The Cay Chapter 3~4Throughout chapters 3 and 4 on page 30 a 11 year old boy, Phillip, his mother, and the others that wanted to get out of Willemstad were on deck until they had to abandon ship. When the bow tilted downward everyone on the Hato was in the water and Phillip can hear his mom calling for him but something hit Phillips head. When Phillip woke up he had a severe pain in his head found himself on a raft with a tall, broad negro. He looked for his mother but she was nowhere to be seen. On page 31 the negro said that Phillip had a terrible crack on his head. Phillip wasn’t glad to hear that or to be with a negro alone. On page 34 they introduced each other. The tall negro man’s name was “Timothy” no last or middle name. On page 38 Phillip was furious with the lack of food and water he was getting and started to blame his mother for bringing him to the Hato just because she want to go back to America. On page 40 Timothy and Phillip bond talking about their life, for example how Timothy sailed across numerous lands and how Phillip and his best friend Henrik always were there for each other. On page 42 Phillip’s head was acting violently again then the pain became dull in the day. On page 44 Phillip is having trouble with seeing and Timothy said it was because he looked directly at the sun yesterday, so he made Phillip lay down and put a cool cloth on his head. On page 45 Phillip couldn’t see at all. All he saw was something black stopping him from seeing and that is when he realized he was blind. Timothy couldn’t believe and made Phillip looked at the sun, but nothing happened. Phillip couldn’t see and Timothy finally realized too that Phillip was blind.
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The Cay Chapters 7~8Theme
In my opinion, the theme for chapters 7 and 8 is about “trust” because with Phillip being blind, he needs to depend a lot on Timothy. Timothy doesn’t tell Phillip the whole truth, so Timothy must learn to trust Phillip with information he may not like. Setting The setting for chapters 7 and 8 is an “island” known as “The Cay.” It is in the middle of the ocean and Timothy doesn’t recognize it. Internal Conflict “Timothy” is struggling between telling Phillip the truth, even though it may not be good, and pretending everything is alright, even though it isn’t. Timothy doesn’t want to overwhelm or make Phillip anxious with bad news, but he doesn't want to keep him in the dark about serious and important problems. External Conflict “Phillip being blind” is a huge problem, not only for himself, but also for Timothy too. Now, Timothy doesn’t have an extra person to help him build a shelter, scout for land, or build a fire. Also, Phillip sometimes gets mad because of him being blind, which can cause him to be even more angry at Timothy and can cause him to hit him. |
The Cay 9~10In the beginning of the story Phillip was a stubborn, 11 year old boy in Willemstad, who always relied on his parents or his best friend Henrik. His mother wasn’t a fan of black people so she wanted to go back to Norfolk, Virginia with Phillip. They boarded the S.S Hato, but they were torpedoed and everyone died or was badly hurt. When Phillip woke up he found himself on a raft with a tall black man, a stew cat, and a badly cut in his head. Phillip was told that black people are different than white people so Phillip acted very rude and greedy on his journey with “the black man.” Phillip always was blinded by his emotions from his actions and always wanted to eat all the water or food when they need it for the journey ahead. Phillip wasn’t even close to opening his heart to “the black man.”
Throughout the chapters 9 and 10 you can see that Phillip has changed in some ways or has made an effort to change. On page 70 and 71, Phillip was told by Timothy to make sleeping mats, but Phillip didn’t want to do it so he used the excuse of being blind to not make sleeping mats, but that didn’t stop Timothy from making sleeping mats. He said the best matmaker is totally blind, so Timothy showed Phillip how to do it. “Ovah an’ under. (Over and under)” Then on page 71 Phillip made a huge mistake. He yelled, “ You ugly black men! I won’t do it! You’re stupid, you can’t even spell!” Timothy slapped Phillip’s cheek and they both turned away with a tears in Phillip’s eyes. Phillip figured out that that the sleeping mat was for him and that he made a humongous mistake. He uses his courage to tell Timothy “ I want to be your friend.” Then Timothy replied softly, “Young bahss, you’ave always been my friend.” Phillip wanted to make Timothy call him Phillip instead of “young bahss” because they are now friends or maybe a little more. Once again Timothy replied tenderly, “Phill-eep.” The Cay Chapters 13~16Through chapters 13, 14, 15, 16, Phillip has grown up and matured thanks to Timothy’s help. Phillip is more independent than ever and Timothy is showing him the last tips on how to survive, so when he dies (which is very soon), Phillip will be able to live on his own and get help. The last thing Timothy teaches Phillip is how to catch his own food like fish. This is very important because fish is the only edible food Phillip can get from the island. Later on a rare July hurricane strikes the Cay and it is a very big loss for Phillip because mostly everything he and Timothy worked for was gone. Timothy risks his life for Phillip by shielding/protecting Phillip from the wrath of the storm. This is evidence that Timothy cares a lot about Phillip and is willing to die as long as Phillip survives and is safe. After the dreadful storm passes, Phillip notices that Timothy is dead. Now, Phillip must survive on the island by himself.
The Cay Chapters 13~19Through chapters 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 Phillip has grown up and matured thanks to Timothy’s help. Phillip has become independent. Timothy teaches Phillip is how to catch his own food like fish because when he dies Phillip will need to catch his own food. Phillip catching his own food is important because once they are out of biscuits Phillip will need to catch fish. Later on a rare July hurricane strikes the Cay and it is a very big loss for Phillip because mostly everything he and Timothy worked for was gone. Timothy risks his life for Phillip by shielding/protecting Phillip from the wrath of the storm. This is evidence that Timothy cares a lot about Phillip and is willing to die as long as Phillip survives and is safe. After the dreadful storm passes, Phillip notices that Timothy is dead. Now, Phillip must survive on the island by himself. After Phillip was rescued and went through surgery 3 times he studied a lot about islands for example the “Devil's Mouth.” He says that when he is old enough and knows more about these islands he will have an journey throughout the islands and try to find where he and Timothy were stranded and that he would stand where he buried old Timothy.
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The Cay 11~12Rising Action
Phillip becomes blind and no one comes to recuses them. On page 45 it states, “I screamed to Timothy, “I’m blind, I’m blind.” “What?” His voice was a frightened roar. Theme I think the theme is about independence, because Phillip must learn to be dependant on his eyes or Timothy, if he ends up dying. Internal Conflict In chapter 11, Phillip is struggling between running away or staying with Timothy, because Timothy is talking about evil spirits and other dark stuff, so Phillip thinks he might have gone mad and so he is scared. External Conflict When Timothy becomes sick, it is a problem for Philip, because he really depends on Timothy and cares about him. Exposition When Phillip and Timothy become stranded alone on the raft at sea. On page 30~31 it says, “I looked around for my mother, but there was no one else on the raft. Just this huge Negro, myself, and a big black and gray cat that was licking his haunches.” Characters Motives When Phillip finds out that Timothy cuts the raft loose, he panics and goes out into the water trying to find it. Sometimes, when people get panicked, they do not think about what they are doing, Phillip could’ve ran into a shrack or other predator. Plot Phillip and Timothy being stranded on “The Cay” and needing to be found desperately. Indirect Characterization On page 91 it states, “I brought water down from the hut, raised his head ordered him to drink it. I found his lips and then guided the cup down to his chin.” This shows that Phillip is becoming able to take care of himself and Timothy and becoming more independent. Direct Characterization On page 81 it says, “The evil spirit harass and meliss us,” he said darkly. “And he do not have a chicken or grains of corn to chase him.” I said, “Timothy, you can't really believe in that.” This shows that Timothy is superstitious and a little shifty. Phillip doesn’t think the old Timothy was like this. Setting The setting for chapter 11~12 is “The Cay”, a small island in the middle of the Caribbean Sea. Connecting Literary Elements In chapters 11~12 Phillip is becoming more independant and learning how to survive and take care of himself. Meanwhile, Timothy is growing older, and superstitions can cause him to make unwise decisions. Being stranded on an island can have very different effects on different people. Conclusion SummaryIn the end of the book Phillip regains his eyesight and sets his sights to find the cay where he and Timothy shared pain and happiness together. The end of the book, helped me understand feel the emptiness and loneliness Phillip had when Timothy was no longer in his world and that who ever he tells they wouldn’t understand because they never experienced it. In my opinion, I would want to keep the ending just the way it is because I think it is precisely the best detailed ending there can be in the cay. I would like to keep this ending because the author wanted us to feel Phillip and Timothy’s hardships and that their friendship would never die even if Timothy is not in his life. That is what a perfect ending and book is. Too make us feel what the main character feels and the pain or sorrow he feels. Also, in the end Phillip doesn’t forget his past with Timothy and he tries to find Timothy and discover new things on his way. Although it is an obvious ending that any author would do Mr. Theodore Taylor made it seem somewhat extravagant. In conclusion, I think that there should be no alternative ending, and that we should just keep the ending just the way it is.
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