63 pages • 2 hours read
Theodore TaylorThe Cay
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1969A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Chapters 12-15Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 12 Summary
In the middle of May, several weeks into Phillip and Timothy’s time on the cay, Timothy develops a severe fever from malaria. Phillip does his best to help manage Timothy’s symptoms, but he can only give him water and keep him company. Phillip feels helpless because “[Timothy] didn’t even seem to know I was there” (84). Timothy grows delirious and walks into the sea. Phillip pulls him out again and covers him with sea grape leaves to protect him from the sun. Timothy sleeps for several hours, and his fever breaks. When he wakes up, the worst of the illness is over. Weakened, he leans on Phillip as the two of them walk back up the beach.
Chapter 13 Summary
Worried that he might die on the island before rescue arrives, Timothy starts teaching Phillip how to fish. He has beaten some nails into fishhooks and has found a safe fishing spot on the reef by the island. The area is a small pool of water with an opening to the wider sea. Timothy teaches Phillip to use mussel meat as bait for the fish. Phillip’s early efforts are successful, and he soon takes over the fishing duties for the two of them. Timothy continues to hunt langosta, which must be done by spearing them with a sharp stick and is therefore almost impossible to do while blind.
Phillip and Timothy talk about their island and the plants and animals that live on it. Phillip tells Timothy about the natural processes through which the island was originally created, the storms that likely carried animal and plant species to the island, and more. A few days after learning to fish, Phillip gathers up the courage to climb a palm tree and get some coconuts. He manages to climb the first 10 feet but then gets frightened and stops moving. Although Timothy tells him that it is okay to come back down, Phillip does not want to disappoint him. He summons his courage and makes it to the top of the tree, pulling down two coconuts. He feels that his success marks a major victory, and he and Timothy enjoy the meat and water from the coconuts together. Phillip finds that he has long since stopped feeling afraid of Timothy: He now thinks of him only as being “kind and strong” (93).
Chapter 14 Summary
Timothy and Phillip continue their lives on the island until July. On a very hot day, they hear a sound like a rifle being fired. Phillip thinks someone has found them, but Timothy corrects him: That sound means a serious storm is coming. The two of them start preparing to weather a hurricane. They lash their water keg high in a palm tree. Timothy is particularly worried about this storm because it is so early in the year; storms like this should only hit in September or October.
Phillip worries about protecting Stew Cat, but Timothy says he will simply climb a tree. Phillip feels that “[i]f something bad happened on the cay, I wanted it to happen to all of us” (96). Timothy is straightforward with Phillip about the severity of the danger; he has lived through severe storms before. The two of them eat a big meal, as they know that it might be several days before they are able to start fishing again. Once they have secured all of their belongings as much as possible, Timothy declares that they are ready.
Chapter 15 Summary
The storm starts slowly, after nightfall. At first, Phillip sits inside the hut and Timothy holds onto it so that it does not blow away. When the winds get too strong, ripping the hut from his hands, Timothy instructs Phillip to lie down on the sand. As the ocean’s waves get more extreme, the two of them lash themselves to a palm tree, Timothy protecting Phillip from the worst of the storm with his body. They have a few minutes of respite in the eye of the storm, during which time Phillip hears Timothy make “small noises, like a hurt animal” (101).
Soon, the storm picks up again, worse than before. Some waves are so large that they go over Phillip’s head. Both of them lose consciousness before the storm ends. Phillip comes to as the storm is receding, but Timothy is still unconscious, tied to the palm tree behind him. Phillip unties them both and Timothy falls to the ground. He is still breathing and briefly regains consciousness, ensuring that Phillip is okay before falling asleep. Phillip realizes that Timothy’s back has been badly lacerated by the sand kicked up in the storm, and he is bleeding heavily. Unable to do anything to help, Phillip holds Timothy’s hand and falls asleep as well. When he wakes up, he finds that Timothy has died. Initially, he does not cry, but only sleeps again. Stew Cat returns; Phillip cries for Timothy and realizes that he is now “blind and alone on a forgotten cay” (103).
Chapters 12-15 Analysis
By Chapter 12, Timothy and Phillip have overcome their earlier misunderstandings and Phillip’s animosity. They learn to operate as an effective team, splitting the work of survival more equitably and enjoying each other’s company. By relying on each other, their Survival Against the Odds grows easier and less contentious. The power differential between them also starts to shift: Timothy is old and is starting to get weaker, particularly when he contracts a fever, and for the first time, Phillip finds himself in the role of a caregiver.
By now, Phillip’s blindness has started to feel more like a normal part of him and less like a frightening trap that he cannot escape. With Timothy’s training, he becomes much more independent. He learns to fish, which feels to him like a big accomplishment. Retrieving coconuts from the palm tree is another way that Phillip proves his Coming of Age, as it is something that formerly terrified him. It is also the only thing that Phillip accomplishes on the island that Timothy is not capable of doing. Narratively, once Phillip can do something completely alone without Timothy’s help, he is essentially ready to live on the island alone.
The storm is the final test of their friendship and survival skills. It is a major symbol in the book that marks the culmination of everything Phillip has learned and everything he and Timothy have experienced together. The two of them have to trust each other and work closely together to get through the storm, which forms the climactic scene of the novel. Contrasting his earlier habit of disbelieving Timothy’s expertise and mistrusting his motivations, Phillip helps Timothy without question or complaint, accepting the storm as a necessary challenge without getting obviously upset or frightened.
Ultimately, Timothy does not survive, but he does manage to keep Phillip alive. There is a strong sense in the book that Timothy has sacrificed himself for Phillip. This dynamic continues to uphold racist ideas. Timothy’s narrative purpose is to teach Phillip important lessons about survival and anti-racism. Once those lessons are complete, his role in the story is over, and he dies. Phillip is then able to continue his own life with the accumulated wisdom he gained from Timothy. This portrayal conforms to the trope of the “magical negro,” which usually features an old, wise Black character whose primary role is to help the white protagonist along their quest. The Black character often sacrifices his or her life for the white protagonist or dies protecting him (the protagonist is almost always male). Timothy’s practice of Vodou adds to his “magical” status, as the practice is exoticized to seem dark and mysterious. The manner of Timothy’s death also has racist elements to it. The way that the storm cuts Timothy’s back is highly reminiscent of whipping, a punishment sometimes inflicted upon enslaved Black people.
Phillip, who once actively feared and disliked Timothy, grieves him deeply. His grief is indicative of the close bond that the two of them formed. It is also an essential part of Coming of Age, as becoming an adult means dealing with grief and loss. Phillip’s sense of loss is compounded by the fact that he is now entirely alone on a tiny island. Although he has the skills to survive, he is still a child, still blind, and still trying to live in hope that he will eventually be rescued.
