The Last Voyage of Ghost Ship
Gabrial Garica Marqueaz
Theme:
The last voyage of ghost ship by Gabriel Garcia Marquez a Colombia novelist presents the development of a boy to a young man. The events depicted however are not in chronological order: the writer has used stream of consciousness technique in the presentation of story.
Summary:
The boy, who is also main character of the story used to go to sea where he had seen a mysterious ship in his childhood. The ship used to appear when there was darkness and vice versa. The ship was bigger than the village and taller than the steeple of the church. But he could not see the ship in the later years. However the boy didn’t stop going to sea. He had determined to show the existence of ship to the villager after he was beaten on charge of being a liar. After many years he saw the same ship by the harbor. He could not believe his eyes. So until next March he waited to see the same ship. No sooner had he seen the ship than he went home to tell about it to his mother. His mother got angry with him; she advised him to get involved in romance with some lady instead of going to sea. The boy’s mother however agreed to go there next march. But unluckily, his mother expired while she was sitting on a chair and thinking about her dead husband. This event made the boy angrier. His determination grew bolder; he wanted to prove the existence of ship to the villager and went towards that location with a lantern. He didn’t stop anywhere; he went straight towards his destination. As he reached near the place, he saw the ship again. The ship was moving without any sound. His presence there made the ship disappear. Nonetheless, it reappeared after some time. The boy lit the lantern and showed it towards the ship. As he showed the light, a miracle happened the ship started following him. The boy guided the ship towards the village. At last he took the ship there. The ship blasted as it reached there. The villagers came there running and saw the destruction of ninety thousand champagne glasses. The boy watched the villagers what he wanted to prove before them.
Q. Why did the boy have to prove who he was? (The Last Voyage of the Ghost Ship)
This amazing story shows the steady development of a boy into adulthood. In course of his development, he encounters with the ghost ship many times. The more he visualizes the ship the more mature he becomes. Many years ago, when he saw the ship for the first time he was a boy. The ship was amazingly large and heading to the land without any lights and sound. It would disappear if there came the light from the lighthouse. So, the boy thought it was a fantastic dream. As he saw the ship next year he told his mother about it and insisted her to see it. But she said that her son had gone down crazy. So, she promised him to see it next year and went to the town to buy a chair asking a boatman to watch her son. As she died, the villagers accused the boy of fetching misfortune into the village. With the evil chair. so, he preferred stealing fish from the boat rather to live on charity. They mercilessly beat him as he asked them to watch the ship. Eventually, the hatred, rage and the isolation made the boy quite resolute, strong and fearless. He was neither confused by emotion nor frightened by the miracle. It is a sign of his maturity. So, the boy when saw the ship suddenly realized that he could control its movement by using the lantern. He took control over the ship and made it follow him to the village church. He felt that all the disbelievers watched all this, being stunned. Thus, he proved his manhood.
Copied:
Credential: Dr. Ramesh Adhikari
Post a Comment