Dec 23, 2009

A Boat to Nowhere | Themes and Characters

The powerful, universal theme—that human beings can survive incredibly cruel natural and man-made circumstances in the name of responsibility and love—guides character as well as setting. The main actors in this drama of survival are an adult and three children, who become the Boat People. Historically, most boatloads of refugees were overladen, some even sinking under the weight of too many people. However, Wartski limits her cast to four, because her purpose is to show individual rather than collective experience and growth. The eldest traveler, village headman and scholar, is Thay...