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Honor Killing: How The Infamous "Massie Affair" Transformed Hawaii
STANNARD, David E., Honor Killing: How the Infamous Massie Affair Transformed Hawaii. New York, New York: Penguin Group, 2005. ix, 466 p, ISBN 0-670-03399-5 (hc). $25.95. Index, Bib, Illus. Acid-Free
Honor Killing looks at the events leading up to, and the aftermath following, the Massie trial. Thalia Massie was a young lady born into wealth and prestige. She was married to Navy officer Thomas Massie, and belonged to the political elite that occupied Hawaii in the early 1900s. One night she was found stumbling and disheveled after leaving a party and claimed to have been attacked by a group of local hoodlums. This event built upon the already unstable racial tension existing in the islands and led to a manhunt and death of a Joe Kahahawai.
According to the book jacket, the author, David Stannard, is an American Studies professor at the University of Hawaii who has received numerous awards including the Guggenheim, Rockefeller, and American Council of Learned Societies fellowships. The story of the Massie case is known widely here in the islands, though a thorough history of events is not. It is here where the author lends his expertise as a narrator to history. The details that the author puts into the story allow it to unfold like a mystery novel. The clues are revealed to the reader at the same pace as the police allowing them to follow along the trail of the suspect. Details such as family history and home life of the Massies’ helps to create a clearer image of the kind of people that were involved. The author examines the case chronologically and with a universal perspective, as opposed to taking any one viewpoint, to create a clear image of the value system that existed at the time. To properly judge the injustices that occurred, all sides of the case needed to be addressed. Stannard’s research includes various accounts from people involved such as the examining doctors, the police, and circumstantial witnesses.
Stannard makes it very clear that everyone was not treated equally under the eyes of the law. Following the acquittal of the local defendants for the rape of Thalia Massie, her husband, mother, and a few sailors hunted down one of the defendants, Joe Kahahawai, and murdered him. The trial for the murder of Joe Kahahawai represented one of the biggest failures of law; the defendants were caught trying to dispose of a body and then literally got away with murder. The research Stannard gathered on police pretrial method works to give the reader an ominous foreshadowing of what is to come. Police involvement with evidence planting and leaking information to Thalia on who the “guilty” party was in the line ups, led to a disconnect between the law and its chief enforcers. Stannard’s interest in revealing the misdeeds that occurred make this an important work in Hawaiian history.
The hardcover copy of Honor Killing has a jacket depicting a sunset scene of Hawaii, something that is probably meant to draw on the irony of the Hawaiian image of paradise and the terrible injustice contained within the text. The hardcover edition of the book is durable and will be able to last longer than a paperback in a library without needing repair. For a book of this length, a paperback would probably have a damaged spine after a few readings. The illustrations in the book are comprised of black and white photographs from newspapers and family albums. The pictures lend credibility to a story that seems too fantastic, and reminds the reader that the events in the book really happened. This book belongs to any collection that specializes in Hawaii or the Pacific, but should also be in collections that have a comprehensive focus in American or Pacific history. The Massie trial was an expansion of sentiment that was held throughout a larger area than just Hawaii. While this book presents a glimpse into one of the worst cases of government sanctioned discrimination, it does present a benchmark that we can measure our progress against.
Honor Killing looks at the events leading up to, and the aftermath following, the Massie trial. Thalia Massie was a young lady born into wealth and prestige. She was married to Navy officer Thomas Massie, and belonged to the political elite that occupied Hawaii in the early 1900s. One night she was found stumbling and disheveled after leaving a party and claimed to have been attacked by a group of local hoodlums. This event built upon the already unstable racial tension existing in the islands and led to a manhunt and death of a Joe Kahahawai.
According to the book jacket, the author, David Stannard, is an American Studies professor at the University of Hawaii who has received numerous awards including the Guggenheim, Rockefeller, and American Council of Learned Societies fellowships. The story of the Massie case is known widely here in the islands, though a thorough history of events is not. It is here where the author lends his expertise as a narrator to history. The details that the author puts into the story allow it to unfold like a mystery novel. The clues are revealed to the reader at the same pace as the police allowing them to follow along the trail of the suspect. Details such as family history and home life of the Massies’ helps to create a clearer image of the kind of people that were involved. The author examines the case chronologically and with a universal perspective, as opposed to taking any one viewpoint, to create a clear image of the value system that existed at the time. To properly judge the injustices that occurred, all sides of the case needed to be addressed. Stannard’s research includes various accounts from people involved such as the examining doctors, the police, and circumstantial witnesses.
Stannard makes it very clear that everyone was not treated equally under the eyes of the law. Following the acquittal of the local defendants for the rape of Thalia Massie, her husband, mother, and a few sailors hunted down one of the defendants, Joe Kahahawai, and murdered him. The trial for the murder of Joe Kahahawai represented one of the biggest failures of law; the defendants were caught trying to dispose of a body and then literally got away with murder. The research Stannard gathered on police pretrial method works to give the reader an ominous foreshadowing of what is to come. Police involvement with evidence planting and leaking information to Thalia on who the “guilty” party was in the line ups, led to a disconnect between the law and its chief enforcers. Stannard’s interest in revealing the misdeeds that occurred make this an important work in Hawaiian history.
The hardcover copy of Honor Killing has a jacket depicting a sunset scene of Hawaii, something that is probably meant to draw on the irony of the Hawaiian image of paradise and the terrible injustice contained within the text. The hardcover edition of the book is durable and will be able to last longer than a paperback in a library without needing repair. For a book of this length, a paperback would probably have a damaged spine after a few readings. The illustrations in the book are comprised of black and white photographs from newspapers and family albums. The pictures lend credibility to a story that seems too fantastic, and reminds the reader that the events in the book really happened. This book belongs to any collection that specializes in Hawaii or the Pacific, but should also be in collections that have a comprehensive focus in American or Pacific history. The Massie trial was an expansion of sentiment that was held throughout a larger area than just Hawaii. While this book presents a glimpse into one of the worst cases of government sanctioned discrimination, it does present a benchmark that we can measure our progress against.
Submitted in October 2009 by Michael Ching, LIS Student, University of Hawaii at Manoa
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