In The Cay by Theodore Taylor, Phillip and his mother must leave Curacao as Phillip's mother no longer considers the area safe, although his father will stay behind to continue his job on the refinery there. In an effort to get home to Virginia, they will travel to Miami via Panama on the S.S.Hato. However, the ship is torpedoed and during the evacuation, Phillip is separated from his mother and finds himself afloat on a raft with Timothy, who he describes as "a huge, very old Negro."
Phillip is just a child and behaves characteristically, putting his own needs first and only thinking about the effects on him rather than considering Timothy's viewpoint. He complains about the water which Timothy insists that they drink cautiously so as to have enough to drink and he blames his mother for his situation but Timothy tries to put it in perspective for...
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him when he says, "she started dis terrible wahr, eh, young bahss?"
When Phillip suddenly becomes blind, he is scared and can hardly breathe. He takes out his anger on Timothy but Timothy accepts it if it will help Phillip feel better. It takes Phillip quite some time before he learns to trust and respect Timothy, especially as he has certain preconceptions regarding Timothy, even feeling superior to him when he realizes that Timothy can apparently not read. However, Phillip undergoes quite a transformation and learns to consider Timothy as his "friend," his prejudice and boyish selfishness forgotten.
How is Phillip selfish in Theodore Taylor's The Cay?
Being very young and inexperienced with enduring tribulations,
Phillip does behave a bit selfishly at the
beginning of Theodore Taylor's The Cay, especially while still on the
raft and when he is first learning to cope with his blindness.
The second time Phillip awakens on the raft after having been unconscious from
a severe blow to the head, he wakes up feeling very hot and with his head still
severely hurting. When he asks for water, he doesn't understand why Timothy
gives him only a tiny drop, saying "'Tis best to 'ave only an outrageous smahl
amount. Jus' enough to wet d'tongue" (p. 34). When Timothy explains that if
they drink it too fast, they will lose it too fast, and they must preserve what
they have, Phillip is still unable to understand, especially
because he envisions being picked up right away by a ship his father has sent
out. Phillip's response is to selfishly yell at him, "You're
saving all the water for yourself" (p. 37).
Once on the island, Phillip helps Timothy pull vines Timothy will use to weave
a rope that extends from their camp sight down to their signal fire; the rope
is to help Phillip safely navigate to the fire and the beach should he need to
do so on his own. But after pulling the vines, Phillip settles down under a
palm tree. When Timothy tells Phillip he needs to start helping with the rest
of the work to set up their camp, Phillip's selfish response
is to say, "Timothy, I'm blind. I can't see to work" (p. 45). When Timothy
tries to encourage him to learn to see with his hands, not his eyes, Phillip's
selfish response is to grow angry and still refuse to help. However, Phillip
soon has a moment of epiphany. When it dawns on him just how
much Timothy is doing to help him, Phillip lets go of his selfishness and
racist judgements and declares that he wants to be Timothy's friend. From that
day onward, Phillip does what he can to learn to be independent and even helps
Timothy the best he can when Timothy is later struck with malaria.