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The Blue Lagoon · Chapter

VII: The Schooner explained

Dick and Emmeline encounter a passing schooner while on the reef, but the vessel sails away after mistaking them for savages.

What happens

Dick and Emmeline encounter a passing schooner while on the reef, but the vessel sails away after mistaking them for savages. Later, Dick finds a broken javelin on the beach, evidence of unknown visitors, and repairs it, while Emmeline grows uneasy about the mysterious presence on the island.

Themes in this chapter

  • Nature vs. Civilization

    The schooner's crew mistakes Dick and Emmeline for savages due to their appearance and the javelin, highlighting the divide between the natural island life and the outside world.

  • Isolation and Survival

    The encounter with the schooner and the discovery of the javelin underscore the children's isolation and the latent threats to their survival on the island.

Characters to notice

  • Dick

    Strips naked on the reef, uses a javelin and fish-spear, repairs the broken javelin, and is excited by the schooner's appearance.

  • Emmeline

    Sits by a coral pool in a reverie, feels relief when the schooner leaves, and is disturbed by the javelin and the unknown visitors.

Key passages

  • “What woman would appear in a town or on a country road, or even bathing in a river, as she appears bathing in the sea?”

    The sea changes how people behave and what is considered modest, unlike on land.

    Reflects on the liberating and purifying nature of the sea.

  • “The thing seemed to have been hurled here out of the blue by some unseen hand.”

    The javelin appeared on the beach as if from nowhere, mysterious and ominous.

    Highlights the sudden intrusion of the unknown into the children's world.

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