Characters and Setting
The main characters are Phillip, Timothy, Phillip’s
dad, Phillip’s mom, and Herik Van Boven and Stew
Cat.
Curacao is Caribbean island off the coast of
Venezuela and curacao is the largest of the dutch
islands just off the coast of Venezuela.
The cay has white sand beaches and it is deserted.
It takes place in 1942 during world war two.
Plot line of the story
In the beginning of The Cay the story takes place in Curacao off the coast of Venezuela,
when world war two is happening. Phillip is really excited about the war because he has
never been in one. The other people like his parents are really scared. His mom doesn’t like
it there so she wants to go to Virginia on the S.S. Hato to keep Phillip safe.
A torpedo hit the S.S. Hato, when they go to the lifeboats and get on one, something hits
Phillip in the head when they drop in the water. When Phillip wakes up he is with a black
man named Timothy and a cat named Stew. When Phillip meets Timothy, Phillip says that
blacks and whites are not the same, but Timothy just said, “I truly think beneath the skin we
are all the same.” In the morning Phillip lost his eyesight. After many of days on the raft,
Timothy spots an island. When they arrive at the island Timothy has to build a hut and get
food so they can survive. Timothy gets malaria, after his fever breaks down Timothy
teaches Phillip how to do stuff in case Timothy dies.
A storm has come and after the storm Timothy died. Timothy used his body to protect
Phillip through the storm, he gave his life for Phillip. Phillip held his hand while he died.
Phillip and Stew Cat are alone and Phillip now has to do the stuff Timothy taught him to
survive.
After the storm the island was a mess the first things Phillip did was dig a grave for
Timothy, clean the camp area, and went to go get Langosta. When he was there he got bit
by an eel. Then he heard an airplane, but he didn’t get rescued.
Phillip was rescued by American men. The men brought him to his parents. His parents
were really happy to see him.
At the end of the story he went to the doctor and got his eyesight back after three
operations, but he has to wear glasses. Someday Phillip wants to go back to the island
and find Timothy’s grave.
Food and Water
When they were on the raft they had a tin box with biscuits and
chocolate squares. Flying fish jumped into their raft and Timothy
knocked them in the head with his knife and ate them raw.
On the Island Timothy would dive down and get langosta and he
would fish and gather muscles and eggs from sea urchins. They tried
to make soup out of sea grapes. When Phillip was brave enough he
climbed the trees to get coconuts for their milk and meat.
To collect drinking water on the island Timothy made his own
catchment out of boards from the top of the raft and made a large
trough that would catch the rain. He picked up bamboo pieces on the
beach and put them together into a short pipe so the water could go
into the keg.
climax
l
The story changes in this chapter because Timothy dies after
a big storm hit the island so Phillip has to survive on his own.
Phillip is caring in this chapter because when Timothy dies
Phillip holds his hand and lays down next to him. At this point in
the book we can see that Phillip has grown up and changed for
the better and he can take care of himself. He also shows that
Timothy was a real friend and wrote, “thank you Timothy” on his
grave with rocks.
Racism

Phillip’s mom does not like black people. She told Phillip, “ They
are not the same as you, Phillip. They are different and they live
differently. That’s the way it must be.”

Phillip was prejudice against black people too. After Timothy ate
fish on the raft he said to himself, “Yes, they were different. They
ate raw fish. In the story when Phillip was trying to make a palm
mat he threw the palm fibers at Timothy and screamed, “You ugly
black man! I won’t do it! You’re stupid, you can’t even spell.’

The Nazi’s were German soldiers who didn’t like the Jews. They
caused World War II. The S.S. Hato was torpedoed by the
Germans during the war.
Characters
Phillip is prejudice to black people and disrespectful to
his mother. Phillip undergoes a lot of big changes in the
Cay, He may have started out not so nice but he ends up
being a really nice guy.
Timothy is nice, generous, positive, kind hearted, and
full of wisdom. He believes blacks and whites are equal.
They are both a like because they are both trying to
survive at the end they are both working together.
They are different because Timothy is old and black and
Phillip is young and white, Phillip is blind and Timothy is
not, and in the beginning Phillip is mean to Timothy and
Timothy was nice to Phillip.
Symbolism
Blindness: When Phillip lost his eyesight he has to learn to
use his other senses to survive and he learned to love Timothy.
Sharks: The sharks add natural danger and suspense when
they are floating on the raft. The authors also likened the
dangerous German submarines to sharks.
Coconut Tree: Climbing the coconut tree was a big trial for
Phillip. Once he climbed the tree it showed that he could
survive on his own and take care of Timothy too.
Island Animals: The animals on the island have to defend
themselves against intruders just like those living in Curacao
have to defend themselves from the German invaders.
Theme of Friendship
In the beginning Timothy did everything for Phillip because he was
blind and was always compassionate and kind toward him. He fished and
gathered food, made the hut, put a rope around the Island so Phillip could
get around and taught him how to survive. Timothy was Phillips eyes, he
would describe the sky and other things for him. He made many fishing
poles for Phillip to use after his death, he looked after him. When the big
storm came Timothy used his body to shelter and protect Phillip the best he
could, he gave his life for his friend. He was always a true friend.
Phillip showed the most compassion towards the end of the story
like when he climbed the coconut tree because he knew how much Timothy
wanted to eat them. After the storm Phillip held Timothy’s hand because he
learned in his world of darkness holding a hand is like medicine. As
Timothy died Phillip laid down next to him and held his hand. After he died
he dug him a grave and wrote with stones on top of, “Thank you Timothy.”
Author’s purpose


He wrote this story to show us that people from different
backgrounds, races, and ages can all be friends and that all people
are equal. After spending time on the island together Phillip and
Timothy learned to respect, help and care for each other.
After Timothy and Phillip had a fight a change came to Phillip he
says, “Something happened to me that day on the cay. I'm not quite
sure what it was even now, but I had begun to change. I said to
Timothy, "I want to be your friend. “He said softly, "Young bahss,
you'ave always been my friend.“ I said, "Can you call me Phillip
instead of young boss?“ "Phill-eep," he said warmly. From then on
they were equal and friends.