Chapters 1–3
Summary
Chapter 1: Quoyle
The Shipping News opens by introducing the main character in the novel, Quoyle. The
narrator tells that at thirty-six, Quoyle goes off to Newfoundland, home of his ancestors,
but then the narration flashes back to provide some background information. Since he
was a small child, Quoyle was regarded as a failure by his family, and he grew up
ashamed and lonesome. The narrator describes him as a "great damp loaf of a body," his
"chief failure, a failure of normal appearance." Not only is Quoyle extraordinarily large
and fleshy, but he also has an abnormally large chin, a "freakish shelf jutting" out from
his face.
After dropping out of college, Quoyle lives in a town called Mockingburg, where he
meets a friend, Partridge at the Laundromat. Hungry for friendship, Quoyle begins
spending many evenings dining with Partridge and his wife, Mercalia. An excellent cook,
Partridge also works at the local newspaper and gets Quoyle a job as a reporter. Quoyle is
a terrible writer, but still feels energized and inspired by his job. Partridge is harsh with
him at work, but helps him nonetheless, and remains his friend outside the office. Ed
Punch, the editor, repeatedly fires and hires Quoyle, and Quoyle finds odd jobs to do in
between the newspaper stints. The editor notes that for all Quoyle's faults, he has an
uncanny way of inspiring people to talk and tell their stories.
Partridge and Mercalia move to California. Mercalia has become the first black woman
truck driver in the country, giving up academia in favor of blue-collar work. Quoyle feels
lost left in Mockingburg, uncertain of where his life will take him next.
Chapter 2: Love Knot
Quoyle meets Petal Bear at a meeting he is presumable covering for the paper. Quoyle
falls for her erotic provocation immediately, and they begin a love affair that only offered
one month of happiness, and six years of suffering. The narrator likens Petal to Genghis
Khan, constantly conquering men with sexual encounters. She was attracted to Quoyle
for the sex, but finds his form and personality detestable. They marry quickly, and Petal
unashamedly spends all her time going after other men. She calls Quoyle from Alabama
to make him read her a drink recipe; she brings home a man and has sex with him in the
living room within Quoyle's earshot. She gives birth to two daughters, Bunny and
Sunshine, who she neither wants or loves. Quoyle suffers deeply, wanting her desperately
in spite of her cruelty.
Chapter 3: Strangle Knot
Quoyle's parents, who belong to the Dignified Exit Society, commit suicide together after
both being diagnosed with tumors. His father leaves a message on Quoyle's answering
machine, telling him that they have made arrangements for the cremation. Quoyle's
brother does not come to the funeral, only concerned with his inheritance. Quoyle's
father's sister, Agnis Hamm does not go either, but comes to visit Quoyle to pick up the
ashes.
Around this time, Petal leaves with another man, taking her daughters with her. Quoyle
comes home to the unpaid babysitter, and goes about trying to get his children back. The
aunt arrives, and comforts him with tea and kindness. Although Quoyle keeps trying to
defend Petal, the aunt understands immediately that Petal is a "bitch in high heels."
Eventually, the police find Petal and the man dead from a car accident. The children are
found in a child molester's house; presumably, Petal had sold them to him. They have not
yet been sexually abused, and are returned to Quoyle. His children gravitate toward his
arms. The aunt decides she will stay for a little while, until things get settled again.
Analysis
The excerpts from the Ashley Book of Knots that precede the chapters introduce a motif
that will recur throughout the book. The definition of "quoyle" precedes Quoyle's
character, anticipating his personality for the reader. The quoyle (or coil of rope), when
made in one layer only, can be used for walking on. Quoyle, as a character, is continually
put down, submissive to the cruelty of those around him. This definition also frames the
boundaries of Quoyle's character, in effect teaching the reader how he or she should read
Quoyle. The reader automatically looks for evidence in the text that Quoyle is a walkedupon character.
Indeed, these chapters develop Quoyle's submissive, resigned character, one constantly
the object of cruelty. On the first page of the novel, the narrator says that he long learned
to "separate his feelings from his life"; in other words, he makes no effort to stave off
others' insults and cruel behavior. At the newspaper office, he does not even feel hurt
when others bellow names at him, and constantly insult his work. Any other person
would be less likely to put up with an editor consistently firing him, but Quoyle endures
others' disrespect as if he does not believe he deserves to be treated any better. He cries
when he stains all of his laundry; he is not only a failure, but he is also resigned to his
status as such.
Proulx creates a world that is hyperbolically cruel, almost to the point of comedy. The
plethora of hurtful characters creates a sense that the reader has entered an exaggerated
world, in which almost without exception, bad news is followed by bad news. Quoyle's
father, when not trying to drown him, taught him he was a failure, while his brother
offered incessant insults. Petal Bear is so cruel that she borders on caricature. Small
details add humor, but only in the context of a dark world. The father leaves a message
on Quoyle's answering machine in order to give instructions about his funeral; Sunshine
slides in dish soap, covered in chocolate, avoiding a close brush with sexual abuse; Petal
sells her kids to a child molester before taking off to Florida with a new man, and then
dies on the way.
In the context of this world, any neutral circumstance comes as a relief. The idea that
Quoyle finds such fulfillment in the mundane jobs of a third-rate newspaperman suggests
that a world absent of pain is a good world. The list of world crises at the end of the first
chapter, like the cast of hurtful characters, is another example of hyperbole. The terrors of
disease, natural disasters, and economic downfall make the stories Quoyle reports—
mundane local affairs—seem comforting and even fulfilling. He finds great satisfaction
in the idea of entering a world where nothing of any importance happens. In the context
of local meetings, he finds order and clarity that a confused, cruel world at large does not
offer. By the time the aunt shows up, making tea for Quoyle in his crisis, the reader most
likely regards her as a literal saint.
The knot itself crops up in the text in myriad forms. In general, the knots that are used as
chapter titles symbolize a theme or event within the chapter. The story of the love knot
that precedes Chapter Two describes in detail how the tightness of the knot symbolizes
the strength of a lover's commitment. Like a sailor at sea with an uninterested sweetheart
at home, Quoyle has received numerous signs from Petal that their love is no longer. A
"loose" woman in the sexual sense, she resembles the knot in its most loose form.
Quoyle, alternatively, holds on to the idea of their marriage so tightly that he is living in
perpetual misery. One may liken his emotion to the knot in its tightest form. Even the
language in the chapter relates back to the knot; when he meets her, Petal "[throws] loops
and crossings" in his stomach, as a cruel lover might tease (suggest the possibility of a
tied knot) when in fact she has no interest. The strangle knot of Chapter Three, that holds
"a coil" suggests that the events of this chapter will sufficiently strangle Quoyle. Indeed,
he breaks down when he finds Petal is dead, and his children have narrowly escaped
tragedy.
Chapters 4–6
Summary
Chapter 4: Cast Away
The aunt has convinced Quoyle to move himself and children with her to Newfoundland.
After dreaming about Petal in a bread truck with a strange man, Quoyle realizes he needs
a change in his life in order to move on. He calls Partridge to see if his old friend has any
newspaper connections in Newfoundland, and Partridge, always anxious to help finds
him a job.
Aunt, Quoyle, Bunny and Sunshine are on the ferry, and when the aunt sees the island,
she begins to cry for her old homeland. She feels herself arriving as so many people have
arrived to this island throughout history. She thinks of the "malefic spirits" that the harsh
conditions here tend to breed. She also remembers her father dying, as the result of the
failure of a knot tying a can hook.
Chapter 5: A Rolling Hitch
The aunt, Quoyle, and children are driving around the island, trying to get to Quoyle's
Point, the location of the aunt's old home. The road to Capsize Cove, which is on the
way, is old and muddy. Finally, they give up for the night, and decide to sleep the night
on the side of the road. Bunny gets angry and tells Quoyle he is dumb, for which the aunt
scolds her sharply.
The next day, as they head out again, Bunny dreams of blue beads that keep slipping off
the string, even though she holds it with both hands. Meanwhile, the road turns to a good
gravel and eventually, the group finds a concrete building, all locked up. They stop and
have some tea, and the aunt sees the old house through the fog. When they climb up to it,
they find it has deteriorated over the years; still, it is filled with memories for the aunt,
and she is determined to fix it up. Bunny asks if Petal will come to live with them there,
wishing she could wear her mother's blue beads. Alone at the back of the house, Bunny
sees a white dog, that gives her a huge fright. When she comes to find Quoyle, he cannot
find the animal anywhere.
Chapter 6: Between Ships
Since Quoyle's job is in Killick-Claw, the location of the house presents a problem for
him. The aunt suggests he get a boat, since it would be easier to get to town across the
bay, than get up the first part of the road. Since the house is not ready anyway, and the
aunt wants to set up her own business (she is an upholstery maker), they decide to rent a
room in town for awhile.
The aunt makes a list of what needs fixing in the house before they head back up to town.
One the way, Quoyle stops for coffee and finds out the concrete structure they found used
to be a glove factory. Caught in a snowstorm, the group cannot get back to Killick-Claw.
They find the run-down Tickle Motel, where they stay the night. Sunshine wakes up with
a nightmare, and the aunt comments that "the Old Hag's got her" referring to Petal.
Quoyle feels equally tormented by Petal's ghost. The next day, they lock themselves in
the hotel room, and with a dead telephone, finally resort to hanging a rescue sign in the
window.
Analysis
These chapters introduce the novel's Newfoundland setting. As the site of Quoyle's
ancestry and the aunt's family, Newfoundland is rich with memories and history. When
Quoyle is a young boy, he fantasizes that he had been given to the wrong family, and
thinks of a family with a changeling of the Quoyles coming to retrieve him. In a sense,
the aunt and the Newfoundland shores are a kind of new family for Quoyle. Quoyle also
sees a portrait in Ed Punch's office, who he guesses may be Ed's grandfather, and gets to
thinking about ancestry. This kind of preoccupation with familial history anticipates the
move to Newfoundland.
The three chapters that introduce the new setting also develop the aunt's character. The
aunt, having lived in Newfoundland through her childhood and youth, feels a strong
sense of home as she returns to the island. The first sight of Newfoundland is told
through her eyes, as she thinks of all the peoples who came here, looking for cod and
cities of gold, and locates herself among them. She too, the reader finds out in later
chapters, is running from an old life, longing for a sense of home, just as Quoyle is.
The passage at the end of Chapter Four in which the aunt sees Newfoundland for the first
time in fifty years, shows the way that landscape and place is always culturally inscribed.
That is, the landscape is not a given that the character acts against, but the landscape is in
fact produced by the prejudices and cultural values of the character. The harshness of the
Newfoundland landscape is presented through the loving eyes of the aunt, to suggest that
this landscape offers strength and character even in the midst of poverty and desperation.
Her memories of the hard life are juxtaposed with her tears at seeing the place for the first
time again; the reader feels the sense that the island must offer more than harsh
conditions in order to inspire her longing for this place. When, at the end of the chapter,
she wonders which has changed more, the place or herself, the narrator establishes the
idea of the place as a dynamic entity, instead of an unchangeable backdrop.
Newfoundland almost becomes like another character in the novel.
The aunt's Newfoundland upbringing is evident in her "stouthearted" personality. Indeed,
she also gives the reader a sense that someone in this world knows that Quoyle deserves
better. At the end of Chapter Four, it crosses her mind to throw Quoyle's father's ashes in
the dumpster. She in a way acts out anger and disgust toward this man on behalf of
Quoyle (although the reader has the sense that the aunt has her own history of pain with
Guy). A similar situation arises when Bunny yells at Quoyle, and tells him he is dumb.
The aunt immediately bellows back at her, refusing to allow her to speak with such
disrespect. When Petal dies, it is the aunt who thinks to ask about collecting death
insurance. As a sixty-five year old woman, she is also determined not only to fix up a
totally deteriorated home, but also plans to start her own upholstery business on the
island.
The dilapidated house seems to symbolizes the stronghold of the family's legacy on
Newfoundland, the potential for a new life, and the threat that their new life is ruined
before it has begun. The knot that used to hold the broom in place in the house has failed.
Bunny's memory of her mother's beads also dramatizes the symbolic significance of
knots and ties. Although she holds the string at both ends, the beads keep slipping away.
In a symbolic sense, she cannot be tied or bound to her mother any longer. Even as
Quoyle is tormented by memories of Petal, this detail suggests that their old life is fading
away, and anticipates a brighter future.
Chapters 7–9
Summary
Chapter 7: The Gammy Bird
On the way to his first day of work, Quoyle sees a woman with a child walking along the
road. He arrives at The Gammy Bird newspaper office, he meets the staff, a rich cast of
local color. They include the likes of Tert Card, the crusty, sarcastic managing editor;
Billy Pretty who writes the Home News page; and Nutbeem who plagiarizes foreign
news stories. After observing a few newsroom arguments, Quoyle settles in to acquaint
himself with the paper, which includes a borage of ads, a hilarious gossip section, and
numerous sexual abuse stories. His second day of work, Quoyle meets Jack Buggit, an
old fisherman turned newspaper editor. Buggit reels into a long monologue, telling of his
old fishing days, and explains that he was supposed to work in the glove factory by
Quoyle's house except that they had no leather nor anyone who knew how to make
gloves. Buggit then figured that if there had been a newspaper to give him that news, he
would have saved a trip. He tells Quoyle that they will get along as long as Quoyle does
not try to offer any "journalism ideas" (and basically does not question Buggit's
authority). He ends by telling Quoyle that Quoyle will be responsible for the shipping
news and car wrecks.
Chapter 8: A Slippery Hitch
Back in their hotel room, Quoyle dreads the idea of covering car wrecks since it reminds
him of Petal's death. The aunt tells him that he must face his life and go through with it.
She feels they need to get out of the hotel room, and suggests that Quoyle get a boat,
since that would be the easiest way to commute from the family house to the newspaper.
Quoyle is paranoid of a boat, being afraid of water in general.
At the newspaper, Quoyle finds out that Dennis, the man helping them fix up the family
house, is Jack Buggit's son. Jack had a falling out with Dennis after they lost Dennis's
brother, Jesson. Jack is out that day, which seems to be the usual routine. Nutbeem is
supposed to be covering a fire, but he ends up talking to Billy Pretty and Quoyle about
his boat. After a long terrible bike ride, Nutbeem promised himself he would spend the
rest of his life on the water. Nutbeem's story gets cut off when he finally goes to the fire.
Quoyle is sent to the harbormaster's office to get the shipping news.
Chapter 9: The Mooring Hitch
Diddy Shovel used to be known for his physical strength, but now his most outstanding
characteristic is his deep voice. Quoyle fixates on a painting of a shipwreck, while Diddy
Shovel pulls up the notebooks of ship arrivals and departures. He shows Quoyle The
Polar Grinder, a boat in the harbor that transports sushi for Japanese trading. Diddy tells
Quoyle the story of Jack and Dennis Buggit. Jack has always feared the sea, although he
spends all his time fishing. After Jesson died at sea, Dennis, against his father's wishes,
signed up to be a carpenter on The Polar Grinder. Diddy then gives a graphic account of a
terrible storm in which the ship was caught. He gets interrupted with a phone call before
he can tell Quoyle what happened to Dennis.
Quoyle goes down to the wharf and buys a boat for only fifty dollars. He also sees the
same woman in the slicker again, finding her striking. Back at the newsroom, Billy Pretty
and Tert Card take one look at it and deprecate him for buying such a terrible boat.
Analysis
These chapters introduce a whole new cast of characters in the town of Killick- Claw.
Proulx establishes a rich sense of local color through the newsroom characters. Most all
the characters at The Gammy Bird are old fisherman. The newspaper is such a peculiar
subculture that Quoyle feels like he is in the school playground "watching others play
games whose rules he didn't know."
The name "The Gammy Bird" is a bit ironic for this paper. The introduction to the
chapter suggests that the gammy bird is the name Newfoundlers gave the common eider,
which gathers in flocks for "sociable quacking sections." The author tells that the name
"gammy" refers to the old habit of shouting the news from one ship to the next, when the
ships passed one another. Although one can see how a newspaper might take this name
for its symbolic significance, the folks at The Gammy Bird seem to dramatize the literal
meaning of "gamming." That is, for any other paper the name would seem clever since
"gamming" is a kind of primitive form of news-sharing, but this room engages itself very
literally in "sociable quacking sessions." Very literally, these men are old fishermen,
exchanging stories with one another.
The content of The Gammy Bird develops this idea further. The men who work there
seem more interested in their own stories than in news. The paper is filled with
advertisements, and the advertisements and the home section are the only parts of the
paper that the reader hears about in detail. Both these sections serve to flesh out the
Newfoundland setting and people—both are more about gossip and local color than any
"newsworthy" information. Proulx again uses listing as a stylistic technique. The list of
ads not only tells a great deal about Newfoundland life, but it also suggests that the ads
are the most telling part of the paper—at the very least, they offer specific information
that is more important to the reader than any other section.
The "news" stories fall into little more than two sensationalized categories: car wrecks, or
"SA" (sexual abuse) stories. The idea reducing the perversity of sexual abuse to a kind of
genre story again reveals Proulx's darkly comic tone. One can hardly believe that any
paper prints four sexual abuse stories per issue, but in the world that Proulx fashions, it
seems perfectly credible. The quirks and kinks of Proulx's subculture are reminiscent of
Mark Twain's penchant for local color. The narrow confines of a regional way of life
paradoxically give the writer more license to exaggerate. Like in any fictional work, the
author is not asked to create a world that could be factual, but instead a world that the
reader will believe.
Chapters 10–12
Summary
Chapter 10: The Voyage of Nutbeem
Quoyle comes home from work one day to find that the aunt's dog, Warren, has died in
their hotel room. The aunt pours herself some whiskey and reports that Dennis will be
able to fix up their family house to a point of livability within two weeks. All of a sudden,
Nutbeem shows up at the door, hoping to finish the story of his boat. They go downstairs
to eat at the hotel dining room, and Nutbeem begins his monologue again. He had made a
"modified Chinese junk," and set out to sail across the Atlantic. He plans to sail the rest
of the way around the world. Nutbeem then finishes Diddy Shovel's story of Jack Buggit
and his son Dennis. Dennis was given up for dead when The Polar Grinder was caught in
a storm, but Jack went out and found him. Again, Jack demanded that his son never set
foot in a boat again, but Dennis went back to sea immediately, and now the father and
son do not speak.
While Nutbeem is telling his story, the aunt slips away and goes to put Warren's body in
the sea. While she is doing so, she is reminded of Irene Warren, an old friend now dead.
Chapter 11: A Breastpin of Human Hair
The aunt has bought a new truck, and drives it out to the old family house on the point.
Alone at the house, she takes her brother Guy's ashes, and dumps them in the outhouse
hole.
Quoyle, Bunny, and Sunshine meet her there, and begin helping Dennis work on the
house. One morning, Quoyle wakes early and walks down a path toward the shore. He
sees pieces of knotted grass that Sunshine, and the narrator tells that there were also knots
tied in the tips of the tree branches. He finds trash along the pathway, and decides that he
will personally care for this small bit of land, make it a beautiful walk down to the sea.
Before he heads back to the house, he finds a curious pin in the rocks. It was a whimsical
insect made with human hair, and he throws it into the ocean in disgust.
Back at the house, Quoyle braves the climb onto the roof, to put down shingles. Bunny
climbs up to help him, naively trying to join her father. Quoyle panics, and gets to Bunny
just before she attempts to step from ladder to roof, taking her down to solid ground
again.
Chapter 12: The Stern Wave
Quoyle goes out to try his new boat. At first he feels rather confident, but he cannot
figure out how to keep from being drenched by a stern wave. Nutbeem later explains to
him all the things wrong with the boat that have caused this problem. Dennis suggests
starting over completely with a new boat; at the very least, he says, Quoyle should only
go out in good weather.
At the end of the chapter, Bunny finds a grain of sand, and presents it to the aunt as the
tiniest thing in the world. When Sunshine sees it, she accidentally blows it away. Bunny
starts to go after her, but the aunt intervenes, explaining that there is plenty of sand for
everyone.
Analysis
Story-telling and story-tellers are ubiquitous in this novel and establish a sense of
mythological history connected with Newfoundland. Already, after only a few days in
Newfoundland, Quoyle has heard lengthy accounts from Jack Buggit, Diddy Shovel, and
Nutbeem. The story within a story is an important stylistic technique that Proulx invokes.
The tone and content of Nutbeem's story offer clues into a collective value system. The
story of his boat can be seen as just one small chapter in a whole work of oral history.
Nutbeem's story, like many others, shows the constant significance of ships and shipping
to this people. The story of how he acquiring his sail, for instance—finding a junk sail at
Sotheby's auction in good condition for a good price—does not really impress the reader
as much, as Nutbeem might hope. Instead, the reader finds it curious that to this man, the
junk sale was nothing short than a "miracle." One is not meant to find the stories
themselves as engaging as the way they are told, and the sense of place they establish.
The reader recalls the moment when Jack Buggit and Billy Pretty see Quoyle's pathetic
boat for the first time. The fact of their disappointment is not nearly so interesting as the
way their horrified reaction manifests itself in a fit of passionate disparagement.
These chapters also help develop Quoyle's and the aunt's characters. Chapter 11 offers an
endearing picture of Quoyle as a father, as he enjoys letting his girls help him work. He is
kind and encouraging, praising Bunny for her remarkable strength and telling them
bedtime stories. This portrait of him is in direct contrast to his own parents, who did not
even bother calling one of their sons before committing suicide. Of course the scene at
the end of the chapter in which Bunny seems likely to fall off the roof, shows Quoyle as a
compassionate and devoted father. Quoyle always feels like he is doing everything
"wrong," and in this moment sees his child "on the wrong side of everything." When
Quoyle saves her, he not only saves Bunny from the "wrong side" but also corroborates
his own "wrongness." This incident anticipates the change that Quoyle undergoes
throughout the book. The way that Quoyle decides to care for the path from the house to
the shore also shows a small change in his character, and his self image—in the path
project, he finds something that he is confident he could undertake.
The narrator implies that Warren's passage out to sea looks like the final scene in an old
western. This image seems to be a way of rewriting the love motif that the old westerns
dramatized. Instead of the cowboy riding off on horseback with the pretty lady, the
aunt—a woman who will always miss her woman friend, and not a husband—says
goodbye to her only companion, a female dog. This ritual seems to be a way for the aunt
to say goodbye to Irene Warren as well as Warren the dog. Not only does this sailing to
the setting sun involve an ending instead of a beginning, but it also involves only women,
and not a heterosexual couple. The reader should anticipate the possibility that the aunt's
affection for Irene Warren may have involved a romantic relationship. The ancestry
theme in the novel is further developed in these chapters as well. Quoyle's relationship to
his ancestry at this point in the book, is a bit ambivalent. He feels "lukewarm" about
fixing up the family house on the point. Omaloor Bay, where Quoyle takes his boat out
for the first time, was named after Quoyle's dimwitted ancestors. Sure enough, Omaloor
Bay is the site of Quoyle's most uncouth virgin sail. Quoyle's revulsion upon finding the
brooch made of human hair (that undoubtedly belonged to a long-dead ancestor) seems to
be symbolic of his general attitude regarding his roots. It is perhaps important to note that
the tied brooch, the knots in the trees, and Sunshine's knotted grass are all mentioned
during Quoyle's walk to the shore. Symbolically, the knots of the dead (the brooch) are
connected to the knots in the trees (the knots of the place) and the knots of the next
generation (Sunshine).
Chapters 10–12
Summary
Chapter 10: The Voyage of Nutbeem
Quoyle comes home from work one day to find that the aunt's dog, Warren, has died in
their hotel room. The aunt pours herself some whiskey and reports that Dennis will be
able to fix up their family house to a point of livability within two weeks. All of a sudden,
Nutbeem shows up at the door, hoping to finish the story of his boat. They go downstairs
to eat at the hotel dining room, and Nutbeem begins his monologue again. He had made a
"modified Chinese junk," and set out to sail across the Atlantic. He plans to sail the rest
of the way around the world. Nutbeem then finishes Diddy Shovel's story of Jack Buggit
and his son Dennis. Dennis was given up for dead when The Polar Grinder was caught in
a storm, but Jack went out and found him. Again, Jack demanded that his son never set
foot in a boat again, but Dennis went back to sea immediately, and now the father and
son do not speak.
While Nutbeem is telling his story, the aunt slips away and goes to put Warren's body in
the sea. While she is doing so, she is reminded of Irene Warren, an old friend now dead.
Chapter 11: A Breastpin of Human Hair
The aunt has bought a new truck, and drives it out to the old family house on the point.
Alone at the house, she takes her brother Guy's ashes, and dumps them in the outhouse
hole.
Quoyle, Bunny, and Sunshine meet her there, and begin helping Dennis work on the
house. One morning, Quoyle wakes early and walks down a path toward the shore. He
sees pieces of knotted grass that Sunshine, and the narrator tells that there were also knots
tied in the tips of the tree branches. He finds trash along the pathway, and decides that he
will personally care for this small bit of land, make it a beautiful walk down to the sea.
Before he heads back to the house, he finds a curious pin in the rocks. It was a whimsical
insect made with human hair, and he throws it into the ocean in disgust.
Back at the house, Quoyle braves the climb onto the roof, to put down shingles. Bunny
climbs up to help him, naively trying to join her father. Quoyle panics, and gets to Bunny
just before she attempts to step from ladder to roof, taking her down to solid ground
again.
Chapter 12: The Stern Wave
Quoyle goes out to try his new boat. At first he feels rather confident, but he cannot
figure out how to keep from being drenched by a stern wave. Nutbeem later explains to
him all the things wrong with the boat that have caused this problem. Dennis suggests
starting over completely with a new boat; at the very least, he says, Quoyle should only
go out in good weather.
At the end of the chapter, Bunny finds a grain of sand, and presents it to the aunt as the
tiniest thing in the world. When Sunshine sees it, she accidentally blows it away. Bunny
starts to go after her, but the aunt intervenes, explaining that there is plenty of sand for
everyone.
Analysis
Story-telling and story-tellers are ubiquitous in this novel and establish a sense of
mythological history connected with Newfoundland. Already, after only a few days in
Newfoundland, Quoyle has heard lengthy accounts from Jack Buggit, Diddy Shovel, and
Nutbeem. The story within a story is an important stylistic technique that Proulx invokes.
The tone and content of Nutbeem's story offer clues into a collective value system. The
story of his boat can be seen as just one small chapter in a whole work of oral history.
Nutbeem's story, like many others, shows the constant significance of ships and shipping
to this people. The story of how he acquiring his sail, for instance—finding a junk sail at
Sotheby's auction in good condition for a good price—does not really impress the reader
as much, as Nutbeem might hope. Instead, the reader finds it curious that to this man, the
junk sale was nothing short than a "miracle." One is not meant to find the stories
themselves as engaging as the way they are told, and the sense of place they establish.
The reader recalls the moment when Jack Buggit and Billy Pretty see Quoyle's pathetic
boat for the first time. The fact of their disappointment is not nearly so interesting as the
way their horrified reaction manifests itself in a fit of passionate disparagement.
These chapters also help develop Quoyle's and the aunt's characters. Chapter 11 offers an
endearing picture of Quoyle as a father, as he enjoys letting his girls help him work. He is
kind and encouraging, praising Bunny for her remarkable strength and telling them
bedtime stories. This portrait of him is in direct contrast to his own parents, who did not
even bother calling one of their sons before committing suicide. Of course the scene at
the end of the chapter in which Bunny seems likely to fall off the roof, shows Quoyle as a
compassionate and devoted father. Quoyle always feels like he is doing everything
"wrong," and in this moment sees his child "on the wrong side of everything." When
Quoyle saves her, he not only saves Bunny from the "wrong side" but also corroborates
his own "wrongness." This incident anticipates the change that Quoyle undergoes
throughout the book. The way that Quoyle decides to care for the path from the house to
the shore also shows a small change in his character, and his self image—in the path
project, he finds something that he is confident he could undertake.
The narrator implies that Warren's passage out to sea looks like the final scene in an old
western. This image seems to be a way of rewriting the love motif that the old westerns
dramatized. Instead of the cowboy riding off on horseback with the pretty lady, the
aunt—a woman who will always miss her woman friend, and not a husband—says
goodbye to her only companion, a female dog. This ritual seems to be a way for the aunt
to say goodbye to Irene Warren as well as Warren the dog. Not only does this sailing to
the setting sun involve an ending instead of a beginning, but it also involves only women,
and not a heterosexual couple. The reader should anticipate the possibility that the aunt's
affection for Irene Warren may have involved a romantic relationship. The ancestry
theme in the novel is further developed in these chapters as well. Quoyle's relationship to
his ancestry at this point in the book, is a bit ambivalent. He feels "lukewarm" about
fixing up the family house on the point. Omaloor Bay, where Quoyle takes his boat out
for the first time, was named after Quoyle's dimwitted ancestors. Sure enough, Omaloor
Bay is the site of Quoyle's most uncouth virgin sail. Quoyle's revulsion upon finding the
brooch made of human hair (that undoubtedly belonged to a long-dead ancestor) seems to
be symbolic of his general attitude regarding his roots. It is perhaps important to note that
the tied brooch, the knots in the trees, and Sunshine's knotted grass are all mentioned
during Quoyle's walk to the shore. Symbolically, the knots of the dead (the brooch) are
connected to the knots in the trees (the knots of the place) and the knots of the next
generation (Sunshine).
Chapters 13–15
Summary
Chapter 13: The Dutch Cringle
Diddy Shovel calls up Quoyle to tell him that a leisure boat built for Hitler is in the
harbor, and Quoyle should come take a look. Quoyle takes Billy Pretty with him. On the
way, they pass the same woman Quoyle has spotted a number of times before. Billy tells
him her name is Wavey Prowse, and they give her and her son a ride.
At the harbor, Bayonet Melville, the owner of Tough Baby manages to stop arguing with
his wife Silver long enough to give them a tour of his boat. He brags of its
indestructibility and explains its Dutch origins and design. He is especially proud of the
ornate carving. All the while, Silver yells at him to tell the story of Hurricane Bob.
According to Bayonet's story, Tough Baby smashed in seventeen boats and twelve
beautiful beach houses during the hurricane, without incurring any damage at all. Both
the owner and his wife seem to have bruises and have been drinking. Bayonet explains
that he and his wife have come to have the yacht upholstered by one Agnis Hamm.
Chapter 14: Wavey
At the house, the aunt explains to Quoyle that she has set up her yacht upholstery
business, having hired two other women to help her, Mavis Bangs and Dawn Budgel. The
aunt tells Quoyle that she used to have a "significant other" named Warren, thinking to
herself that Quoyle does not need to know it was Irene Warren. The two women had
lived on a houseboat together, and the aunt had taken a course in leather upholstery at
Irene Warren's suggestion. The aunt went away to take her course, and planned out how
she would start her own business. When she returned home, Irene Warren was dying of
cancer. As soon as she died, the aunt bought her dog Warren and started the upholstery
business.
During the aunt's story, Bunny grows extremely frightened after believing she saw a
white dog. Quoyle plays with his daughters, helping them build play castle.
Quoyle takes a break from work one day and finds Wavey, the tall woman, out walking.
He gives her a ride to her son's school, where she often goes at noontime. Both notice the
others' gold band on their ring fingers. Quoyle finds himself most enchanted by her tall
presence and the way she walks.
Chapter 15: The Upholstery Shop
Quoyle visits the aunt's upholstery shop and meets the aunt's assistants, one of whom is
working on the leather for the Melville's yacht. The aunt and Quoyle go out to Skipper
Will's for lunch, and Quoyle asks her about Bunny. He worries that she keeps imagining
a white dog, and she has recurring nightmares and a terrible temper. The aunt attributes
Bunny's behavior to a traumatic last few months, and tells Quoyle that she just has not yet
learned to "disguise [her] differentness." Still, the narrator mentions that Guy had done
something—the reader does not yet know what—for the first time when the aunt was
Bunny's age; the aunt is not necessarily trustworthy when it comes to evaluating
children's emotional stress.
Analysis
These chapters invoke foreshadowing in order to create suspense and help move the plot
forward. The reader should recognize a few ominous clues that crop up aboard the Tough
Baby. First of all, the ship was supposedly made for Hitler, a fact that no one seems to be
forgetting any time soon. Bayonet and Silver Melville are not only in the midst of a
vicious shouting match, but both seem to have conspicuous bruises on their skin, as if
they have been physically fighting. Also, both take a kind of sick pleasure in telling the
history of the yacht's amazing destructive capabilities. A careful reader will notice the
connection between Silver's name, and the fact that Petal Bear is often associated with the
color silver.
Chapter 14 provides an occasion for the aunt to tell her own history. The aunt, happy to
bore Quoyle with the details of the projects she worked on in upholstery school,
deliberately leaves out the fact that her "significant other" was a woman. Curiously, this
is perhaps the only detail of the aunt's life that we know, but Quoyle does not. The aunt
appears only as a businesswoman, an artisan in the upholstery trade, but not as a lover or
sexual partner. Indeed, the aunt does not seem to feel at all burdened by the lack of a
confession. She very quickly dismisses her sexuality as something Quoyle could not
understand, and moves on; Proulx disallows the sex of the aunt's partner to disrupt the
story's priorities.
There seems to be no personal gain for the aunt in "coming out" as a lesbian, but she
instead "comes out" as a businesswoman. Quoyle had no idea until he boarded the
Melville's ship that the aunt was such an adept upholsterer. This chapter helps establish
the aunt's strong character again. She has lost a loved one, also, but it did not stop her
from starting her own upholstery business. Now, relocated to Newfoundland and in her
sixties, she has successfully started it again.
Wavey's brief appearance in Chapter 14 is curious, considering that the chapter is named
for her (and not the aunt). Perhaps this irony draws attention to the way each woman
plays a different role in Quoyle's life. As Quoyle begins to be haunted less by Petal, he no
longer needs the aunt's strength so desperately; he seems to be opening up a space in his
life for a new love-interest. His attraction to Wavey's posture and gait suggests that he
sees her for her grace rather than for her sexual potential.
There is something ominous about the conversation Quoyle and the aunt have concerning
Bunny. The aunt seems to be hiding something, as she looks at Quoyle cautiously, as if
she were examining "a new kind of leather she might buy." This simile suggests she may
be sizing up his potential, the chances he will continue to dwell on this idea. The aunt
goes on to dismiss all of his worries so emphatically that one wonders if the aunt knows
information she is not sharing. Indeed, at the end of the chapter, the narrator mentions
Guy, Quoyle's father in a threatening way. He apparently did something when the aunt
(or perhaps another "she"—the pronoun's referent is unclear) was Bunny's age. The tone
and word choice suggests that there may have been an incident of sexual abuse.
Chapters 16–18
Summary
Chapter 16: Beety's Kitchen
Quoyle's daughters stay at Dennis and Beety Buggit's house during the day, and Quoyle loves
picking them up, just to spend a little time at the Buggit's house. One typical day, Dennis tells
a story about his friend who was attacked while fishing by a terribly strong tentacle. Dennis
also talks about how his dad Jack has tried without avail to convince each and every one of
his children to stay off the sea. Jack himself spends his days fishing while he tells the
newspaper office he is sick. He has a kind of sixth sense about the sea, knew right away that
his son Jesson had drowned, and knew where to find Dennis when he was lost at sea. At the
end of Quoyle's visit, a man named Skipper Alfred comes to the door, having heard about
Bunny's near fall from the roof. Knowing Bunny liked carpentry, he brought her a brass
square to help her measure straight lines and cuts.
Chapter 17: The Shipping News
The chapter opens with Quoyle's article on Tough Baby, the Dutch ship made for Hitler. In
the newsroom, Tert Card gives Quoyle a bad time for writing the ship profile instead of car
wreck story. The next day, Jack asks to see Quoyle, and Quoyle expects that he will be in
trouble for the story. Instead, Jack asks him to keep writing similar pieces; he wants Quoyle
to start a shipping news column. Quoyle realizes it is the first time anyone has ever told him
he did something right.
Chapter 18: Lobster Pie
Quoyle finds out that Wavey's son Herry has Down's Syndrome. Wavey has become a local
advocate for Down's children, determined to help Herry reach his potential. She asks Quoyle
to take her to the library twice a week, so she can check out books to read to Herry. Quoyle
feels excited by the thought of seeing Wavey every Tuesday and Friday.
Wavey's father lives next door to her and has a garden of wooden sculptures. One day, Wavey
invites Quoyle and his girls in for tea, but Bunny has a fit when she sees a wooden white dog,
and Quoyle regretfully takes his daughters home instead. Sunshine asks why Herry does not
have a father.
Quoyle takes his boat down to buy some lobsters. The aunt talks about making lots of fancy
dishes with them, but Quoyle is certain she will end up resorting to the simplest idea. She
decides on lobster pie, and invites Dawn Budgel, her young assistant, over for dinner.
Meanwhile, Bunny is getting aggravated with her latest carpentry project, and yells at Quoyle
to give her a ride in the boat. In the boat, she sees another white dog, but Quoyle dismisses
her imaginative dog sightings.
Dawn comes over, and the aunt tries to prepare a nice, candlelit dinner. Dawn refuses the
lobster meat, saying it reminds her of spiders. Bunny, who has always said the same, now
tells Dawn that she loves "red spider meat." During the dinner, Quoyle learns that the people
who owned the Hitler yacht took off without paying the aunt for the upholstery job. He also
realizes that the aunt's furniture that was supposed to be shipped from Long Island still has
not arrived.
Analysis
These chapters show a major turning point for Quoyle's character in the novel. Quoyle's
initiative in writing the article on the Tough Baby, the Hitler ship, lands him a new
assignment at the Gammy Bird; indeed, his story has encouraged Jack Buggit to include a
whole new section in the paper, for which Quoyle will be responsible. Given the paper's
quality, the reader may not see this as a valiant accomplishment. For Quoyle, however, it is
the first time "he'd done it right."
However small the accomplishment, Quoyle's opinion of himself changes with this event. He
goes from imagining Jack Buggit's rage (Quoyle imagines the newspaper headline "Reporter
Bludgeoned") to feeling totally assured that he has done the right thing. Like a small child,
Quoyle responds readily to approval. Since his childhood was void of any kind of praise (and
more often condemnation), Quoyle seems to be re-living his childhood in some way,
nurturing for the first time a sense of self-confidence and self-respect. His eagerness to praise
and engage with his daughters shows his self-awareness about his own childhood.
Proulx alludes specifically to a symbolic childhood in Chapter 16 when Quoyle is sitting in
Beety's kitchen. Not only does Quoyle get teary watching the scene of happy children (his
own and Beety and Dennis's), but Quoyle also imagines Beety and Dennis as his own "secret
parents." Beety's house nurtures a sense of safe space for Quoyle. Surrounded by the din of
the T.V., warm bread, and plenty of stories, Quoyle feels a sense of refuge and protection. The
house setting not only provides a more benign backdrop for Quoyle's story, but it also,
according to Quoyle, brings out the best in him. He becomes "more of a father" but he also
feels he does not have to hide his own vulnerability.
Quoyle's love interest also shows a good deal of growth in his character. He falls for a woman
who first of all, wants his company (Wavey asks for him to give her a ride to the library, and
invites him to her home), and secondly, loves her son, and enjoys children in general.
Quoyle's deliberate attentiveness to his children is contrasted with Petal's deliberate neglect
and cruelty. In a way, Petal was a kind of reincarnation of Quoyle's own cruel parents. This
new attraction shows that Quoyle is capable of making behavioral changes that will lead to a
life of less pain.
Quoyle's reaction to Dawn likewise shows a shift in the way he considers romantic love. The
aunt seems to be subtly plotting to get Dawn and Quoyle to take an interest in each other.
The reader knows from Quoyle's trip to the upholstery shop (Chapter 15) that Dawn is not at
all attracted to Quoyle, and is even a bit rude. When Dawn shows up at their door, Quoyle
immediately thinks of Petal. Petal is once again associated with the color silver. The
association between Petal and Dawn could potentially catapult Quoyle into another
masochistic obsession; that is, there seems to be the potential for more love torture, if Quoyle
were to fall for Dawn.
Thinking of his life with Petal, Quoyle feels "a pang for this poor moth." This metaphor is
loaded with meaning. Casting himself as the moth, Quoyle seems to suggest that he was
attracted to Petal like a moth is attracted to light; it was an instinctual response that he could
not seem to change. Moths are also associated with death. In these terms, the reader may
consider that Quoyle, like the moth cannot help being attracted to that which is dead—
literally, Petal, and figuratively, their romantic relationship. This thought also shows Quoyle's
awareness of his own behavior. The poor moth seems to represent someone else, but has no
role in his relationship with Dawn. Indeed, he shows no attraction whatsoever to this woman
who dangerously seems to conjure an image of Petal.
These chapters also move the plot forward by delineating more of Bunny's encounters with
the white dog. At this point, Bunny's fears are a disruption to all of their lives. These
incidents create suspense; the reader begins to wonder what is engendering this fear, and
whether Bunny is merely experiencing normal childhood insecurities, or if she has somehow
inherited an evil from Quoyle's past
Chapters 19–21
Summary
Chapter 19: Good-bye, Buddy
Tert Card sometimes sent everyone out of the newsroom, and one day Billy Pretty, Nutbeem
and Quoyle go out for fish and chips. Nutbeem reports having a deluge of sexual abuse
stories. The men swap stories, and Billy invites Quoyle out to Gaze Island, a place Quoyle has
not yet sent. Billy also explains how Killick-Claw grew into a community, usurping the role
that Misky Bay once served. During the war, so much ammunition and cables were dropped
underwater near Misky Bay, that no one wants to anchor his boat in the harbor. Quoyle then
reads his friends another article he wrote about a man getting electrocuted on board a boat
called Buddy.
Chapter 20: Gaze Island
Billy Pretty and Quoyle go out to Gaze Island. On the way, Billy points out all names of the
rocks sticking out of the water. One, called the Komatik-Dog, looks like a sled dog and is
located right at the end of Quoyle's point. The legend was that the dog would wait for a
wreck, and eat the drowning people. Billy tells Quoyle stories on the way, too. First, he says
that Quoyle's only other living relative Nolan lives around there and wants the family house.
Billy also tells Quoyle that Omaloor Bay is named after the loony, dim-witted, and murderous
Quoyles. Billy explains to Quoyle how Quoyle's ancestors dragged the green house onto the
Point over the ice a hundred years before.
Billy Pretty grew up on Gaze Island, and is actually Jack Buggit's second cousin. He explains
that the Islanders were known for their knowledge of fishing and volcanoes. Inhabited by
only five families, they were an incestuous group. Now, the island is deserted. Billy and
Quoyle go ashore, and Billy finds his father's tombstone and repaints it. Quoyle is reminded
of his father , who loved fruits. Quoyle thinks he should have been a farmer. Billy, too had a
father who should have been a farmer. He was in an orphanage in England, and was sent
over to work on a farm in Canada. When the ship got in a wreck, a few boys, including Billy's
father, were found by the people on Gaze Island. The Pretty's adopted Billy, hiding him from
the people who came to take him on to Canada. It was a good thing, since Billy's father
received many miserable letters from his friends who made it to Canada, detailing abusive
working conditions on the farms. Billy's father eventually made sure that all of Gaze Island
could read and write. Billy tells Quoyle that his father used to say that every man had four
women in his heart: the "Maid in the Meadow," "Demon Lover," "Stouthearted Woman," and
the "Tall and Quiet Woman." Billy himself never married due to a "personal affliction" which
he tried to keep secret.
Before they leave, Billy shows Quoyle another cemetery where all of Quoyle's ancestors —
pirates and plunderers—are buried. He shows Quoyle a bed of flat rocks where the green
house once stood before the Quoyles hauled it to Quoyle Point. They were run out on account
of their refusal to attend Pentecostal services.
Chapter 21: Poetic Navigation
The fog is coming in as Quoyle and Billy head back. They find an expensive- looking suitcase
on one of the rocks, and they begin to smell something rotten. Billy is a good navigator,
recognizing his route by the rocks. He decides that they will pull into Desperate Cove to wait
for the fog to lift. When the get ashore, they grab a meal before Quoyle breaks the lock on the
suitcase. Inside is the head of Bayonet Melville.
Analysis
Chapter 19 again shows Quoyle interacting and living his life within the confines of a safe
structure or place. As the newsroom men sit and swap stories, it is obvious that Quoyle is an
integral figure in their community. Billy Pretty invites him on a day trip, and the friends
willingly listen while Quoyle proudly reads his news story. Having the inside scoop on ships
and boats seems to help Quoyle establish himself among his peers. (Billy's and Nutbeem's
reactions to the story are telling about their different characters. Billy sensitively calls the
story a "shame," while Nutbeem in a startlingly funny way, exclaims that Jack will like it for
the "blood, boats, and blowups.")
Chapter 20 further develops the theme of ancestry. We learn that Jack Buggit called up
Quoyle's references before hiring him to make sure Quoyle was not a murderer. Ironically,
Buggit knew that Quoyle was associated with murderers before Quoyle did. Quoyle continues
to learn from the locals in Killick-Claw about his own family. This idea points to the
importance of place and setting in this novel. Quoyle's personal journey in understanding
himself and his family is in a way created by the setting. That is, Quoyle did not really know
all he still had to learn about his history until he arrived in Newfoundland and started
hearing remarks here and there about his own ancestry.
The scene at Gaze Island dramatizes this connection between Quoyle's conflict and setting.
Going to the site of Billy Pretty's father's grave—and the site of his ancestors' home—conjures
up images of Quoyle's father and demands that Quoyle revisit painful memories once again.
The images of Quoyle's father again suggest the quiet violence that characterized Quoyle's
childhood; the memory of the beating Quoyle unfairly received for stealing his brother's
blueberries is a good example. Seeing the grave of Billy Pretty's father symbolically reopens
Quoyle's father's grave.
Although Gaze Island is named for its high lookout, we should recognize the symbolic
meaning the name carries. The island forces Quoyle to "gaze" into his family's history, and
into his own traumatic past. The image of a mirror in this chapter further affirms the
symbolic significance of "Gaze" Island: when seeing his ancestors' cemetery for the first time,
Quoyle's head jerks back "like a snake surprised by a mirror." In this scenario, the mirror is
the cemetery—literally markers of Quoyle's family history. This simile also casts Quoyle as a
snake, which calls attention to the malicious wildness that is associated with the Quoyle
family.
The excerpt from The Ashley Book of Knots that precedes Chapter 20 could be read as an
allusion to Quoyle's relationship with his family. His ancestors were a band of pirates, and
he, like the pirates' prisoner, is still somehow held in their grip. The excerpt presents a riddle:
how do the prisoners free themselves from the pirates? This riddle represents Quoyle's same
dilemma. The knots that tie the prisoners' boat to the pirate ship symbolize the way that
Quoyle is tied to his past. He must find a way to live a life without pain (free himself) despite
his cruel and unusual ancestry.
The story of the Quoyle's house adds another tale to the vast annals of myth and folk history
on Newfoundland. We should appreciate the irony that the Quoyles were ultimately driven
out because of their disinterest in joining the Pentecostal Church. This detail reaffirms the
quirky characteristics of Newfoundland folk; again, we feel pulled out of his or her reality,
and thrust into a place in which essentially murderers are tolerated until they refuse to put
on their church shoes. The novel requires that one look at the "truth" of oral literature. One
might question the validity of pulling an entire house on an iceberg like a sled, for instance,
but the novel values local legends as reflections of a culture and a people.
These chapters also help develop Billy Pretty's character. Billy grows as a sensitive character
in his diligence about his father's grave, and his kind remembrances of the old man. He also
seems aware that Quoyle is discovering his own past, and concedes that many people were
plunderers in the old days on Gaze Island, not just the Quoyles. The name "Pretty" also
becomes more significant in these chapters, as Billy shows himself to be appreciative of
aesthetic values. He carefully decorates his father's grave, and even his descriptions of the
rocks show his capacity to see the creativity in their names. His "poetic navigation"—
navigation based on a few rhyming couplets—implies that navigating is perhaps as much an
art as a science. Billy uses his skills to maneuver in whatever safe path he can figure given the
conditions.
Finally, the suitcase carrying Bayonet's head refers to the "Dutch cringle" that titles Chapter
13. The suitcase has a rope handle that could well be tied in a cringle knot and of course, it
comes from the Dutch ship. At this point, one can guess that Silver, Bayonet's wife, is
probably responsible for his decapitation, just from the nature of their belligerent
relationship. We recall that Petal is connected with silver throughout the book; the two
women's capacity to cause violent suffering is parallel. It is also important to note that Billy
teases Quoyle for acting like a "wracker"—like his ancestors—when he pulls the suitcase off
the rock, and claims it for himself.