Character Analysis
When an NFL team from Oakland washes ashore things really start getting weird in Nation.
Don't Raid on Our Parade
Okay, we're kidding. These are different Raiders: a cannibalistic tribe of nomads that roam the seas worshiping "Locaha [the god of death] himself" (5.57). Well, that sounds scary. No wonder Mau spends so much time preparing his people for their inevitable arrival.
But when it finally happens ... it's a little anti-climatic. The raiders turn out to be total cowards, waiting for their new leader, First Mate Cox, to do all the work. Their philosophy? "One rung down, that was the place for a sensible man to be" (13.44). All of the power, none of the responsibility. So, when Mau defeats Cox, the Raiders flee.
One funny thing Daphne notes is how much the Raiders look like the government officials she knows back in England. She thinks about one guy that "he would look exactly like the prime minister back home" (13.45). This is a good lesson for Grandma Fanshaw: things are pretty much the same all over the world.