Ginty seems to show a lack of imagination at times with her absence of fear - she is calm because nothing frightens her at sea, just as in a later book we are told she is never frightened on a horse. It obviously doesn't cross her mind what the dangers are. I love Nicola stopping the boat with the sugar in the engine; it was typical of 'young' Nicola in that it was impulsive, decisive, effective but also potentially dangerous - if the boat had been dragged onto rocks and smashed up away from the lighthouse beach they could all have drowned. I love the realism of Peter standing in Foley's way and being tossed aside by Foley; and worrying about not having stopped Foley. I can imagine one of his instructors saying 'Someone should tell young Marlow that it's quite normal for 13 year olds not to be able to fight full grown adults..' (Especially adults who were liked and respected instructors until a couple of hours ago.) I think Peter is often harshly judged on Trennels for his lack of judgement choosing friends. Clearly Foley has had the Navy fooled, all through the war and then at Dartmouth. The odd friends he chose as a younger boy, pre-Selby, are a literary device to warn the reader that there is going to be something 'wrong' with Foley. The class difference between Foley and Anquetil is interesting - Foley hasn't had to work hard or be clever to get where he is in the way Anquetil had to, and he seems to have turned to spying out of boredom almost, or a desire to make life more tricky for himself because it has all been too easy.
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2014-06-27 08:13 pm (UTC)I love Nicola stopping the boat with the sugar in the engine; it was typical of 'young' Nicola in that it was impulsive, decisive, effective but also potentially dangerous - if the boat had been dragged onto rocks and smashed up away from the lighthouse beach they could all have drowned.
I love the realism of Peter standing in Foley's way and being tossed aside by Foley; and worrying about not having stopped Foley. I can imagine one of his instructors saying 'Someone should tell young Marlow that it's quite normal for 13 year olds not to be able to fight full grown adults..' (Especially adults who were liked and respected instructors until a couple of hours ago.)
I think Peter is often harshly judged on Trennels for his lack of judgement choosing friends. Clearly Foley has had the Navy fooled, all through the war and then at Dartmouth. The odd friends he chose as a younger boy, pre-Selby, are a literary device to warn the reader that there is going to be something 'wrong' with Foley.
The class difference between Foley and Anquetil is interesting - Foley hasn't had to work hard or be clever to get where he is in the way Anquetil had to, and he seems to have turned to spying out of boredom almost, or a desire to make life more tricky for himself because it has all been too easy.