hilo, HI

The community of Hilo is the primary setting for the novel, and it plays a prominent role in shaping the plot. The simmering political situation in Hawai`i is particularly felt in Hilo, one of the few areas of land that has been grudgingly placed in the control of the Hawaiian people by the American government following their colonial takeover in Hawai`i. As such, community values and traditions are gripped with particular ferocity in Hilo, and the residents are even more wary of outsiders than their fellow Hawaiians elsewhere in the nation. The community is also ruled by a double-edged xenophobia that functions as both a powerful barrier against colonial exploitation and a significant obstacle to those residents of the community, such as Hi`i, that do not possess enough Hawaiian blood to be considered Hawaiian by the American government. This set of values poses problems...