Ship Breaker plot line

Exposition

• Ship Breaker takes place on a lonely island in the Pacific Ocean.

• The main character is Nailer. He lives in a small shack with his father. They are the typical people of that island, extremely poor.

• His dad is part of a rough group that goes around beating up people and get drunk.

• Nailer on the other hand, is softer and does what everyone else his age does. He takes valuable materials from beached ships with his crew.

Rising action

• The first problem that arises for Nailer is that he is left for dead. In his crew, they have a blood oath, but one person has broken this oath. She has abandoned him for a shot at becoming rich. However, Nailer escapes and the girl is left with nothing.

• Later on, during a storm, a rich girl is washed up along with her ship, Nita. He and a friend walk down to the beach to find her and all her riches. At first they think she’s dead. But right before they cut her up for her jewelry, she awakes.

• She gives him a desperate offer to keep her alive that throws his life in a loop. They will wait for her father to find her and he will make both of them rich, they agree.

Climax

• After weeks of waiting, they grow restless and they find a horrible truth. Her father has enemies that are aware of her location. They have come to capture her and keep her hostage. She knows she has to run away but needs plenty of help, her fragile body can’t handle the work. After hours of thinking and begging, Nailer decides to go with her. Then out of nowhere, his dad’s heavy crew friend, Tool, decides to come along. He is a great asset to them. That night they sneak out to catch a ride.

Falling Action

• After catching a 2 day trip on a train, they reach the harbor of New Orleans. Then they wait. After 2 days, his dad shows up and Nailer is scared, anxious, and desperate. If he finds the 3 of them, then they all will be severely punished. Finally, they find a ship from the girls dad’s fleet. However, at the last moment when they’re boarding, Tool say’s he’s not going. Also, Nita has been captured.

Resolution

• In the end, after a few long hours of tedious fighting, Nailer and the ship’s crew defeat the enemy ship and bring back lucky girl.

• Nailer has changed both mentally and physically in this book. He at first is not a killer, just a scavenger. However, at the end, he kills his betraying dad violently. He will never forget it, but he doesn’t regret it.

• Emotionally, he has become attached to Nita. He has feels that he likes her and she is part of his family.

Theme

• The theme of the story is what comes around goes around. This was portrayed when Nailer saved Nita’s life. Then at the end of the story, her dad’s company was going to give his town materials to reshape their lives.

Conflict

• The conflict of this book was person vs. self.• Nailer in the beginning, had 2 options when

he found Nita. He could kill her and take everything she had on the ship. All the riche’s would’ve made him the richest person in the town. The second option was the one he took, rescue her.