Chapters 1-2
- William is the narrator (first person point of view) and he is on a train on his way to
Baddeck, on Cape Breton Island, which is off the coast of Nova Scotia (far from Halifax)
in the year 1917
- William is upset because his mother did not warn him that he is going to Baddeck to
work on an estate for Alexander Graham Bell
- although William's mom doesn't say it, William is convinced his mother has send him
to live there because she is worried about William's friends and the possible trouble he
could get into - William admits that he often sneaks out at night after his mother and
sister have gone to bed and meets up with his friends
- William's friends have been showing him how to become a master in gambling playing cards and dice: "My father's a sailor and he'd told me that gambling to sailors is
like honey to a bee (3)
What literary device is this?
What does it mean?
- William has a difficult relationship with his father: William is angry with is father's
absence, especially since things are difficult financially for them at home; one time when
William had snuck out to play cards, he had seen his father playing poker, and William
was tempted to go up to him, but then he would have to explain why he was there in the
middle of night; however, William's father never came home to visit his family, and a
month had passed before they got a letter from him, and there was no mention of him
being in Halifax on that night
- when his father did come home, William was very distant with him, and he finally told
his father about seeing him that night in Halifax
- William is not only learning how to gamble, but he is learning how to play tricks with
cards and dice - the boys who teach them these tricks are card sharks; they cheat
people out of money when they play cards or dice with them
- the story is brought back to the present, when William is awaken by the train
conductor, who tells him that the train isn't going to Baddeck; he will have to take a ferry
to get there
-William sees a group of men playing cards, and William decides to join them and
gamble the spending money his mother gave to him; he shows his humour when he
tells the men: "My mother is two hundred miles down the line from here. You sure your
mamas and wives are okay with it" (9)
at the beginning of chapter 2, William has fallen asleep and the train has come to the
end of the line, but William is in a difficult situation because he lost all of his money
gambling and The Blue Hill is leaving in a matter of minutes for Baddeck, and there
won't be another trip until the next morning
- William runs towards the moving boat and jumps from the dock onto the boat
- William goes over to the first mate and and pays him the 0.25 cents for the fare ( this is
a clue about the setting of the novel)
- one of the sailors on the ship, Herbie, purchases a bun for William to eat, and William
hesitates to take the food because he knows that he doesn't have the money to pay him
- what does this prove about William?
- Herbie tells William that Baddeck is a small town, and they will bump into each other in
the future, and when Herbie finds out that William is working for Alexander Graham Bell,
he knows that William will have the money to pay him back
- Herbie tells William that "some people say he's [Bell] a bit batty" (17)
What does this mean?
What rumours are there surrounding Bell's behavoiur?
Herbie states "Genius and insanity are opposite sides of the same coin (17)
What does this mean?
- William has secure this job through his mother's friend, Mrs. McCauley-Brown, who is
the head of Bells household staff; William feels that perhaps he should have argued a
bit more with his mother about going to Baddeck , but his mother is stubborn: "More
than once she [Mrs. McCracken] told me that saying somebody was a stubborn
Scotsman was like saying the same thing twice" (18)
What literary device is this?
What does it mean?
- Herbie and William discuss ships and the amount of losses that have occurred during
World War One.