Ship Breaker

by Paolo Bacigalupi

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Trust and Betrayal

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Nailer lives in a difficult world. Born into one of the lowest social classes, Nailer’s life affords him few options. As ship breakers, the first priority for Nailer and his crew is always survival. As such, the temptation to betray each other is extremely strong; Sloth betrays Nailer to drown in oil so she can sell the oil and buy her way to freedom. In Nailer’s world, there is very little reason to trust anyone. In fact, considering that he has been betrayed by his father and his crewmate, it is impressive that Nailer chooses to trust others at all.

Nita comes from one of the highest social classes in Nailer’s world, but she too faces betrayal. Nita’s father has been betrayed by Pyce, one of his closest associates, and she is forced to sail into a hurricane to escape Pyce’s henchmen aboard Pole Star. When Nailer and Pima find Nita aboard her ship, all three are understandably slow to trust each other. In this world, trust is as scarce as oil.

Nailer and Nita do form a strong bond of trust. Initially, Nailer forces Nita to mix blood and to swear to become crew with him. However, Nailer learns that these oaths are not true trust. Instead, he starts to learn that shared experiences form stronger bonds. By the end of Ship Breaker, Nailer realizes that he considers Nita and Pima more his family than he does his father, Richard Lopez.

Class Conflict

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Nailer lives in a desperate world. Many wonder if the people of Bright Sands Beach can survive if they live according to principles. Most swanks would argue that ship breakers like Nailer are corrupt through and through. However, Bacigalupi carefully deconstructs this stereotype.

He begins by showing the exceptions to the rule. Richard Lopez lives without any principle but survival, and his choices are often motivated by pain. Interestingly, he most strongly resembles Pyce, the man who betrayed Nita’s father. Meanwhile, Tool tells Nita that Sadna is worth one hundred of any swank he has ever met. Sadna values all people regardless of their background, even half men like Tool; she even risked her life to save his.

By the end of the novel, Nailer’s belief that both intelligence and luck are required to get ahead deconstructs the idea that it is easy to live successfully or easily. Captain Candless of the Dauntless points out to Nailer that he earned his position as captain through hard work and skill. However, Nailer insists that Candless was given the option to move ahead in life through hard work and skill by virtue of his lucky birth. In contrast, people like Nailer and Pima have very few choices. When they find Nita’s shipwreck, they view it as their only chance to get ahead in life.

Perhaps they are right. Nailer and Pima have access to few resources and lack an education because they are ship breakers. When Nailer wins the chance to work aboard the Dauntless, he is deemed unworthy to contribute until he learns to read. Worse, the rich classes seem to prey on the lower classes, not only profiting from child laborers like Nailer but also buying organs and body parts from the poor. In fact, Nita’s family owns one such organization that preys on the poor.

Bacigalupi works to cross the divide between the wealthy and the poor through Nailer’s relationship with Nita. Although they come from different social classes, Nita and Nailer work together and come to respect and admire each other while living together in poverty. Nailer proves himself more...

(This entire section contains 374 words.)

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than once duringShip Breaker, but he always has to fight for the chance to prove himself.

The Inherent Value of Humanity

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Ultimately, Bacigalupi strives to convince his young adult audience that they have value regardless of their background. All people have the ability to make choices that will determine their identity and, to some extent, their fortune. Richard Lopez is evil largely because he has chosen to give into the violence and pain within him. Nailer worries that he will follow a path like his father’s.

In this way, Tool serves a source of hope for Nailer. Tool should not be genetically capable of making decisions for himself. Bred as a cross between a human, a dog, and a tiger, Tool should be nothing more than his name implies. However, Tool chooses his allegiances and battles carefully. He seems to have transcended the destiny that was created for him, and he informs Nailer that there is more to a person than their blood, or genes. All people have potential and value.

The Importance of the Environment

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Nailer lives in a world in which the ice caps have melted and climate change has created violent weather. Cities have been destroyed to a point that only relics and skyscrapers remain. Hurricanes are so powerful that they are now known as “city killers.” Oil is scarce and the American middle class of twentieth-century America has disappeared as a result. In Nailer’s world, there is a wide gap between the poor and the swanks. Throughout the novel, the world is presented as a harsh, powerful entity in which the poor must make their way as best they can.

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