Captain courageous draft 1

Jasiu Metkowski

English

Period 5

Captain courageous draft 1

Everything that exists changes over some time, alive or dead. The environment changes (both naturally and artificially). Laws in societies change usually with the goal of improvement, culture changes with the way the society thinks, society it self changes, and life styles change from generation to generation. But one thing that continually changes throughout our lives is our character. Some change from fools to wise men and women and vice versa. We (usually) mature over time, sometimes quickly and sometimes not that rapid, into grown adults. In the book “Captain Courageous” by Rudyard Kipling, he tells a story that proves that one can make drastic changes in their character over time. A spoiled rich American kid named Henry Cheyne changes into a wise courageous grown man.

That the start of the story, henry cheyne has a horrible selfish character. He thinks all about himself, never thinking about those that lived around him, not even his beloved parents that cared so mush for him. After henrey fell into the ocean while sailing over to Europe for some education, he was fished out by some poor but wise fishermen. During his first days on board, henry gave no respect to those on board. He accused his crewmates, including the captain, for things that they did not do such as stealing his money that was in his pocket. He tried to convince them into sailing back to shore with the fact that his rich father was with no doubt going to pay them for the rescue. But without any evidence to prove that he was rich, henry knew he was going to have a long ride on the Where’re here (the name of the fishermen’s ship). The crew knew that if Henry was lying, he would cause their fishing voyage to become a disaster since they already went a long way from the United States. Henry spoke to them in a rude way as if he had superiority over the crew. When Henry was told to go over to speak with the captain, he refused and demanded that the captain was to come over to him. He told Dan “Your dad [the captian of the crew that saved henry] can come down here if he’s so anxious to talk to me. I want him to take me to New York right away.” (pg 11). The captain did come over to him (with great shock) but with a big slap for henry and strong anger.

However, this nasty spoiled character of his was not going to last for long. it was during his trip to Europe he fell off board into the ocean where he would learn discipline and develop a true moral character. After the captain gave him some strong slaps in the face and henry bled a bit, henrey spoke with the captain’s son. The captain’s son, Dan, was much easier and patient with Henrey. After a few chats with the Dan, henry got some advise and tips which he put to consideration and usage. He apologized with sorrow and became a member of the crew once he said “Well, I- im here to take things back [ the negative. They strengthened their relationship to such strength as a family. he got to know the crew members one by one and became a great friend with Dan. Henry thanked the crew member, manual, for saving his life. At first, Henry wished that he could show how thankful he was to Manual by a way such as paying him. but after developing some moral character, Henry realized that paying him with money would be a shameful way to repay his savior. Friendship and graditude was all it really took to effectively show how thankful he truly was. Giving money would be like henry paying Manual as if henry was an employer. While on board, henry learned other things such as temperance, independence, and generosity. He also developed some skills such as navigation, strength (in his muscles and in his character) and how to steer the ship with the help of the wind. These lessons that positively affected his character while on board the where’re here were lessons so priceless, nearly impossible for anyone to find and teach. Henry’s parents were going to be very pleased when they find henry as a totally different mature man. No longer was henry going to be a spoiled brat but a strong adult. These lessons were ones that were to be useful throughout his life. They brightened he future and actual made him develop a future career plan, something that was continiuosly rolling about in his mind.

Ones character can drastically change if pushed to do so. For some it takes little force, but for others like Henry, it can take a mother load. Henry was a spoiled brat but was then pushed by the crew of the were’re here into becoming a much better person. no longer did he just think about himself but also about others. He became a grown up mature man, impressing his family and bringing a positive influence to his family and eventually even his community. He realized that he can not live on his wishes and money alone. We too need to do so. I believe that Kipling wrote this book to inspire others to improve the character of the reader and help those around change into much better people. If we can change into mature people, our society would become a much better one.