User:Strozeskit1/sandbox

Plot
Phillip is an 11-year-old American boy living in Curaçao in 1942 who finds WWII particularly fascinating. He lives with his parents who relocated from Virginia when he was seven; his mother dislikes Curaçao and longs to go home, and his father is made worried by the recent German invasions. He belives the family should stay together but Phillip's mother insists on bringing him home to America. They seek passage on the S.S. Hato, which is torpedoed in the midst of their journey. Phillip awakes to find himself without his mother and stranded at sea with an old West Indian man and a cat. He has received a head injury in the sinking and eventually begins to go blind.

Initially, Phillip is skeptical of the man, Timothy, who speaks Calypso and has unusual ways. He reacts angrily when Timothy conserves their limited supplies, which includes water; Phillip insists that his father will send search parties to find him, though Timothy reminds him that the Caribbean is enormous and being found could take a very long time. Phillip finds himself frequently angry with Timothy and his unusual ways. He notes that his mother told him West Indians and others of African descent were different from Phillip and should be dealt with cautiously, which Phillip initially emulates. Eventually, the pair arrive at a small cay, which Timothy believes is located in a group of tiny, treacherous islands and shoals called "The Devil's Mouth".

Phillip's blindness means he relies entirely on Timothy for food, shelter, and provisions. This is distressing for Phillip as he doesn't trust the West Indian man for racial reasons, and must overcome these if he means to survive. Timothy doesn't allow Phillip to live as an invalid. He teaches him to fish and gather food, identify plants, and even climb tall palm trees to gather coconuts. A mutual trust develops; Phillip sees Timothy less and less cautiously and more curiously. He learns that Timothy is an orphan, and has traveled all over the Caribbean, having interesting stories and skills. Even though Phillip finds some of Timothy's ways unorthodox, such as when he believes that Stew Cat is a jumbi: an evil spirit that produces bad luck, he finds that his caution of Timothy fades away and sees the humanity in him.

The two endure fevers and droughts that test their physical limits. Eventually, a hurricane rolls in and devastates the island: Phillip survives water-logged and tired, but finds that Timothy has died in the tempest. Phillip is devastated at the loss. He digs a grave for Timothy and falls into a miserable depression, stranded alone on a cay with little companionship aside from Stew Cat. Even more trying are the physical tests that his blindness puts him through. Although Timothy taught him well to survive on his own, Phillip was always reassured that he'd have Timothy's presence. Now he's put to the test. He fishes and provides for himself, is injured bruised and battered before eventually mastering survival.

Eventually, he begins to hear plane engines and constructs smoke signals to announce his location. He is finally found by a pilot who jokingly observes that he is naked as a result of the hurricane. Reunited with his family, Phillip is grateful and

Characters
Phillip: 11-year-old protagonist and narrator, is marooned on a cay in "The Devil's Mouth" with Timothy. Skeptical of Timothy at first, he relies on him when he is blinded and comes to appreciate him.

Timothy: West-Indian native of Charlotte Amelie in Saint Thomas, is marooned with Phillip. He cares for Phillip and understands many survival tactics including fishing and shelter-building. Although at times superstitious, he is old and wise and patient, and helps Phillip overcome his racial prejudices.

Phillip's Mother: accompanies Phillip on the S.S. Hato headed for Virginia, is separated from him when it sinks. Notably racist against the black inhabitants of Curaçao

Phillip's Father: relocates the family to the Dutch West Indies.

Henrik van Boven: Phillip's Dutch-national friend in Curaçao, doesn't understand Phillip's mother's disdain for blacks.

Themes
Race Issues

The novel is dedicated to Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream, which Taylor claims can only come true if the very young know and understand.

Phillip is in the beginning and throughout the novel is rather skeptical of African-Caribbeans and Americans. This seems often to be provoked by his mother, who is described as homesick for Virginia where there weren't as many black people around [17]. Furthermore, Phillip mentions that his mother did not like the blacks in Curaçao, asking him and his friend Henrik not to go down to the bay where they worked and mentioning that they live differently than Phillip [36]. Phillip doesn't understand why she feels this way, especially since Henrik finds it unusual, but nevertheless he seems to have the same sentiments when dealing with Timothy.

Although by chapter four Phillip remains skeptical of Timothy because of his race, he looks for similarities. On page 40, Timothy reveals he's from Charlotte Amalie on St. Thomas. Phillip responds that this means he's American, citing the American purchase of the Virgin Islands from Denmark as a result of the Treaty of the Danish West Indies. Timothy only laughs and mentions that he "never gave it much thought that [he] was American".

Phillip then asks if Timothy's parents were African; he notices that Timothy looked "pure African" and says he looked very much like men he'd seen in "jungle pictures", but Timothy says he has only ever known the Caribbean islands.