Nation Chapter 12 Summary

How It All Goes Down

Cannon and Politics

  • Now that she isn't going to be executed for murder (whew!), Daphne leads Mau back to the Grandfather's cave to show him what she saw: a globe.
  • It's upside down (at least by our standards), but it's an accurate representation of the world. In an ancient cave. That's been untouched for centuries.
  • Daphne says, "I think people from this island sailed around the world, a long, long time ago. You remembered, but over the years it became a story for little children" (12.49).
  • Mau is in awe that his ancestors were such worldly, knowledgeable people. In fact, they might just be the oldest people on Earth, the origin of humanity.
  • They also find false gold teeth down there, which makes Mrs. Gurgle happy.
  • Pilu tells the story of this new finding to the people, with just a few embellishments.
  • Now that they've dual-handedly changed human history (that was easy!), Mau and Daphne are worried that something Foxlip said about Mr. Cox may have been true: that Cox is leading the cannibalistic Raiders now.
  • To prepare for invasion, Mau runs the people through a series of drills. They're about as successful as Duck and Cover would have been, but A for effort. 
  • Daphne tries to help Mau with his people-managing skills, but she has genuine doubts that they'll be able to survive.