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Commercial fishing interests
The brother of the narrator’s mother and the fishing partner of his father, the narrator’s uncle isn’t mentioned until later in the story, even though he has presumably been part of the family fishing business for a long time. He acts as an assistant to the narrator’s father until he decides to work on a larger vessel, which will earn him enough money to buy a boat for his own family. The departure of the narrator’s uncle makes it necessary for the narrator to step into the role of helping his father. The uncle’s presence in the story reinforces how close-knit the family fishing operation is, while also showing how things can change with each generation.
The narrator’s uncle Quotes in The Boat
The The Boat quotes below are all either spoken by The narrator’s uncle or refer to The narrator’s uncle. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
The Boat
Quotes
On November twenty-first the waves of the grey Atlantic are very high and the waters are very cold and there are no sign posts on the surface of the sea. You cannot tell where you have been five minutes before and in the squalls of snow you cannot see. And it takes longer than you would believe to check a boat that has been running before a gale and turn her ever so care fully in a wide and stupid circle, with timbers creaking and straining, back into the face of storm. And you know that it is useless and that your voice does not carry the length of the boat and that even if you knew the original spot, the relentless waves would carry such a burden perhaps a mile or so by the time you could return. And you know also, the final irony, that your father, like your uncles and all the men that form your past, cannot swim a stroke.
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The narrator’s uncle Quotes in The Boat
The The Boat quotes below are all either spoken by The narrator’s uncle or refer to The narrator’s uncle. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
The Boat
Quotes
On November twenty-first the waves of the grey Atlantic are very high and the waters are very cold and there are no sign posts on the surface of the sea. You cannot tell where you have been five minutes before and in the squalls of snow you cannot see. And it takes longer than you would believe to check a boat that has been running before a gale and turn her ever so care fully in a wide and stupid circle, with timbers creaking and straining, back into the face of storm. And you know that it is useless and that your voice does not carry the length of the boat and that even if you knew the original spot, the relentless waves would carry such a burden perhaps a mile or so by the time you could return. And you know also, the final irony, that your father, like your uncles and all the men that form your past, cannot swim a stroke.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
