37 pages • 1 hour read
Rodman PhilbrickThe Young Man and the Sea
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2004A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 1-5Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 1 Summary: “Lobster Boy”
Content Warning: The Young Man and the Sea depicts depression and alcohol addiction and mentions death.
Twelve-year-old Samuel “Skiff” Beaman Jr. narrates The Young Man and the Sea in first person and present tense. School lets out for summer and Skiff rides his bicycle home, past the harbor in Spinney Cove, Maine. His father Skiff Sr.’s fishing boat, the Mary Rose—named after his deceased mother—has sunk next to their dock. Skiff’s been bailing water out of the boat for months, in case his father decides to start fishing again. Since Skiff’s mother Mary Rose died, Skiff Sr. mostly drinks beer and sits in front of the TV in silence. Skiff alerts his father that the boat sunk, but he doesn’t seem to care. He says Skiff should leave the boat where it is, because even if they raise it, it is probably broken beyond repair.
Skiff studies the Mary Rose, but there’s nothing he can do except wait for the tide, then try to wedge it out. Twelve-year-old Tyler Croft appears on an expensive bicycle to bully him about the boat and being a working-class “swamp” person, as well as his mother being dead and his father drinking. Skiff throws a piece of wood at him but misses. Tyler cycles off, promising to tell everyone that Skiff was crying.
Chapter 2 Summary: “Swampers”
Skiff reflects on his family’s shack-turned-house, which was altered at his mother’s advice. Now, it has indoor plumbing and running water, but the family never tore down the accompanying outhouse. This outhouse is the last one in Spinney Cove, so they kept it untouched and surrounded by flowers. Skiff’s paternal family were “swampers” for generations: They made their living catching and selling clams, crabs, lobsters, ducks, geese, salt, and other things in swamps. Skiff’s father is not a swamper by trade, but people still call him one because of his lineage. There is class-based prejudice against swampers in Spinney Cove. Skiff’s maternal family were not swampers, which sometimes caused tension between in-laws, but Skiff’s mother defended his father. Skiff doesn’t view swamper culture as bad, as it culminated in him being skilled with boats and fishing. When he was nine, his father built a small wooden skiff (boat) for his birthday, including a motor.
Skiff wants to raise the sunken Mary Rose, but doesn’t know how. He visits his elderly neighbor, Mr. Amos Woodwell, who made his living building and fixing boats (including the Mary Rose) but is now mostly retired. Mr. Woodwell says he’s too old to raise the boat himself, but instructs Skiff on how to do it.
Chapter 3 Summary: “By the Barrel Raised”
Mr. Woodwell tells Skiff to get rope, a wooden plank, and some steel barrels. He ties two barrels to each side of the plank, then feeds rope under the Mary Rose to the barrels on the other side. Once the tide comes, the barrels will float and raise the boat with them. Skiff gets to work, hoping his father will help or at least talk to him, but he doesn’t.
After preparing the Mary Rose, Skiff makes dinner while waiting for the tide. He plans to raise the boat, fix its engine, then fish. A man named Captain Keelson passes by on his boat, and Skiff claims his father went inside for a moment. When the tide comes, the boat raises.
Chapter 4 Summary: “Rotten to the Keel”
Skiff’s father has fallen asleep on the couch in front of the TV, but Skiff wakes him to tell him that he raised the Mary Rose. Skiff Sr. is surprised. Skiff knows the boat’s engine and other parts likely need repairs.
In the morning, Skiff makes pancakes, which remind him of his mother Mary Rose. His father Skiff Sr. is also reminded, but doesn’t want to discuss her. Skiff goes outside to inspect the Mary Rose, and some of its planks are rotten. He visits Mr. Woodwell for further guidance, who says Skiff Sr. should know how to fix the boat—as a young Skiff Sr. worked for him one summer. Skiff says his father’s not interested right now and shows Mr. Woodwell the damaged Mary Rose. Mr. Woodwell confirms the boat is fixable.
Chapter 5 Summary: “Attack of the Vampire Mud Worms”
Skiff Sr. is happy that Mr. Woodwell is helping Skiff fix the Mary Rose. When his family was once troubled, he lived with Mr. Woodwell for a summer. Skiff again asks his father to help fix the boat, but he stares at the TV and doesn’t answer.
Skiff removes two planks, speaking to the Mary Rose as he does so. He lies down in some mud, and after a while, mud worms start biting him. He jumps in the water and shakes them off, and then Tyler Croft appears with two other boys, Joey Gleeson and Parker Beal, to bully Skiff about “bathing” in the creek. Skiff tells them to come closer, but they ride off. He goes inside and watches TV with his father. He’s disappointed that his father won’t help him with the boat or talk more, but appreciates being able to watch TV together. Skiff Sr. falls asleep, so Skiff goes to bed too.
Chapters 1-5 Analysis
Twelve-year-old protagonist Skiff narrates The Young Man and the Sea in first person and present tense. This gives the reader access to some of Skiff’s thoughts and feelings, and thus evokes empathy. This section introduces the theme of The Centrality of Family because the novel’s inciting incident is family oriented. Skiff’s mother Mary Rose has passed away recently, and the boat named after her has sunk. Skiff and his father Skiff Sr. are both grief-stricken over her death, and Skiff worries about their boat. These events provide the framework for the rest of the novel, as Skiff seeks to fix the boat and lift his father’s spirits.
The centrality of family is also developed through the novel’s use of names. Samuel “Skiff” Beaman, Jr. is named after his father, Samuel “Skiff” Beaman, Sr. This shared name emphasizes the connection between father and son. Skiff Sr. also made a wooden boat for his son, a skiff that Skiff uses to fish throughout the novel. This gift further emphasizes the connection between father and son, bonding them in name and passion for fishing. The Mary Rose is named after Skiff’s mother, and the impact of its sinking mirrors that of Mary Rose’s death. Thus, both the skiff and the Mary Rose symbolize the importance and lingering presence of family.
In addition to being important, family is shown to be complex. Mary Rose had to defend her husband against her family due to centuries-old class tensions in Spinney Cove, Maine. Despite this challenge, she didn’t give up on her husband and honored his profession as a fisherman. On her headstone, both her last names were included (Mary Rose Spinney Beaman), which shows loyalty and love for both of her families (the Spinneys and Beamans). Overall, family is a complex web that constantly changes with birth, marriage, death, and the like. The concept doesn’t just apply to biological relatives, but chosen family. For example, neighbor Mr. Woodwell helps Skiff Sr. and Skiff because he was once a young Skiff Sr.’s boss, teaching him about boats and fishing, and letting him live with him when he had trouble with his family. Now, Mr. Woodwell helps Skiff in Skiff Sr.’s stead, teaching him how to raise the sunken Mary Rose.
This section also introduces The Necessity of Resilience. Skiff’s mother has died, his father has depression and not working, their boat has sunk, and Tyler is always bullying him. Nevertheless, Skiff keeps busy and tries to solve problems on his own. People like his father point out he’s small, but this doesn’t stop him from having big goals. Similarly, Tyler’s classist bullying does not convince him that he’s inferior or lacks the tools he needs to accomplish his goals. Skiff is proud of his “swamper” roots because swampers are resilient and resourceful at heart. They know the swamp inside and out, and use what they can from it to make money and survive. To Skiff, his lack of Tyler’s luxuries doesn’t matter, because he knows The Importance of Thinking Smart in achieving success.
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