Lifeboat 12

Ken’s wool coat symbolizes his transition from a boy into a man. Ken’s stepmother purchases Ken a new coat before his voyage, and he feels like a different person once he puts the garment on. The acquisition of the coat aligns with Ken’s upcoming adventure and his new burgeoning identity as independent from his family:

I look into the mirror / and run my hands / down the good English wool— / dark gray, / double-breasted, / with wide lapels / deep pockets and a belt. / I don’t recognize the person / smiling back at me in the mirror. / He almost looks like a man (13).

In the context of wartime, a new “store-bought” coat is a luxury item, and Ken feels both special and protected. Although Ken rationalizes returning to his cabin for the coat to avoid his stepmother’s anger, the coat is his only tether to his family back on land. In this way, the coat also symbolizes Ken’s connection to his family: “Cold, / wet, / I wrap my warm coat around me, / remembering my family / back home / in trouble too, / braving the Blitz, / braving the bombs (99).” Despite his own dire circumstances, Ken sees beyond his own needs and comfort and thinks of those he cares about. The coat not only protects him from the harsh, cold winds, but the coat also provides him with the hope of reuniting with his family.

Ken loves to read, and his literary heroes are mainly protagonists of adventure stories, such as Robinson Crusoe, Bulldog Drummond, and Wart from The Sword in the Stone. These stories give Ken his own thirst for adventure and help him come to embrace the opportunity to live out his own thrilling tale on the voyage to Canada. Stories are calming for Ken and help to give him solace amidst the uncertainty of World War II. While at the orphanage for a day and night before boarding the ship, Ken joins his friends under a willow tree and listens to female chaperones tell a story. Ken feels safer in this moment than he has for a long time, and he is so relaxed that he drifts to sleep. This contrasts with later that night, when once again Ken huddles with his friends but cannot sleep as bombs loudly fall in the vicinity. Stories offer Ken an escape from his fears of the war.

While on Lifeboat 12, stories continue to offer important emotional escape and distraction. Auntie Mary recognizes that they are all suffering from boredom; they only think of their thirst and misery when alone with their thoughts. Therefore, she starts a story about Bulldog Drummond, a famous British character, and features the boys as characters too. By continuing the story a little more each day, she gives the boys something to think about other than their fear and discomfort. The distraction gives them hope and moments of normalcy amid the crisis. When Mary finally ends the story, Ken notes that the end corresponds with the end of their hope for rescue. The story has been helping to keep them alive. Later, Ken recognizes that the story saved his life. It helped him and the other boys escape from the constant boredom at sea, distracted them from their suffering, and gave them something to look forward to hearing each day. Hood shows the power of stories to provide comfort and calm in the midst of troubling times. She reminds the reader that stories have the ability to inspire, bolster one’s spirit, and provide hope.