Hornbill Chapter-2

We’re Not Afraid to Die… if We Can All Be Together

by: Gordon Cook and Alan East

Summary:

This is a story of extreme courage and skill exhibited by a family of four. A little more nervousness would throw off balance and the inevitable-death would swallow everyone up. Along with the adults, the two children too are worth mentioning as they showed exemplary courage and understanding even in the face of death. Fear and fear factors are associated with death. The idea of losing one’s life can throw even the mightiest out of gear. Hence, natural calamities like Earthquake, tsunamis and floods strike us with fear. These are the things that cause immeasurable loss of life and property.

The author with his wife Mary and their two children-Jonathan and Suzanne-was the family of four. They tried to duplicate the round the world voyage in their professionally built boat-The WAVEWALKER. They also picked up two crew men-American Vigil and Swiss Herb to tackle of the world’s roughest seas-The Southern Indian Ocean. The initial period of their voyage wasn’t worrying as strong gales and winds were conspicuous by their absence. The weather turned bad, yet they had a wonderful Christmas 3500 kilometers east of Cape Town. However, the following days were one of the worst faced by Mary’s family. High waves roared and lashed the ship on both sides of the ship. The WAVEWALKER shook and the author was thrown overboard. The ship was about to capsize when another gigantic wave hit it making it right side up again. The author was thrown back onto the deck, his head and ribs smashed against the walls and blood began to appear.

The author didn’t lose his temper. He tried to repair the leakage in the ships’ control of the wheel. No immediate help was available as they were in one of the remotest corner of the world. Suzanne too suffered a head injury, black eyes and a deep cut on her arms. She was extremely brave not to speak of her injury. She simply didn’t want to bother her parents when they were trying to save everybody on board.

The family had survived for more than fifteen hours and was desperately looking for rescue. The ship was in a bad condition and would not last to reach Australia. The nearest would be to reach Ile Amsterdam, a French Scientific base. However, their respite was short-lived when the dark clouds began to appear again.

John opined that they were not afraid to die if all of them stuck together. It was an example of unity and oneness. It also spoke of the trust and belief that the children had in each other. The children, even in the face of death, had the patience to gift a ‘thank-you’ card to their parents. It was a symbol of trust.

The author and his wife checked and rechecked their calculations. The westerly currents were calculated and they turned their ship by 185 degrees. They sailed on and found Amsterdam by evening. Their joy knew no bounds when they spotted the island. It was in fact, Suzanne, who spotted the island and announcing it to her father. They anchored off-shore for the night and struggled on to reach the island with the help of the inhabitants of the island. Finally, they had landed on their feet again. It was both the grace of God and their courage and patience, which actually helped them. The family lived on to tell their nightmarish story. In short, it is a story which brightly highlighted the fact that a small six year old boy was not afraid to die, if he was given the option to die with his family. In other words, we learn about courage, love and faith of a family of four.

In this story, the children of the narrator played the most crucial role in his life. they were loving, caring, and concerned towards their parents. they were courageous too……. The most touching line in this story was that………………” We’re not afraid to die if we can all be together” said by the children to their father and they even hugged their father too……A family like this must have been originated from heaven………

Examination Style Questions:

1. What was the object behind the writer’s undertaking the journey?

Ans: The writer undertook the voyage along with his wife in order to duplicate the round the world voyage made 200 years earlier by Captain James Cook.

2. Describe the boat which was made for undertaking the voyage.

Ans: The name of the boat which was made for undertaking the voyage was ‘Wavewalker’. It was a 23 meter, 30 ton wooden-hulled boat which had been professionally built and the writer and his wife had spent months fitting it out and testing it in the roughest weather they could find.

3. What are Mayday calls? Why was the ship getting no replies to its Mayday calls?

Ans: Mayday calls are distress signals sent through the radio by ships facing troubles in the sea for getting help from other ships passing nearby. The ship ‘Wavewalker’ was not getting replies to its Mayday calls because the boat had reached a remote part of the sea where other ships did not go.

4. What did Sue say when she was asked by her father why she had not complained much about her grave injuries at the first instance?

Ans: Sue had been injured badly when the wave had hit the ship. Her head had swollen alarmingly. She had two very big enormous black eyes and she had also showed to her parents a deep cut on her arm. When asked why she had not complained about her injuries earlier she replied that she had not wanted to worry her parents when they were trying to save them all.

5. Comment on the mood of the sea on 2nd January 2010? How did the writer and his family and the crewmen prepare for that?

Ans: At dawn on January 2, the waves became gigantic. As the ship of the writer rose to the top of each wave, they could see the sea water rolling towards them and the noise made by the wind and the spray of the wave water was painful to their ears. In order to slow the boat down, they dropped the storm jib and lashed a heavy mooring rope in a loop across the stern. Then they double lashed

everything and went through their life raft drill, attached lifelines and wore oilskins and life jackets and waited for the worst things to happen.

6. What happened at 6pm on 2nd of January?

Ans: At 6 pm on 2nd January, the sea became silent and the wind dropped and the sky grew immediately dark. After that a very huge wave which was double the size of the other waves struck the ship with explosive power and damaged it.

7.What difference did you notice between the reaction of the adults & the children when faced with danger?

Ans: They both were calm Adults put all the efforts to save their lives. They did not lose hope. Children also got injuries but they were very brave & they were not afraid to die.

8.How does the story suggest that optimism helps to “endure the direst stress”?

Ans: The narrator his wife & two children set out a journey. During the journey they faced many problems like rough sea, rough weather water flooded their ship. They got injuries. But in such situation also they did not lose hope.

9.What lessons do we learn from such hazardous experiences when we are face-to-face with death?

Ans-When we are face to face with death we have to calm. We have to think that what we can do. We did not have to panic in such situations. We have to do all the possible things that we can do. Instead of lighting with each other we have to be unite.

10.Why do you think people undertake such adventurous expedition in spite of the risks involved?

Ans-People undertake such adventurous expedition in spite of the risks involved because -

1. They found enjoyment in doing such adventurous things.
2. Some people are habitual& some want money by doing this.
3. They want to be the best & famous by doing this.
4. Some have nature of doing this.

11.What was the first indicator of rough weather?

Ans-On their second day out of Cape Town they encountered strong winds for the next few weeks, the gales blew continuously. They did not worry the narrator but the size of the waves was disturbing.

12.How did they pass the first leg of the journey?

Ans: It was pleasant sailing down the West coast of Africa to Cape Town.

13.Who were Larry and Herb? What role did they play?

Ans: Crew members Larry Vigil was an American and Herb Seigler was from Switzerland. They were of great help. As a team they worked with the narrator-kept pumping water out of Wavewalker till the water level was brought under control.

14.Why and when did the captain send ‘May Day Calls’? What was the response?

Ans: When nothing worked well after the gigantic wave had hit the Wave walker...impending disaster awaited-the captain sent ‘May Day Calls’-no response as this part of the ocean is less travelled.

15.How did Jonathan react to the desperate situation they found themselves in on 5^th January?Ans:Jonathan asked his father if they were all going to die. On the father’s reassurance, he said that they were not afraid of dying if they could all be together –his dad, mom, Sue and himself.

16. How did the narrator respond to little Jon‟s words? What do his actions reveal about his character?
    Ans:The narrator could not find any words to respond to his son’s remark. However, as he left his children’s cabin, he was determined to fight the sea with everything he had. This shows his courageous nature and his love for his children. He was a caring father who wanted to save his children at all costs.
    
    
17. How did Sue try to enliven the gloomy atmosphere?
    Ans: Sue tried to enliven the gloomy atmosphere by trying her hand at making a card for her parents. She had drawn their caricatures and written that she had drawn some funny people. She had written that she loved both her parents. The card expressed her heart felt thanks to them and she hoped for the best.
    
    
18. Who do you think did the narrator call Ile Amsterdam, the most beautiful island in the world‟?
    Ans: The island was only a bleak piece of volcanic rock with little vegetation–the author called it the most beautiful island in the world because it had given them a ray of hope for survival. They could at least anchor there and repair their ship.
    
    
19. What did the narrator think of landing at Ile Amsterdam? Why?
    Ans:On landing at Ile Amsterdam, the narrator’s thoughts were full of Larry and Herbie, his crew members who remained cheerful and optimistic throughout the hardships. He thought of his wife also, who stayed at the wheel for all those crucial hours. He also thought of his daughter, who had been so brave all through the ordeal and had not bothered about her head injury.
    
    
20. How can you say that Suzanne‟s injuries were serious?
    Ans:Suzanne’s injuries were serious because she had to undergo six minor surgeries to remove a recurring blood clot between her skin and skull. She had also injured her arm and had two black eyes.
    
    
    Long Answer Type Questions:
    
    
21. Highlight the tremendous courage and heroism shown by the two children during the struggle of the ship to keep from sinking?
    Ans: The two children Suzanne and Jonathan, who were aged seven and six respectively, showed tremendous courage and stoicism during the epic struggle, put up by their parents and the crewmen to keep the ship from sinking. Suzanne had been injured badly when the wave had hit the ship. Her head had swollen alarmingly. She had two very big enormous black eyes and she had also showed to her parents a deep cut on her arm. When asked why she had not complained about her injuries earlier she replied that she had not wanted to worry her parents when they were trying to save them all.
    On January 5th when the condition of the ship was very bad, the author went in to comfort the children and his son, Jonathan, asked him if they were going to die. When he was assured that they would all survive somehow he told his father that they were not afraid of dying if they could all be together. That very evening the badly injured Suzanne had patience and power enough even to draw caricatures of her parents with the words, “Here are some funny people. Did they make you laugh?” She had written a message also inside which said that she had loved them both and that card was meant to say thanks to his father and hope for the best. Such extraordinary patience, courage and tolerance shown by the small children on the face of an enormously dangerous situation gave courage and inspiration to his parents to fight hard for survival.
    
    
22. How does the story suggest that optimism helps to endure “the direst stress”?
    Ans: Optimism is a determination to overcome difficulties. It raises one’s spirits and helps one overcome stress and difficulty with ease. The story displays courage and optimism throughout. Survival happens only because of the optimistic struggle that the family carries on with.
    The level of perseverance in the author rises when Jonathan says, “we’re not afraid of dying if we can all be together. Besides, the caricatures of him and Mary, drawn by Sue, helps his determination and optimism to grow many folds. The positive outlook of the children infuses positivity in the narrator. He rigorously calculates their position and finally asks Larry to steer a course of 185 degrees. Though he had lost all hope by then, he did not show it and optimistically told Larry that they would spot the island by about 5 P.M. Fortunately, their struggle and optimism pays off and they manage to find Ile Amsterdam by evening.
    
    
23. What lesson do we learn from the hazardous experience of life. Suggest in support of the text - “We're not afraid to die...” .
    Ans: From the hazardous experience of life we learn to live in all circumstances. Hazards give us courage to fight with all the circumstances. It also gives us optimism as the narrator and his family along with two other crew members set their sail for round the world voyage. They started after making all the plans meticulously but still the circumstance did not favour them and they were close to death, but they did not lose hope and kept on fighting till the end, thus landing up safely. This taught them courage and developed the feeling of togetherness even more. Now they were ready to face even the most adverse situation of life.