Character sketch of all characters in we are not afraid to die if we are together
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Answer:
Character Sketches
The narrator
The narrator was a 37-year-old businessman. He proved as a great captain and father during the challenging and trying times after the irreparable damage done to Wavewalker by keeping his composure and wits. It won’t be wrong to say that the all lives on the boat could be saved just because of his seafaring skills.
Mary
Mary was the narrator’s wife. She was a courageous and brave woman. She stood by her husband after the wave badly damaged the boat. She steered the boat according to her husband’s instructions. She gave lots of emotional support to the narrator.
Suzanne
Suzanne was narrator’s seven year old daughter. She was very brave. She was critically injured at the time the huge wave struck the boat. Her eyes were terribly swollen because of the head injury. There was a cut on her arm also; however, she did not cry. She repeatedly told her father she was alright; the truth was she was not. She had to undergo six minor operations to remove the blood clotting from her brain.
Jonathan
Jonathan was Gordon Cook’s 6 year old son who had accompanied him on the round-the-world-journey. After the Wavewalker was terribly broken by the colossal wave, he also behaved very courageously. He gave a new strength to his father when he said he was not afraid to die if he could be together with the family. These words filled the author with new determination and courage. He resolved to fight till the end to save his family from being drowned in the stormy sea.
Larry Vigil and Herb Seigler
Larry Vigil and Herb Seigler were two professional sailors whom the narrator hired at Cape Town to tackle one of the world’s roughest seas, the southern Indian Ocean. They proved to be real saviours when the ship had been flooded with the sea water. They pumped like madmen to keep the water levels reasonably low
The narrator and his wife plan a voyage around the world just like famous Captain James Cook. They have been preparing and perfecting their seafaring skills for the past 16 years. They get a ship which is 23 meters long and weighs 30 tons wooden-hulled, named Wave Walker. They test it in the rough weather for months.
In July 1976, they all start their journey from Plymouth, England. They sail from Africa to Cape Town which was quite a pleasant journey. Before heading East, the narrator hired two crewmen, Larry Vigil, and Herb Seigler, to help them tackle one of the roughest sea – the Southern Indian Ocean.
They encounter strong and alarming waves during the second day. By December 25, they all manage to reach 35,000 kilometers east of Cape Town. The family, somehow, manages to surpass the bad weather and celebrates Christmas together.
The weather changes for the worse and on January 2, the big waves hit them. They try to slow the ship down by dropping storm jib and hit a heavy mooring rope in a loop across a stern but it doesn’t help much. They carry their life-raft drill, attach lifelines, don life jackets and oilskins.
Later, in the evening, a vertical and huge wave strikes the ship and the narrator is thrown off from the ship. He accepts his ‘approaching death’ and starts losing consciousness. When the ship is about to overturn, a huge wave hit again and turns it right back. He suffers injuries in ribs and mouth. He grabs the guard rail and sails into the ship’s main boom.
He instructs his wife Mary to guard the wheel as he realizes that the ship has water in the lower parts. His crewman starts pumping out the water. The narrator goes to his children’s cabin and checks on them. His daughter, Sue, informs him about a bump on her head which he ignores because his major concern is to save the ship.
The narrator does water-proofing on the gaping holes. This makes water to deviate on the right side. The hand pump gets blocked due to debris and electric-pump gets short-circuited. However, he later finds a spare electric pump and connects it to drain the water. They all keep pumping the water all night long. Their Mayday calls are not answered as they are in the remotest corner of the world.
Sue, on the other hand, has now a swollen black eye and a deep cut in her arm. On being asked by her father about her injuries, she tells him she didn’t want him to worry as he was trying to save them. After 15 hours the situation gets under control. The narrator decides to work in rotation and rests. The water levels are controlled but the leaks were still there, below the waterline.
The ship is in bad shape now. It is not in a condition to reach Australia, and so, they decide to reach the nearest island, lle Amsterdam, a French Scientific base. As their supporting engines were also damaged, the chances of the ship to reach the destination are low.
After pumping the water out continuously for 36 hours, they took a sigh of relief. Only a few centimeters of water was left to be pumped out of the boat. They hoisted the storm jib as the main mast was destroyed. They ate their first meal in two days, some corned beef and crackers. The weather soon started changing and again the black clouds took over by the morning of January 5. His son, Jonathan, told him that he didn’t fear death as long as they were all together. This filled him with determination to fight the sea.
The struggle continued and the narrator tried his best to protect the weakened starboard side. The same evening, the narrator and his wife sat together holding hands, thinking that their end was near. His children continuously supported him which gave him moral support to keep going.
The Wavewalker sailed through the storm and made it. The narrator then calculated their exact position by working on the wind speed. While he was brainstorming, Sue, gave him a card that she had made expressing her love and gratitude towards the family.
He instructed Larry to steer the course to 185 degrees. He said that if they were lucky, they could hope to find an island by 5 pm. He dozed off and suddenly got up around 6 pm. He believed that they didn’t make it and was disappointed. His son came and informed him about how they reached the lle Amsterdam Island and he called him ‘best daddy’ and ‘best captain’.
They reached the island with little struggle and with the help of inhabitants. The whole team, the family and two crew members, never stopped trying. Their struggle and hard work finally saved them.