Captains Courageous is a coming-of-age story that centers on a teenage boy’s adventures at sea. The main characters are Harvey Cheyne, the boy; Disko Troop, a fishing boat captain; Dan Troop, Disko’s son; and numerous other fishermen. Harvey’s parents make a brief appearance at the end.
Harvey Cheyne is from a wealthy New York family. When the fifteen-year-old falls overboard from an ocean liner, he is picked up by a fishing boat headed to Gloucester, Massachusetts. He ends up working on the boat, learning skills and how to respect others for the first time in his life. Harvey also learns the (admittedly limited) value of his school-acquired knowledge when he uses a sextant.
Disko Troop, the owner and captain of the fishing boat, named We’re Here, is a rough-hewn working man. Disko is portrayed as a strict task-master whose stern discipline includes corporal punishment. However, his intolerance of Harvey’s ineptitude softens during Harvey's months onboard.
Dan, Disko’s son, is a boy about Harvey’s age. Although he believes Harvey’s story, he is one of the few who do. When Harvey is reunited with his parents, his father hires Dan out of gratitude. The story includes a flash-forward, illustrating that Dan moved up in the Cheyne business and eventually works for Harvey.
On We’re Here, Long Jack, Manuel, Salters, and Pennsylvania are fellow fishermen and sailors who all hail from different states and countries. The cook, named Cook, is African American.
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