Mayra Alcala Phillip's Journey

The Cay Essay
In the Cay our hero, Phillip Enright, leaves home with his mother Grace because World War Two is going on. She than thinks it’s too dangerous for them to be there. He is then separated from her when The S.S. Hato was torpedo. He is brought aboard a raft by Timothy. During the next few months many things happened which transformed Phillip into a better person. He creates a better world for himself because he knows how it feels to be blind, being stuck on a deserted island for four months, and many more things.
The World War Two is going on and Phillip’s mom Grace is really scared that they’ll die. She also doesn’t like it much at Willemstad and wants to move back to Norfolk, Virginia. Another reason is that she thinks its way too dangerous for them to be living there while World War Two is happening.
Phillip’s parents argue about leaving the island. Phillip’s dad wants to stay because of his job. But Phillip’s mom wants to leave because she’s really scared about the World War Two. She doesn’t want anything bad to happen to Phillip. Next reason is she’s home sick from Norfolk, Virginia.
After deciding if they should stay or leave Phillip and his mom, pack their bags and leave on the S.S. Hato. As they were heading back to Norfolk, Virginia the boat got torpedo. This means that the H.H. Hato got shuddered into pieces. Then all of a sudden Phillip woke up and he was in a raft next to some stranger. He was a fat Negro, with a flat nose, his face was broad, and his head was a mass of wiry gray hair. His name is Timothy.
Phillip then realizes he’s stuck in the middle of an ocean with a complete stranger. He than judges him with what little he knows about him. But little did Phillip know that they were going to be stuck on a raft for a couple of weeks. Within days Phillip was blind. And did scared not know what’s going to happen next. A couple of weeks later they found an island which they named the Cay.
Phillip and Timothy went through so much on the Cay from not knowing where they are at. To wondering how long they’ll be on the desert island. Not knowing what’s going to happen next to them. Timothy would provide food for Phillip. Then Timothy made a hut which was a shelter for both of them. They kept water inside a keg which Timothy also made.
The person that helped Phillip survive was Timothy. He helped him so much for example: When the S.S. Hato got torpedo Timothy was the one who took Phillip into the raft. He taught him how to fish, climb a palm tree, and be independent while he was blind. He created so much for Phillip just to make it easier for him to get around the Cay.
Phillip would treat Timothy different just because he was a “Negro.” Even though Timothy was going so much for Phillip; Phillip refused to do something Timothy asked him to do. Timothy got really anger because he never asked Phillip to do anything since he’s blind. Timothy slaps Phillip across the face. After that it taught Phillip to appreciate Timothy more. He realizes how much Timothy has done for him and no one asked him to, but Timothy made them for Phillip because he cares about Phillip. Timothy feels that he’s responsible for him.
While Timothy is sick Phillip learns how to fish blind, and climb a palm tree. When the hurricane was happening Phillip couldn’t see or do anything to help Timothy because Timothy had Malaria also a very high fever. Before Phillip knew it Timothy dies. IT was kind of hard for Phillip but he had to get over it. Phillip buried Timothy and placing stones at the head of grave to mark it. Eventually you have to eat everyday, so Phillip went diving for langosta. He didn’t really find it hard diving blind. He just kept diving like it was nothing to him. But in one of the dives he felt something sting. He than went back and felt something going down his arm; it was bleeding but not badly.
It’s been four months and Phillip finally hears a noise that sounds like an airplane. The first thing he did was to grab all the pebbles and try to spell out help. He than knows that it’ll take to much time. Next idea was to get some sea grape put oil on it and put the sea grape over the fire. Sooner or later he heard someone. He was relived because he was going too finally out of the deserted island. There were some people on a boat and saw the smoke. They decided to go check out where the smoke was coming from and why.
He got on the boat and the two boys started asking him questions like crazy. Next Phillip sees his parents after what seems like forever ago. His parents and Phillip go to New York to Phillip’s eyes operated. It took many operations but Phillip finally got his vision back. He returned to Willemstad in early April. He was happy to be backing home. Phillip would than talk to people who knew Timothy, and he enjoyed their company.
Phillip’s story demonstrates a true Hero’s Journey. Phillip is called to leave the war. During his journey he overcomes being prejudice with help form Timothy. Phillip proves himself to be a true hero.