Character Analysis: The Cay

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The Cay: Essay By: Alexxis Helton In “The Cay”, Phillip’s character reveals that through many different conflicts, he developed being frightened, overwhelmed, and in the end Phillip develops independence in the end. Phillip demonstrated being frightened after experiencing his ship blowing up and ending up being alone as evidence in the novel when he woke up after getting hit in the head to a random black man in the raft the him all by himself in the middle of the ocean.Phillip responded by being frightened because he just got lost from his parents in a boat explosion and is now with a stranger.”I closed my eyes again, maybe I was dreaming.”(Taylor 30) Phillip was now waking up from getting hit in the head 4 hours later and wakes up to some …show more content…

Phillip demonstrated being overwhelmed toward the end of the book after experiencing a huge hurricane and losing Timothy because he was protecting Phillip as evidenced in the novel when he got tied up to a tree with Timothy on the side the waves were crashing to protect Phillip and after the blackout Phillip had during the hurricane, he woke up one time but Timothy was still alive so Phillip went to sleep with him and woke up the second time to find Timothy who is now Non Living anymore. Phillip responded to being overwhelmed when the storm first happened and him getting tied to the tree while being blind also because his only friend died right next to him.” standing with his back to the storm,Timothy put my arms through the loops of rope, and then roped himself, behind me, to the tree.”(Taylor 108) Now here is when the storm had already begun and it had been just rain and then it got worse, so Timothy made Phillip go to a palm tree and then he tied their arms around the tree but Timothy stood in front of Phillip to protect him from and debris or hard waves crashing.”He was sagging, his head down on my shoulder.Timothy, wake up”, I …show more content…

Phillip responds with being independent when, after Timothy being gone and him being blind, he fixed the whole island by himself, he set up all the signs for the airplanes to see he fixed all the things he truly needed to survive on his own.”There was so much to do that I hardly knew where to start. Get a campfire going, pile new wood for a signal fire, make another rain catchment for the water keg, and weave a mat of palm fibers to sleep on.”(Taylor 116) Phillip is thinking of all the materials he has to fix on the island after that big hurricane. There are so many things to fix, but there is only one person that can do it and he is also blind Phillip is going to have trouble, but he gets through it.”I accomplished a lot in three days, even putting a new edge on Timothy’s knife by honing it on coral.”(Taylor 116-117) Phillip is getting everything he needs to have and at this point he has done a lot for himself. In conclusion Phillip was found a taken back home to his family that still lived in Curacao and his friend Henrik von Boven but only occasionally Phillip said it wasn't the same as when they were

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