Thursday 7 June 2012


Quotations
... I should have buried my master, and then lain down on his grave to die!
This quotation is said by Neb, right after the others find him kneeling next to Captain Harding, believing him to be dead. Gideon Spilett finds that he is still alive, rejuvenating Neb. Neb says this quote right after Captain Harding groans and moves his arms for the first time since the Neb found him lying on the beach. This quote shows how much Neb cares for his master, Captain Harding. Just before this, he looked for him all day and night and cried when he could not find him. He gave up of looking for his master living, so he continued to look for his body. When he did find Captain Harding and Top, he sent Top to find the others and kneeled before his body, so overcome by grief of the thought of him dead that he could not check for life. When the others found him, he was ready to bury Captain Harding and die over his body because he could stand the thought of living without his master. This shows that Neb loves his master so much that he would die for him.
This quotation helps represent this section because it shows the main point of the beginning of the novel, finding Captain Harding after he fell out of the balloon with Top. The quote gives you enough information so you know that Neb had spent a long time looking for the Captain, and that you know that Neb serves him in life or death. This reminds me of a time where I was lost in a grocery store ad I spent a long time looking for my dad, whom I found not lying on the ground dead, but pushing a shopping cart. This is similar to the text because Neb spent a long time looking for his master a did find him. This also reminds me of a battle in World War 1 during the Somme where a unit was supposed to attack a German stronghold. Most of the 2000 men were killed or wounded in a hopeless attack. The captain walked among the bodies of the dead and wounded after the battle, comforting the injured, and was so upset at this slaughter that he killed himself later. This is similar to the text because Neb did walk to Captain Harding's body and talked to, trying to see if he was alive, and afterward wanted to kill himself, the captain of the battle. This also reminds me of The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien. During the council to determine Frodo's companions on his perilous journey, a man named Aragorn volunteers and says, "In life or death, you have my blade, and I will protect you." This is similar to the novel because Neb probably made a similar oath to Captain Harding, as he was willing to find the Captain' s body at all cost or die trying.

But Captain, just think! Perhaps there is everything we want in there!
This quotation is said by Pencroft, when he is about to smash open the chest with a stone, and is stopped by Captain Harding, who tells him to wait. The group had just found the chest stuck in the sand, while floating along the river in their boat. They were shocked to find it and had no idea that it was there or that anything would be there. This shows that the men were very tempted to open as they stood away from home. It would be impossible for the men to get the chest open on the beach and bring it back home unless they carried it or made several trips because it would not fit in the boat and it would leak if they floated it back. Considering they were surviving from nothing on a desert island, I understand why Pencroft was so eager to open, the temptation was giant, big enough to make Pencroft forget the logic of getting it back to the granite house.
This quotation represents this section because it shows the turning point in the novel, the discovery of the chest. The colonists use almost everything in the chest and would have had a lot harder time surviving on the island. (An example is how without a gun or dagger how would the group defeat the pirates?). When Pencroft says this comment, it is confirmed that the castaways are suffering from lack of civilization. The group has not had modern inventions since they left the mainland and are desperate for some again, Pencroft is very desperate when he says this comment. This reminds me of when I found my birthday presents and I wanted to open them but my brothers made me wait. I was so tempted that I forgot manners to wait for my parents. This is similar to the text because Pencroft was very tempted to open the chest. It also reminds me of a true story where a man built a car in his basement but didn't  think about getting it on to the road until after he was finished. He had to dig through his wall to get it out. This is similar to when Pencroft wanted to smash the chest open, he did not think logically but unlike Pencroft, he was not stopped before he made a mistake. Also, I read a book called Sunwing by Kenneth Oppel where a bat named Shade is looking for his father. He thinks he has found the human building he was last seen but it turns out to be a trap and is trapped and nearly killed after being dropped with bombs as a homing bomb. It is similar to the text because he was drawn to the building like Pencroft to the chest and wasn't thinking as he flew in and was trapped. Pencroft was not thinking about bringing the chest back to the house as he tried to smash the chest.

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