Jack Marshall- The Cay

Jack Marshall

                                                                                                                       9/6/15

The Cay by Theodore Taylor is an excellent piece of Literature. It details Philip and Timothy’s struggle to survive on the cay and it demonstrates the unbreakable bond that is created between them. This is just one of the many reasons this book is a must read.

One example of how this is an interesting book is the plot or conflict. Philip lived in Curacao during World War II. The German submarines came so Philip and his Mom thought it would be best to leave for Virginia. Philip and his Mom leave on a ship called the S.S. Hato. The ship gets torpedoed, Phillip gets hit on the head while the ship is being evacuated. When Phillip wakes up he is on a raft with an old man named Timothy. Phillip becomes blind after he got hit in the head. Philip has to fish and survive with Timothy on the cay even with the loss of his vision. Phillip is there for several days before the storm hits. Timothy protects Philip but with his old age the storm took everything out of Timothy. The storm kills Timothy leaving Philip on the island with only a cat named Stew.  His odds of surviving were not in his favor. After catching fish, rebuilding his shelter, and a long fight for survival, a schooner came and reunited him with his family.

Another example why this is a fascinating book is the character development. It is not easy to be stuck on an island with a complete stranger. Phillip had some very strong thoughts about Timothy on their first days on the cay. Phillip calls Timothy an        “ugly black man” that can’t spell. This attitude came from the ideas that his Mom instilled in him about blacks. His mom earlier stated in the story “they are different” referring to the blacks in his village. This comment about blacks could have encouraged Phillip to think the same way. Even with this idea about black people, he develops a lot throughout his time on the cay. After Timothy dies, Phillip says “ Thank you Timothy…… take care of him, God, he was good to me.”  This character development makes for a moving story.

A third and final example of why this is an engaging book is the setting of the book.  The main setting of the story is at the cay, where Philip and Timothy fight to survive during hard times. It was very enjoyable for me to follow Phillip and Timothy’s fight to stay alive. There were problems on the cay, the biggest of which was Philip’s  blindness which made it hard for him to fish and navigate around the cay. It was also hard to build shelter for both Timothy and Philip. These problems in the book made it very suspenseful to see how or if they would survive. This book The Cay was very intriguing. I highly recommend it.

The Cay had very entertaining conflict, character development, and setting. This book shows the battle to stay alive through the toughest of times. This moving book shows the change for the better in many ways.