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Chapter 17: Lunars and Moonlight
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Carry On, Mr. Bowditch, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Hard Work, Perseverance, and Success
Safety and Responsibility
Risk and Reward
The Growth and Development of America
Courage and Grief
Summary
Analysis
Nat boards the Astrea with an extra sea chest full of charts and books—on the voyage he plans to check all the yet-unprinted tables because so many people’s lives and livelihoods depend on them being correct. Mr. Collins and Johnny—promoted from cabin boy to able seaman—meet him. The voyage across the Atlantic passes without event, but the Astrea encounters a British blockade at the mouth of the Mediterranean. Captain Prince and Nat talk to one of the British captains who warns them to look out for French spies in their midst; soon, Nat teaches the crew of the Astrea how to spot a Frenchman by his accent. The new cabin boy, Charlie Waldo, listens intently.
Although Nat moves from one success to another, he doesn’t stop working hard, both because of his innate strength of character and because of the immense sense of responsibility he has toward all his fellow mariners. Safety remains a top concern, especially with increasing political friction between Britain, France, and the United States and Nat’s lessons for his crewmates emphasize the idea that each sailor has a responsibility to look out for his crewmates. But the potential rewards of the voyage still seem to be worth the increasing risks.
Themes
When the Astrea reaches Cadiz, Spanish health officers come aboard. They shock Nat when they throw the Astrea’s logbook overboard to sanitize it in the salty seawater. He begins to compose a letter to Elizabeth about all he sees and experiences in Spain, even though he knows he’ll most likely end up carrying it home and reading it together with her. One evening, he lays his letter aside and goes up on deck to find Charlie Waldo muttering to himself. As he gets closer, he realizes the homesick little boy has been crying. Feeling compassion for him, Nat tells Charlie he’s trying to figure out a navigation problem and wants to know if Charlie will help him with it. The boy catches on quickly, and Nat successfully distracts him from his loneliness and sadness.
Despite all his reading and education, Nat’s encounter with the health officers reminds him that there will always be something else to learn, and it confirms the value of his insatiable curiosity and drive to understand the world around him. His encounter with Charlie offers a pointed reminder that, even though he can become impatient with others sometimes, Nat values every person he meets as an individual. Even though he’s recently been promoted, Nat still treats even the lowliest members of the crew with humanity and respect—especially when they struggle to face the pain and suffering all humans share in life.
Themes
A few days later, Charlie bursts into Captain Prince’s cabin to tell him and Nat that he’s found a French spy. Charlie has correctly identified a Frenchman, but he’s no spy: Count Mallevant fled France during the Revolution. He now lives in Spain, and he’s come to the Astrea to meet Nat, whose reputation as a “great scholar” precedes him. Pleasure fills Nat when Mallevant and Prince call him a “scholar” and he thinks back to how hopeless he felt when Father pulled him out of school and signed his indenture papers. Then, he could never have guessed that he would end up where he is now. Mallevant invites Nat to visit the local observatory, and Nat wishes he could tell Elizabeth how the powerful telescope made the stars seem so close he could touch them. He adds this experience to his ongoing letter.
Before this voyage, Mr. Blunt and Dr. Holyoke confirmed Nat’s scholarly status; Count Mallevant adds his own admiration to theirs. Nat’s hard work hasn’t just made him a competent officer, it’s made him a local and international intellectual superstar. His hard work earns him respect—and ongoing opportunities to learn, like visiting an astronomical observatory for the first time in his life. Looking at the stars, which have guided him and comforted him through many trials in his life seems to confirm that he’s on the right track. His own personal star seems to be rising and rising.
Themes
Later that night, Nat wakes to the sound of the British fleet celebrating their navy’s victory over Napoleon with cannons and guns. With the French menace contained, the Mediterranean becomes somewhat safer. The British organize a convoy of ships to cross. The Astrea joins, at first, but then drops out to defend a much smaller, slower American merchant ship that can’t keep up. Within a few days, the two ships encounter French privateers. Tom Owens and his men ready the guns. Nat volunteers to man the powder room, despite the danger. Although, as Captain Prince observes, one direct hit there and everyone’s in trouble. Nat brings some of the tables and works on them by the light of the porthole. He gets so involved in the arithmetic that he doesn’t realize when the encounter ends.
In much the same way that Nat looks out for the smallest, least-well-liked, and most junior members of each of his crews, the Astrea also takes responsibility for fellow ships with fewer resources and less protection. American ideals call for everyone to watch out for and support the interests of the others. During the terrifying encounter with the privateers, Nat takes responsibility for the safety of the ship by volunteering to man the powder room—one of the most dangerous jobs, since one well-placed cannonball would instantly explode the gunpowder stored there. Yet, a at earlier points in his life, a compelling math problem easily distracts him from his fears and problems.
Themes
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The Astrea reaches its final port of call, Alicante. There, they meet another Salem merchant ship, under the command of Captain Gorman, who boards the Astrea with a grim look on his face and immediately disappears into Captain Prince’s cabin. When Charlie summons Nat to join them, Prince breaks the bad news: Gorman brings word that Elizabeth has died. Gorman and Prince quietly leave the stunned Nat to his grief. Hours later, he stumbles on deck. Instead of looking at the sky, he finds himself staring into the depths of the sea. But Charlie interrupts his dark thoughts with a tricky navigation problem, which successfully distracts Nat, if only for a little while, from his sadness and grief.
The encounter with the pirates forces Nat and the rest of the crew to directly confront the dangers that characterize a life at sea. But, as David Martin lectured Mary years before, life can be dangerous anywhere. The loss of Elizabeth stuns Nat and causes him to disassociate. Like his Father before him, losing his dearly loved wife threatens to set him adrift in the sea of life, without an anchor to keep him steady. But Charlie intuitively senses Nat’s sadness and takes responsibility for rescuing Nat before grief overwhelms him completely.
Themes
