Captain Blood · Chapter
XXI: The Service of King James explained
Captain Blood, facing certain destruction from the approaching Jamaica fleet, accepts Lord Julian's offer of a King's commission to save his crew.
What happens
Captain Blood, facing certain destruction from the approaching Jamaica fleet, accepts Lord Julian's offer of a King's commission to save his crew. He announces his decision to the men, who largely welcome it as a reprieve from death, though some like Wolverstone object. Blood secures terms that allow dissenters to depart freely. Miss Arabella Bishop commends his choice, and Blood reveals he made the sacrifice for her. When Captain Calverley arrives from Colonel Bishop to demand surrender, Blood and Lord Julian confront him with the commission, stunning the officer.
Themes in this chapter
Rebellion and Authority
Blood's reluctant acceptance of the King's commission represents a compromise between rebellion and submission to authority, driven by necessity.
Honor and Identity
Blood grapples with his identity as a former pirate and rebel, questioning whether serving England can redeem him, while Arabella argues that serving the country is honorable regardless of the sovereign.
Love and Redemption
Blood's decision to accept the commission is motivated by his love for Arabella, and he seeks redemption through her approval.
Characters to notice
- Captain Peter Blood
Accepts the King's commission to save his crew, motivated partly by his feelings for Arabella. Confronts Captain Calverley with the commission.
- Arabella Bishop
Commends Blood's decision, arguing that serving England is honorable. Blood implies he made the sacrifice for her.
- Lord Julian Wade
Delivers the King's commission to Blood and supports him against Captain Calverley's demands.
- Wolverstone
Openly opposes serving King James, but Blood allows him and others to depart freely.
- Captain Calverley
Sent by Colonel Bishop to demand surrender; is humiliated when Blood reveals his commission.
- Ogle
Raises the question of whether Bishop will respect the King's commission.
Key passages
“I accept it as the only way to save us all from the certain destruction into which my own act may have brought us.”
Blood explains that he is taking the King's commission solely to rescue everyone from the doom his actions have caused.
Blood justifies his decision to the crew as a pragmatic necessity.
“The country is all, sir; the sovereign naught. King James will pass; others will come and pass; England remains, to be honourably served by her sons, whatever rancour they may hold against the man who rules her in their time.”
Arabella argues that loyalty to England transcends any personal grievance against the current monarch.
Arabella's patriotic reasoning persuades Blood to consider the commission as honorable.
“Do you suppose now that this honourable service might redeem one who was a pirate and a thief?”
Blood asks Arabella if serving England can erase his past as a pirate and thief.
Blood questions whether his new role can bring redemption.