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Chapter 25: Oil
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Shipping News, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Love and Family
Redemption, Courage, and Happiness
Life and Death
Resilience and Survival
Modernity
Summary
Analysis
Near the end of September, Quoyle gets a weekend to himself at the house. On Friday afternoon, he buys groceries and lugs his old Gammy Bird typewriter across the bay so he can write a story about the history of Plimsoll lines, the markings on the hulls of ships that show the safe load a vessel can carry. That night he has a terrible nightmare about Petal’s death. But he’s getting better at falling back asleep after them by now.
The longer he’s in Newfoundland, the surer Quoyle becomes of himself. Plimsoll lines mark the level of one of a boat’s measures of endurance—how much cargo it can bear. If Quoyle had emotional Plimsoll lines, they would have been very shallow at first. But he’s matured in Newfoundland and grown more capable of handling what life throws at him. And gaining mastery over his nightmares shows he’s slowly moving beyond Petal’s loss.
Themes
On Sunday afternoon, Quoyle goes for a walk to the end of the point. As he leaves the house, a bit of knotted twine falls from the latch. Finally, he reaches the end of the point, which feels like the edge of the world, thanks to the raging sea and the endless sky. As he begins to pick his way down toward the rocky shoreline below, he sees a body in a yellow garment floating face down next to a rock that looks like a dog. What are the odds, he wonders, formulating the headline in his mind: “Newspaper Reporter Seems Magnet for Dead Men.”
Quoyle rushes back to his dock, intent on reporting the macabre discovery as soon as possible. He’s never taken his unseaworthy boat out in such big waves, and he struggles to maintain his bearing on Killick-Claw. Suddenly, he takes a wave broadside and capsizes. Just as he does, he watches another length of knotted of rope slide out from under the seat, and he finally realizes that these totems mean something. Then he’s in the water, thrashing his way back toward the boat through panic and sheer survival instinct. He clings to it for a moment before it goes to the bottom, leaving him to cling to his red plastic cooler like a life preserver.
In the previous chapter, Quoyle discovered enough fortitude to stand up to Tert Card over the rewrites to his article about the oil industry. Now, he faces an even harder test of his courage and fortitude. Importantly, even though he doesn’t know how to swim, he still takes instinctive action that saves his life. He’s not just waiting around for things to happen to him any longer; he’s discovering that he must act in order to survive and thrive.
Themes
Quoyle floats in the bay long enough for the sun to begin setting before Jack Buggit—driven by a sense that someone was in trouble in the bay—hauls him from the water and back to land. Jack takes Quoyle back to his house, where Mrs. Buggit wraps him in blankets and hot water bottles and makes him piping hot tea. Eventually, Quoyle warms up enough to pay attention, and he realizes that almost every surface in the house is covered in handmade lace doilies.
While much of Quoyle’s personal development happens as an internal process of him facing his fears and traumas, the book also consistently makes it clear that no one should have to go through life alone. Quoyle can’t save his life by himself. He depends on the care and support of others—sometimes (as in this case) literally. The handicrafts in Mrs. Buggit’s living room, which involve knots and strings, metaphorically suggest the connections between people that support life generally, but especially in harsh parts of the world like the north coast of Newfoundland.
Themes
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Jack observes that Quoyle’s large size and ample fat probably saved him—a smaller man would have died quickly of hypothermia in the cold water. This reminds Quoyle of the body, which Jack quickly reports to the Coast Guard. Mrs. Buggit introduces Quoyle to the family dog, which is actually just her dog, as Jack likes cats better. Then she shows Quoyle to the guest room where he tumbles into a warm bed, exhausted. In the morning, after Quoyle leaves, Mrs. Buggit puts her house back to rights. But she can’t stop thinking about the storm that took her son Jesson’s life.
As ever, Jack takes a practical view of things, even though it’s not just Quoyle’s body composition but also Jack’s sixth sense for stranded boaters that resulted in his successful rescue. The body at the point is a reminder that not everyone is so lucky, as is the fact that Mrs. Buggit’s thoughts turn to her lost son. Still, she shows resilience in the face of tragedy. Although she still clearly mourns his loss, she’s found a way to keep living despite her pain.
Themes
