81 pages • 2 hours read
Paolo BacigalupiShip Breaker
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2010A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Chapters 16-19Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 16 Summary
Content Warning: This Chapter Summary and the Chapters 16-19 Analysis reference enslavement. while the Chapter 18 Summary contains violence.
Nailer, Tool, and Nita ride the maglev train to Orleans II, hiding in the gaps between the rail cars. To pass the time, they talk. Nita reveals that Pyce is an uncle by “business marriage” (a type of arranged marriage that allies corporate interests). Pyce was secretly developing and refining tar sands—a business gamble that will net him billions. He uses Patel clipper ships to move the fuel to China since tar sands are illegal in the United States. Nita’s father sent her south to keep her out of the violence that could erupt over the corporate schism, but Nita didn’t believe that she was actually in danger. By the time she escaped in her personal clipper ship, it was too late. Pyce’s crew chased her in a military-grade clipper ship, the Pole Star, and Nita and her crew had to brave the city killer storm to lose the hunters. Nita was unable to negotiate with Pyce because in this corporate war, she is only a “chess piece, a pawn” (196). If she is captured, she will be used against her father, and her father will lose control of their company.
The three discuss the morality of survival. Nailer compares the tar sands to a Lucky Strike, even though it is a black-market fuel that would increase carbon levels significantly. Nita, however, emphasizes that her corporation is a “clean” company, saying that the Accelerated Age’s reliance on fossil fuels has hurt enough people; drought ravages the interior of the country, and the coastal cities have drowned. Nailer points out that the corporations can’t lay claim to a conscience; it’s all money regardless of where it comes from. He tells Nita, “The only reason you think you’ve got morals is because you don’t need money the way regular people do” (194). Further, if he had known how much she was really worth, he would have sold her out to Pyce. Upon reflection, however, he doesn’t want to be like Sloth—a person who betrays their crew for money.
Tool spars verbally with Nita about her morality, bringing up the hypocrisy of her company refusing to sell tar sands while engineering and enslaving half-men to fight its wars. When Nita points out that Tool isn’t loyal because he doesn’t have a patron (a person who commands Tool’s loyalty completely), Tool retorts that if he had been loyal to Richard, Nita would have been sold to the Harvesters. Tool states that Sadna is worth 10 times what Nita’s father is worth and 1000 times what Nita is worth because Sadna risked herself and her crew to save Tool’s life. Nita’s father would never risk himself to save any of his employees, and Nita risked her crew’s lives to save herself.
They speed through sunken suburbs that go on for miles. Nita points out old roads, and the idea that most people had cars is mind-boggling to Nailer. Nita tells him that in drilling for gas, oil companies cut up the barrier islands, causing the hurricanes to destroy the coastal communities. She comments, “Every dummy knows about them” (199), stinging Nailer; he has never had the opportunity to go to school, and even when Nita apologizes for her remark, he knows that it reveals what she really thinks of him.
Chapter 17 Summary
As the train enters Orleans II, Nailer notes the salvage still left in the submerged buildings. Tool agrees with Nailer, saying if someone organized, they could take in a lot of scavenge. But Nita disagrees; there are already local scavenger crews there, and they “can’t bargain with people like that. They’re savages” (202). Tool points out that Nailer is a scavenger, and Nita blushes.
Orleans II was a response to the sinking of New Orleans, but the engineers who built it did not consider the rising sea levels or Class 6 hurricanes ravaging the coastline. When Orleans II also sank, they built Mississippi Metropolitan (MissMet) far inland. MissMet was designed specifically to withstand cyclones and hurricanes, and it is surrounded by walls to protect the wealthy residents from the masses. Nailer remarks on the foolishness of people in the Accelerated Age, who built Orleans II in spite of the reality of climate change, but Tool disputes this: The people in the past just weren’t good at anticipating the catastrophic consequences of their lifestyle.
The train arrives in old Orleans II and signs of civilization appear; “leaked waste oil and scrap trash and the stink of chemicals” fill the air (204). It isn’t much different from Bright Sands, with “scrap and junk, soot and oily grime and slumped shacks with people watching them, hollow-eyed” (205). Even though it looks like home, Nailer has no clan or crew affiliations here. Nita and Nailer are only safe because Tool is with them.
The street they are traveling on dead-ends into water; the clipper ships are moored far offshore on floating docks. Tool tells them that their money is just enough to buy food and water for the day—not nearly enough to hire a water taxi out to the ships. They buy drinking water and then wade through the polluted waters like other dock laborers, following buoys made of old plastic jugs. When Nita points out that it would be better if the city built boardwalks out to the docks, Tool tells her that in the eyes of the builders, this would be wasting money on those in poverty.
While Tool tries to educate Nita on the plight of those in poverty, Nita pushes back by bringing up his loyalty again. Tool is free, but genetically he should be loyal to a patron. Half-men are engineered from human ova bought from impoverished women and girls, but their genetic material also includes canine genes to encourage loyalty and submissiveness. When Tool’s patron died, he also should have died. However, Tool also has tiger and hyena genes; he is stronger, faster, and smarter than his creators.
When they get close enough to see the clipper ships, Nailer is again struck with their beauty and speed. None of the docked ships are part of Nita’s fleet. They plan to wait in the city, checking daily until her ships dock. Tool instructs them that they will need to work for their food in the meantime. Nailer asks where to work, and Tool tells him to figure it out. When Nailer decides they should work on the docks so they can watch for Nina’s people, Tool approves.
Chapter 18 Summary
Content Warning: This Chapter Summary contains violence.
Nailer and Nita find sporadic menial work, but Tool is able to get heavier work for more pay and negotiates with a local gang for a place to stay: the top floor of a sunken mansion. Nita adapts quickly to her new lifestyle, never complaining and always contributing her share. Nailer begins to respect her, even telling her that he would vouch for her to work as light crew.
While Nailer is carrying a message, he sees his father and two half-men dressed like swanks looking for Lucky Girl. Nailer swims under the dock before they can spot him. He overhears Richard ordering half-men to return to the ship to see if the others had any success.
Nailer returns to Nita, who is washing dishes at a cook shop. Excitedly, she shows him the Dauntless in the harbor, saying it is one of her people’s ships. But Nailer believes the ship is Pyce’s; it’s too much of a coincidence that his father should show up at the same time as the Dauntless. Nita argues that she must get on the ship because it is captained by Sung Kim Kai, her father’s best captain. The ship that was chasing her was the Pole Star, not the Dauntless.
Deciding that they will wait until night to check out the Dauntless, they return to the mansion to wait for Tool. As the dark sets in, they realize that Tool is late. Worried that Richard might have taken him, the two leave, hiding in the swamp along the boardwalks. Nailer doesn’t want Nita to risk herself, but she is now so bedraggled that she blends in with the rest of those in poverty. As they wait for Tool, they share a kiss.
Nailer spots Tool walking towards them on the boardwalk, tailed by Richard’s half-men. Nita argues against warning Tool, as it will expose her and Nailer as well. Regardless, Nailer runs towards him, shouting a warning. The half-men jump Tool, but he has enough warning to fight back. Knowing they will be killed if they intervene, Nailer and Nita reluctantly flee.
They are now out of options, and Nailer must approach the Dauntless; they are too insignificant and weak to survive in Orleans II without Tool as a protector, and Tool’s discovery will lead many more of Pyce’s men to the city. Nailer swims out to the ship, leaving Nita in hiding at the mansion. On the Dauntless, two half-men stand guard. Terrified, Nailer hides under the dock until a skiff carrying the captain and his lieutenant arrives. The captain is not Sung Kim Kai, and Nailer resigns himself to finding another way to save Nita. The captain mentions to his lieutenant that Pyce’s crew are all over the docks and says he wants to get underway so he won’t have to speak to them. Recognizing that the enemy of his enemy is his friend, Nailer calls to the two men. The captain and lieutenant draw their pistols, ordering Nailer to show himself.
Nailer crawls onto the dock and tells the men that he has a message for the captain from Nita Chaudbury, who is hiding in Orleans and relying on the Dauntless to help her. The captain grabs Nailer and accuses him of trying to set him up. He orders the lieutenant to whip Nailer until he tells who sent him, but as the lieutenant turns to carry out the order, the captain pulls his pistol and shoots the man in the back.
The lieutenant was a spy Pyce sent to keep an eye on the Dauntless crew. Once his body has been weighted and thrown overboard, Captain Candless orders the half-men, Knot and Vine, to go ashore and find all the loyal crewmembers. They leave with Nailer to rescue Nita.
Chapter 19 Summary
Knot and Vine gather crew who are loyal to Nita from the bars, and the loyalty Nita’s name conjures astonishes Nailer. They make their way to the sunken mansion, but Nita is no longer there. They discover Tool in the water at the base of the mansion, bleeding from multiple machete cuts, and he tells Nailer that Richard has taken Nita to an unknown ship. Captain Candless surmises that she is on the Ray, a ship loyal to Pyce. Nailer remembers that Nita was hunted by the Pole Star, but the Pole Star is nowhere near these waters. Candless remarks that it is good they are facing the Ray because the Pole Star is a warship.
The Dauntless crew makes way to pursue the Ray, but Tool refuses to go. He offers to take Nailer away from the fight because he promised Sadna he would protect Nailer. Tool tells Nailer that the crew of the Dauntless will die for Nita, which means that Nailer must be prepared to do the same. Nailer contemplates life with Tool as a protector but refuses to leave the ship. Tool gives him a last bit of advice: Richard will attempt to slaughter Nailer when he sees him again, and Nailer must tap into his own “slaughter nature” when that happens. Tool states, “You are no more Richard Lopez than I am an obedient hound. Blood is not destiny, no matter what others may believe” (248).
When Tool leaves, Captain Candless invites Nailer to his quarters. He wants to determine Nailer’s loyalty, suspicious that Nailer will turn coat when he sees his father. Nailer laughs at the idea of reuniting with his father; Nita is more family than his father ever was. When Candless sees that Nailer is in love with Nita, he calls him a “poor bastard” and reminds him that Nita’s family owns one of the largest transportation companies in the world (252), but Nailer is undeterred. Candless acknowledges they will need luck to rescue Nita, and Nailer warns Candless never to underestimate his father.
Chapters 16-19 Analysis
Bacigalupi explores the theme of family and blood from the perspective of Tool, who has become a mentor to Nailer. Tool is proof that genes are not as important as free will; his genetic makeup “should” make him submissive and loyal to a patron, but he lives his life as a free man, relying more on his genetic inheritance from tigers, hyenas, and humans than dogs. When Tool tells Nailer that blood is not destiny, he is giving Nailer the means to cut free of his father. Nailer is both like and unlike his father. He is fast and small like his father, but he is also fiercely loyal, whereas Richard would kill his own crew to keep Nita a secret. Nailer resents being told he is like his father, but Tool teaches him that while he cannot choose his genetic inheritance, he can choose what he does with it. He even urges Nailer not to deny his capacity for violence when the fighting comes; it will not make him into his father, just as Tool’s loyalty to his crew doesn’t make him a dog. Tool’s advice allows Nailer to renounce his relationship with his father to Candless and recognize Nita as his real family.
Tool also mentors Nita, guiding her towards recognizing her class privilege with barbs that cause her to reexamine her bias towards Nailer. During the train journey, he spars with her about her superior attitude until she apologizes (or at least has the grace to look ashamed). He advises both Nailer and Nita on how to survive in Orleans II and protects them against the criminal element that would do them harm. One of the ironic elements in their relationship is that Nita disapproves of Tool for his disloyalty towards his patron; however, if Tool had not broken free of his genetic conditioning, he would never have volunteered to accompany and protect Nita and Nailer. Instead of following a patron’s orders to kill (half-men are created to be bodyguards or soldiers), Tool is instead helping children to escape torture and death.
In this future world, all children without protection are vulnerable, and Nita and Nailer are at risk from both humans and nature. Nita admits she is a pawn in a corporate chess game. She is her father’s weakest point; if she is captured, Pyce can use her father’s love for her to force Patel out of the company. The only value Nita seems to have in the war between Patel and Pyce is as leverage, and she sacrifices herself and her crew to the storm rather than be used against her father. However, Nailer finds that Nita has another value; her father’s crew is absolutely loyal to her and will do anything to save her, including sacrificing their own lives.
Nailer also has little value in this world. He has no one who cares for him besides Pima and Sadna. He builds his value by meeting quota with his crew, and he is fiercely loyal. However, outside of Bright Sands, he has no crew and must rely on Tool to keep both him and Nita safe. When they run from the half-man fight, Bacigalupi describes them as “two urchins on the shore […] another pair of the many that came and went like the junk in the tides” (230), emphasizing their insignificance and lack of value. Nailer recognizes the danger, describing himself and Nita as “minnows waiting to be eaten” and the Dauntless on the horizon like “bait on a line” (231). In a world that demands strength, luck, or wealth to survive, Nita and Nailer alone are no more than the smallest fish in the sea, about to be swallowed up by predators.
In this dystopian future, those living with poverty have virtually no opportunity to rise above their station. They work as soon as they are physically able and do not attend school. Without education, they cannot ever break out of their poverty. They can never get better jobs, and there is no innovation—no technological breakthroughs that would make their lives easier. People in poverty scavenge for everything they have, existing on the remnants of the Accelerated Age in the same way that those from that Age existed on buried fossil fuels. They don’t create anything; they simply scavenge for it. It is an unsustainable lifestyle. Meanwhile, the wealthy create innovations like the clipper ships or half-men, but those inventions exist solely to increase their wealth; there is no benefit for the lower classes. Additionally, the creation of the half-men from human eggs is morally abhorrent; corporations use the eggs of people in poverty to create a private slave-class army. With their women and young girls selling their eggs to create more half-men, and their workers exposed to dangerous labor practices and toxins, the lower class has no chance to evolve or thrive.
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