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44 pages 1 hour read

Gordon Korman

Shipwreck

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2001

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Chapters 10-12Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 10 Summary: “Saturday, July 15, 2015 Hours”

Underwater, Luke calmly thinks that he is about to die when the rebounding gunwale flips him out of the ocean and back onto the broken deck, where J.J. is clinging to the wheel, terrified and sobbing. Radford is frantically throwing life jackets into the ocean, calling for “Skipper.” Radford shoves J.J. hard out of the way and tries to circle The Phoenix back to where the captain fell, but the schooner’s engine dies. He shouts to Luke to check the engine room. It is flooded, but fear freezes Luke’s ability to speak. J.J.—seeing Luke’s face—relays the message. Charla shouts that the main cabin is flooded. J.J. screams, “Captain! Captain!” (62) over and over.

Pumping water out of the engine room becomes a priority for the entire crew. After hours of pumping, no one asks about the captain.

Chapter 11 Summary: “Sunday, July 16, 0825 Hours”

The crew members share the upper bunks. J.J. wakes Luke to tell him about a nightmare. Luke reminds him that it was real. On the companionway, they see tangled rope and rigging, smashed equipment, and splintered masts. Radford angrily accuses Luke and J.J. of playing “WWF in a full gale” (65) that got the captain killed. Lyssa calms everyone down, and Radford explains the dire situation that they are in: They are 480 miles east-northeast of Guam, which is their nearest landfall; no SOS had been sent, and their radio is out; their Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) will only reach passing aircrafts, but they are not under any flightpaths; food is low; the engine is dead, and the sails are damaged. Radford tells the crew that they must do three things: pump, clear the foresail (the only remaining sail), and lighten the ship.

They throw any perishable food overboard, along with the chopped-up masts, shredded canvas, ropes, and even the anchors. J.J. appears from the cargo hatch with a big yellow suitcase, opening it as Radford screams, “No!” An eight-foot rubber life raft explodes from the case, knocking J.J. back. Radford is furious, and J.J. stokes Radford’s anger when he sulkily says they could just fold it back up rather than apologize. Radford snaps at everyone, including Lyssa, but when they discover that the lifeboat has a beacon, Radford becomes unnervingly quiet and sullen. It takes the crew all day to fix the foresail. Luke finds Radford lying on top of the main cabin and tells him they are ready to raise the foresail, but Radford ignores him. Radford later tells them to get some sleep and that he is proud of them.

Chapter 12 Summary: “Monday, July 17, 0645 Hours”

Lyssa wakes up Will, Ian, and J.J. and tells them that Radford has gone. Up on deck, Charla points out that The Phoenix’s wooden dinghy, the GPS, and most of their food is also gone. Slowly, it dawns on the kids that Radford has abandoned them on a sinking ship. Luke cannot believe that he might die simply because he had “trusted a false friend with his locker combination” (77).

Ian cries, blaming himself for accidentally calling Radford “Rat-face.” Luke takes control of the situation, coming up with a plan to buy time. Ian remembers the repaired foresail, and Lyssa suggests taking the motor apart and drying it out. J.J. comes up with the theory that this is all a big show with special effects put on by CNC and his father to see how they will react under pressure. Luke loses his temper and tells J.J. that the situation is very real. J.J. ignores this and lies on a towel to sunbathe.

Chapters 10-12 Analysis

In this section, J.J. seems to embody Regret and Facing Consequences for the tragedy when Luke finds him clinging to the wheel, sobbing and apologizing. It appears that J.J. finally understands the horror of his actions when Luke recalls Rapaport’s parting words: “You’re going to kill somebody one of these days’” (65). However, any self-reflection or ownership of the situation by J.J. is short-lived, and within hours, he is complaining about the unfairness of having to leave his suitcases while ignoring Radford’s shouts not to open the case with the lifeboat in it. Again, when faced with indisputable evidence that he messed up, J.J. is unable to take responsibility for his actions or their true consequences. Ian’s character has the opposite problem, always assuming he has done something wrong: When Radford abandons them, Ian believes it is because he accidentally called Radford “Rat-face.” J.J.’s way of dealing with the situation when overwhelming evidence points to the fact that he caused the captain’s death is to go into denial. J.J.’s sudden belief that this situation is an elaborate performance put on by CNC to test them is both impressive and desperately sad. Even in a life-and-death situation, J.J. is seemingly unable to take advice or work as a team, embodying the reverse of The Power of Teamwork and Friendship.

Radford’s change in nature signals his survival decision to leave the crew to drown and reaffirms his evil character and furthers the idea that not all adults are trustworthy. Ian immediately blames himself, saying, “I messed up his name. I got him mad at us!” (77). Luke’s role as the emerging leader is shown by his response; he comforts Ian and focuses on a plan to buy time, and they work together. Ian recalls the repaired foresail, and Lyssa thinks to dry out the motor. Together, they begin to harness The Power of Inner Strength and the power of teamwork and friendship.

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