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Chapter 20: Book Sailing
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
Stunned by the news of William’s and Hab’s deaths, Nat hurries to see Mary and Lois. The three remaining Bowditches grieve together. Soon, Nat returns to Mrs. Boardman’s house, more determined than ever to complete his book, determined to prevent as many deaths at sea as he can. Nothing convinces Nat to pause or take a break from his work until Polly visits. She encourages Nat in his project but also injects some much-needed levity and joy back into his life. Perhaps most importantly to Nat, Polly understands what drives him: the more sailors of all stripes understand about navigation, the safer they all become. She confidently predicts that Nat’s book will achieve national—no, international!—acclaim.
As with every other loss he’s faced, Nat experiences suffering and grief over the deaths of his brothers and his friend. But he doesn’t allow this grief to “becalm” him any more than his childhood indenture; instead, he uses it as fuel to propel himself into the future. He sees this as a project not just in honor of his brothers, but as a boon for all seafarers and he approaches it with life-and-death seriousness because he keenly feels his responsibility to the community of mariners to which he belongs. And, readers should note, Polly’s quick grasp of Nat’s project points toward a growing sympathy between Polly and Nat,
Themes
By the end of Polly’s all-too-brief visit, Nat has fallen thoroughly in love with her, and with Mrs. Boardman’s blessing, they get married that October. They take their honeymoon in Danvers, where Nat lived when he was young. He remembers his desperate attempts to work a good-luck spell on the night before the family moved back to Salem. Polly looks up at the new moon and asks Nat for some silver to jingle. Nat doesn’t take the book manuscript with him on their honeymoon, but, at Polly’s urging, they cut the trip short so he can get back to work. And, for the first several months of their marriage, completing the book does consume him.
Returning to Danvers allows Nat to reflect on his life and the many things that have happened since. He never did work his good luck spell, but in the end, he didn’t need it. His hard work and persistence changed his luck for him, and he has earned all the success and respect he now receives. Polly shares his sense of responsibility to protect the lives and wellbeing of others, sacrificing her own time with her husband to speed the process of bringing his life-saving book to press.
Themes
One day, Polly interrupts Nat’s work; her father and Captain Prince have come to see if he wants to join them in backing a sealing ship—a much safer and surer investment, Polly’s father, Captain Ingersoll, insists, than whaling or plying the spice trade. Nat eagerly joins them, becoming a capitalist. He considers how far he’s come since his childhood, when he had a single shilling to his name, which he used to buy Tom Perry’s expectation.
Nat can measure the success of his life in monetary terms, too: he’s come from having a mere shilling to his name to possessing enough money to invest in a sealing ship—even though it’s safer than whaling, all types of shipping remain risky investments. But this also makes Nat reflect on how others—like the community of men who knew and respected his father—supported him earlier in his career, and this reignites his drive to return their favor with his book of navigation.
Themes
When Nat finishes his book, he asks the East India Marine Society of Salem—a group of the city’s most respected and knowledgeable sailors—to look it over. They do so carefully before declaring it “the most correct and ample book on navigation in existence.” Satisfied with their assessment, Nat begins the long task of proofreading and checking his work.
Remember that Nat found more than 8,000 errors in the last great navigational book; for the Marine Society to declare Nat’s book the most complete and accurate means that its use at sea will save many lives. And it points to the fruits of all Nat’s hard work—which continues through the arduous process of proofreading and checking the book’s contents. Being the “most” accurate by comparison doesn’t satisfy Nat, who wants to make the most accurate book possible.
Themes
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One night, while Nat chats companionably with Polly and Dr. Holyoke, Zack Selby pounds on the door. He triumphantly announces that the sealer Nat backed has sunk. All of Nat’s book-learning and book-sailing haven’t protected him from losing his investment. Fortunately, however, another ship rescued the crew.
Zack Selby represents old-school, traditional sailors who distrust Nat’s modern, scientific method of navigation and sailing. Thus, he blamed Nat for Lem Harvey’s death and takes pleasure from Nat’s lost investment. In contrast, Nat cares about the men aboard far more than the money, in part because he trusts his “book sailing,” and in part because he has already learned that suffering and loss are unavoidable parts of life.
Themes
