How It All Goes Down
Section 301
- When The Boy gets out of the water he's "blue with cold" (301.1). The Man notices that he's crying, too.
Section 302
- They build a fire and eat okra, beans, and potatoes.
- In the middle of the night, The Man gets up and walks along the beach. He imagines "deathships" out in the ocean, "great squid propelling themselves over the floor of the sea," and another man with a child on the opposite shore.
Section 303
- The Man remembers another time he woke up in the middle of the night. In the memory, he hears crabs clattering across a pan and then looks at the stars and surf. He smoothes his wife's hair and thinks that "if he were God he would have made the world just so and no different" (303).
Section 304
- The Man walks back to camp. The Boy is awake and has been calling to him. The Man puts more wood on the fire.
Section 305
- In the morning they eat and gather more driftwood. The Man tells The Boy that they're "beachcombers," but The Boy doesn't understand and The Man has to explain it to him.
Section 306
- They stand on a rock jetty and stare at a wrecked sailboat. The Boy wonders if anyone is on it. The Man doesn't think so.
Section 307
- They walk along the beach and see lots of bones and weeds. The Man thinks: "One vast salt sepulcher [tomb, or grave]. Senseless. Senseless" (307.1).
Section 308
- The Man decides he's going to check out the sailboat. He takes off his shoes and gives The Boy the pistol. The Boy is a little scared but mostly seems OK staying behind.
Section 309
- The Man swims out to the boat and pulls himself aboard. The boat's name is written in Spanish.
Section 310
- The Man breaks down the cabin door with his shoulder. Ouch.