Matthew Young
Ship of Fire
Michael Cadnum
Main Characters: William Perivale is a doctor who has a servant named Thomas. William was once rich, but lost all his money due to bets between dogs, and bears. He soon changed everything when him and his servant went on to a ship and became the best ship doctors in history. There works got spread around the world thanks to William.
As for Thomas, he always followed Thomas around. Thought, he soon paid off his debt to William and became his own doctor.
Drake is legendary sea pirate that works for Queen Elizabeth to loot the Spanish and make money for England and himself. He becomes good friends with Thomas after Thomas’s master William is no longer with him, and forces Thomas to become a medical fighter.
Main Conflict: The conflict here was that they were both poor and needed money badly. They struggled to pay bills and had no jobs, and resorted to betting. Once that failed it seemed they were all out of hope. Then, a ship neede doctors and they accepted. They fought hard working hard to become the best doctors to get there name out so more people could come to them. They struggled at the beginning to get there name out as many people did not believe they could be real doctors, but little by little they soon became popular doctors.
Quotes: “I wager my entire purse of silver”. This quote shows that this time period has taken place in the Middle Ages hunting the silver since that is not around any more, and this is important because this is what starts the main conflict of this book.
“ A cup of Spirits of Wine, if you please, Thomas, for our brave patient. And the chopper from the hook”. This means that they had no real medicine our antibiotics for injuries. They usually just give patients wine and chop of the infected or injured area. This clearly shows that this is taking place in the Middle Ages since we do not use that type of technique anymore. This is important because this is the first step they take to turn their life around.
“Iron guns, six of them in the hillside”. Thi shows that this has taken place in the middle ages hinting at iron guns meaning cannons, this is important because this is the climax of the whole story. Also, this is where Thomas greatest test as a doctor takes place.
Historical Perspective: Bears against dogs fights actually happened during the Middle Ages. It is where most people bet their money and got rich, or lost all there money like William and Thomas.
Another true event that happened is doctors did use to chop of fingers and legs and drain blood out of their patients. It was the only thought of way that doctors would heal their patients and make them better. It was better because it rarely, but still healed some patients and saved their lives.
Pirates attacked ships in the Middle Ages just like in the story. They looted ships and set them on fire with everyone still on board. This is important because this risked peopled lives on ships.
Last, Drake’s attack on the Spanish port of Cadiz, in 1587 was to fill Queen Elizabeth’s coffers. This is very important to signify the type of person Drake is and what he is willing to do for money, and his country.
Success of the book: This book has been one of Cadnum best novels and really brings alive some of the events in this book like the raids on the Spanish ports. His books has made him a very popular author and even won him a spot to the Book Awards finalist spot.
Author’s Facts and Statistics:
Michael Cadnum lives in Albany, California and has published more than twenty books. Some of his more popular book like the “The Leopard Sword” is really popular. He also became a National Book Award Finalist for his book, “The Book of the Lion”.
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