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James Michener’s austere Abner Hale, a missionary in the novel (and movie) Hawaii, has become the archetype of an odious bigot. In the book, Hale shouts hellfire sermons against the “vile abominations” of the pagan Hawaiians. He even forbids Hawaiian midwives to help a missionary mother at the birth of “a Christian baby.” As a result, the mother dies. Hale forbids Hawaiians to help his wife with housework lest his children learn the “heathen Hawaiian language”; his wife works herself into an early grave. And when Buddhist Chinese settle in the islands, Michener has Hale barging into their temples to smash their idols.