Mutiny on the Bounty.pdf （Cliffs Notes English 原典英语小说学习笔记）

www.cliffs.com Cliffs Notes on Mutiny on the Bounty © 1990 1 MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY Notes including • Life and Background of the Authors • A Brief Synopsis • List of Characters • Critical Commentaries • Critical Essays • Essay Topics and Review Questions • Selected Bibliography by Gregory Tubach University of Nebraska LINCOLN, NEBRASKA 68501 1-800-228-4078 www.CLIFFS.com ISBN 0-8220-7137-1 © Copyright 1990 by Cliffs Notes, Inc. All Rights Reserved www.cliffs.com Cliffs Notes on Mutiny on the Bounty © 1990 2 LIFE AND BACKGROUND OF THE AUTHORS Charles Nordhoff and James Hall were both published authors when they first met at the end of World War I. Both men had distinguished themselves as flyers in the famed Lafayette Escadrille Corps, and while serving in the squadron, each of them wrote articles for the Atlantic Monthly about their wartime experiences. When the war ended, the two men were asked to write a book about the history of the Escadrille, and this collaboration was the beginning of a long and successful venture for the two. Nordhoff suggested to Hall that they should move to the Tahitian Islands to write about the South Sea. The men approached the Atlantic Monthly's editor about the idea and were advanced $7000 for their expenses. Their first collaboration about the South Sea, Faery Lands, sold fairly well, but the collaboration deteriorated, and the two men began writing on their own again. Nordhoff concentrated his efforts on writing books for boys, publishing Pearl Lagoon shortly after his split with Hall. Hall did not fare as well. He struggled to sell short articles about the lives of the island people and became increasingly morose. Tired of island life, Hall approached a publisher about writing a travel book on Iceland. He was given a $5000 advance and travelled to Iceland, where he did his research and finished the book. It was a dismal failure, so Hall decided to return to Tahiti. His return to the island marked a new beginning. During this time, Nordhoff continued to try his hand at boys books and attained a respectable name for himself. In the span of four years, he published three adventure books, married a Tahitian woman, and fathered several children. Strong drink and growing depression, however, caused Nordhoff to begin to question his ability as a writer. When Hall returned from Iceland, the two men decided again to try to collaborate on a novel. This conjunction marked the turning point in their literary careers. With Hall tempering Nordhoff's uncontrollable energy and Nordhoff inspiring Hall's imagination, the two embarked on a sea of best sellers, including Falcons of France: A Tale of Youth and the Air (1929), The Hurricane (1936), Dark River (1938), No More Gas (1940), Botany Bay (1941), Men Without Country (1942), and The High Barbaree (1945). The pinnacle of their success, however, was published between Falcons of France and The Hurricane: the Mutiny trilogy: Mutiny on the Bounty (1932), in which the Bounty is seized from Captain Bligh by Fletcher Christian, who then sails out in search of an uninhabited island; Men Against the Sea (1934), which recounts Bligh's open-boat voyage to England to report the mutiny; and Pitcairn's Island (1934), which tells about Christian's finding Pitcairn Island and how the lives of the mutineers changed during their stay on the island. Nordhoff and Hall gained critical acclaim for their trilogy, and especially for Mutiny on the Bounty, which was a Book-of-the-Month Club selection. After the success of this trilogy, Nordhoff became disillusioned with writing, yet he continued to collaborate with Hall, turning out several more popular novels. With the completion of The High Barbaree, however, there was little doubt in either author's mind that this one would be the last book written together by the two men. Nordhoff wanted to return to Tahiti, but he went instead to his parents' home during a fierce bout of depression, and he died there on April 11, 1947, a broken man yearning for his paradise of Tahiti. Hall's success continued after The High Barbaree. He returned to his hometown in Iowa, and there, he worked on more novels and short essays. Writing alone once again, his work was now received far better. His later works include A Word for His Sponsor: A Narrative Poem (1949) and The Far Lands (1950), which was a Literary Guild selection. www.cliffs.com Cliffs Notes on Mutiny on the Bounty © 1990 3 In 1951, knowing that he was dying, Hall and his wife returned to Tahiti, where his condition deteriorated quickly. He died on July 6 and was buried with Tahitian funeral rites. Afterward, three of his works were published posthumously: The Forgotten One, and Other True Tales of the South Seas (1952), Her Daddy's Best Ice Cream (1952), and My Island Home (1952). A BRIEF SYNOPSIS Roger Byam is introduced to the reader, and we learn that he has been extended an invitation by Captain William Bligh to embark on an expedition to Tahiti to gather breadfruit trees and take them to the West Indies, where they will be planted and their fruit fed to the slaves of English colonists. Byam is expected to formulate a dictionary of the Tahitian language. The Bounty sets sail in November 1787, and its crew is introduced to the reader. The ship makes calls on several islands during its journey to Tahiti, and, meanwhile, conditions aboard the ship begin to deteriorate. Food rots, the crew suspects Bligh of hoarding food for himself, and several men are accused of stealing. Discontent is mounting among the crew. The Bounty reaches Tahiti, and Byam begins studying the Tahitian language with the aid of some of the natives. Members of the crew begin the task of digging up young breadfruit trees and storing them on board the ship. Many of the men form attachments to the Tahitian women, and the realization that the Bounty will soon be sailing from this idyllic life causes grumbling among the crew. Not surprisingly, three men desert before the ship leaves. The Bounty sets sail for the West Indies to deliver the trees, and early in the voyage, Bligh harasses his crew--in particular, he accuses some of them of stealing coconuts. His officers, notably Fletcher Christian, begin grumbling over the poor treatment that they are receiving at the hands of Bligh. Accordingly, one morning, some of the crew, led by Christian, seize the ship and force Bligh, along with some of Bligh's followers, into the Bounty's launch to fend for themselves on the high seas. Those who wish to accompany Bligh but cannot because of the already-crowded conditions in the launch are forced to remain with the mutineers aboard the Bounty. Christian immediately begins sailing the South Sea in search of an uninhabited island, but finding none and tired of the complaints of his fellow mutineers, Christian returns to Tahiti, where he drops off those who wish to stay on the island, including Byam. Then he resumes his search for an unchartered and uninhabited island. Byam eases himself back into the idyllic life he experienced the first time on the island, and soon he marries a Tahitian princess. A child is born to the couple, and life on Tahiti continues to be a paradise-- until an English ship drops anchor at the island. Byam rows out to meet the vessel and is immediately imprisoned as a mutineer, along with the other Englishmen on the island. While taking the prisoners back to England to be tried for mutiny, the ship runs aground on a reef and sinks, but not before the crew and prisoners have taken refuge in the ship's smaller boats. The small boats make an open-sea journey, and finally, after several months of sailing and torturous conditions, they reach land safely. The mutineers are imprisoned aboard another vessel, which takes them back to England to await their court-martial. The court-martial of Byam and his companions begins. Testimony is given by the men of the Bounty who made it back to England. Byam and the other men are then allowed to present their defenses. The judges www.cliffs.com Cliffs Notes on Mutiny on the Bounty © 1990 4 deliberate and find Byam, along with five of the other nine men, guilty of mutiny against the Bounty. Three of the six condemned men are taken to be hanged, and the other three, Byam included, are spared the rope only hours before their seemingly inevitable deaths. Byam is spared because Robert Tinkler, a friend of Byam's aboard the Bounty, corroborates Byam's testimony at the court-martial concerning his innocence, and the other two men are saved from hanging after being pardoned by the proper British authorities. Byam returns to his family home to live out his life, but is persuaded into duty aboard another ship by the ship's captain. The ship battles the Dutch off the coast of Spain and is victorious. Byam is promoted to captain, given his own ship, and ordered to sail to the South Sea. While there, he sets anchor at Tahiti, where he learns that his wife is dead, but that their daughter is alive. He meets with Helen, now grown, but does not reveal his identity to her. The novel closes with Byam reviewing the events of his past and contemplating the future. LIST OF CHARACTERS Roger Byam The fictitious narrative character used by the authors to tell the story of the mutiny on the Bounty. Historically, there was no such person as Byam; he is simply a creation of the authors in order to dramatize the latter portion of the novel. At the beginning of the novel, Roger is seventeen years old. He attracts the attention of Captain Bligh because of his unique ability to learn quickly and master the intricacies of foreign languages. Because the sailors of the South Sea need to learn the language prevalent in that part of the world in order to trade with the natives, the British government hires Byam to compile a dictionary of the Tahitian language and an accompanying grammar book. Early in the novel, we discover that Byam comes from a highly respected family and that he is a man of absolute integrity. Captain William Bligh The captain of the Bounty, he is sailing to Tahiti to gather breadfruit trees, whose fruit will be used as cheap food for the slaves of the British landowners in the West Indies. Bligh's strict disciplinary measures will be directly responsible for the seizure of the Bounty by Lieutenant Fletcher Christian and his followers. Bligh's unreasonable behavior, coupled with the crew's knowledge that he has been cheating them of their due rations, makes most of them despise him. Bligh's harsh punishments for minor offenses (or, often, imagined acts) make him an object of scorn and eventually cause the men to mutiny against him. Bligh, however, is an immensely skilled navigator, and he leads his small band of survivors over a great expanse of sea to safety--seemingly, an almost impossible feat. Fletcher Christian One of the ranking officers on the Bounty, Christian comes from genteel stock and finally finds it impossible to endure all of the insults heaped upon him by Captain Bligh. His statement that most men can be ruled by kindness and reason is ridiculed by Bligh, and when Christian is accused of theft and alleged conspiracy, he leads the others in a mutiny. Subsequently, he is declared captain of the Bounty and the leader of a band of mutineers, whom he ultimately guides to an unknown island. Throughout the novel, Christian is depicted as an honest man, one who has never done anything dishonorable. In fact, it is his strong sense of honesty which makes him burn with shame when he is accused of something dishonest; in addition, his shame is made even more intolerable because he is humiliated in front of the crew. The movies made from this novel usually depict Christian in heroic proportions. www.cliffs.com Cliffs Notes on Mutiny on the Bounty © 1990 5 Chapter 10 focuses almost wholly on Christian's character, emphasizing his deep sense of the wrong that he feels he suffers at the hands of Captain Bligh. Byam understands and empathizes with Fletcher Christian's feelings, but once the mutiny occurs, Byam does not sympathize with Christian's plight. John Fryer Master of the Bounty. In spite of the fact that he strongly dislikes Captain Bligh, he is nevertheless loyal to the King's Navy, and he is the type of man whom Fletcher Christian will not want to have on board the Bounty after the mutiny because Christian knows that despite the fact that Fryer detests Bligh, Fryer will make every effort to retake the Bounty. His testimony at Byam's court-martial should clear the young man, but unfortunately it doesn't. Robert Tinkler Tinkler is Mr. Fryer's brother-in-law. We first encounter him as a victim of Bligh's infamous and unjust punishments: the young man is forced to undergo severe hardships for being awake after all candles were to be extinguished and the men in their berths. While he is not Byam's closest friend, they are good comrades. Tinkler's key scene in the novel occurs as he overhears a conversation between Byam and Christian, when Byam tells Christian, "You can count on me, sir." Tinkler's main function lies in his being "resurrected" so that he can repeat the whole of this conversation to the Royal High Admiralty, testimony which will acquit Roger Byam. Thomas Hayward and John Hallet These two men are the midshipmen who could testify in Byam's behalf; instead, they want to cover up the fact that both of them cried and whimpered to stay aboard the Bounty after Christian had taken command of the ship. Villainously, they implicate both James Morrison and Roger Byam in the mutiny. Hallet, in particular, has a grudge against Morrison and Byam because they caught him informing on his comrades, and they witnessed his disgraceful bawling during the conclusion of the mutiny. Thomas Huggan The surgeon aboard the Bounty, the ship's "saw-bones." Huggan drinks a lot and prescribes alcohol as a remedy for every ailment that befalls the crew. For example, after Tinkler is taken down from the bone- chilling mast after twenty-four hours, Huggan gives him a strong shot of rum, which allows Tinkler to return to service on deck, "none the worse for his night aloft." When the good-natured surgeon dies on Tahiti, men such as Fletcher Christian know that he will be sorely missed because of his good humor and his humane treatment of the sailors. David Nelson The botanist who knows of Byam's loyalty and who could have testified about Byam's wish to join Bligh in the launch. His untimely death removes a key witness for Byam. John Norton The quartermaster who could have corroborated Christian's intention to escape from the Bounty on a raft built by Norton during the night preceding the mutiny. His death is particularly untimely since the members of the court-martial board think that it is unbelievable that a quartermaster would be doing carpenter work when there were two qualified carpenters on the ship. The court-martial board does not believe Byam's testimony about Norton building a raft for Christian because they feel Byam chose to say this about Norton because he knew Norton to be dead and unable to substantiate Byam's testimony. www.cliffs.com Cliffs Notes on Mutiny on the Bounty © 1990 6 William Purcell The unpleasant carpenter, whose tyranny is surpassed only by the tyranny of Captain Bligh. The two men--captain and carpenter--despise one another, but as much as Purcell hates Bligh, he is loyal to Bligh and will have absolutely nothing to do with the mutineers, whom he calls scoundrels and outlaws. Mr. Samuel The clerk who helps Captain Bligh cheat the men out of their fair share of rations. Next to Bligh and Purcell, he is the most detested person aboard the Bounty. James Morrison The boatswain's mate, Morrison joins Byam and Stewart in secretly planning to retake the Bounty after Christian has bound Bligh, but their plans are foiled when their guard is doubled. Morrison is unable to join Bligh in the launch because of the crowded conditions in the small boat; therefore, he is forced to remain on board the ship, along with Byam. As a result of this act of fate, he is found guilty of mutiny, but because of extenuating circumstances aboard the Bounty, the court-martial board grants Morrison clemency. Thomas Ellison The youthful boy who has nothing to do with the mutiny, yet once it begins, he delights in taunting Bligh. He has undergone much suffering at the hands of the tyrannical and irrational Captain Bligh, and it is understandable that he would want to offer one last taunt at Bligh. For this adolescent indiscretion, he is hanged. Captain Edwards The captain of the Pandora, whose mission is to search out, find, and return to England all of the Bounty's mutineers for trial. Edwards carries out "the letter of the law" with no concept of the "spirit of the law." At times, he seems to be brutal, hateful, spiteful, despicable, obnoxious, and as cruel as Bligh himself. Lieutenant Parkin Captain Edwards' lieutenant aboard the Pandora; he delights in sadistically and unnecessarily punishing the prisoners. For example, while the ship is anchored in the harbor of Tahiti, amidst a plethora of fresh meat and fresh fruit, he sadistically forces the prisoners to eat moldy, hard-tack biscuits and dry meat. Captain Montague The captain of the H.M.S. Hector, on which the accused mutineers are imprisoned. In contrast to the other captains whom we have seen in this novel, Captain Montague is humane, decent, and very considerate of their mental and physical welfare. For example, Captain Montague treats Byam as a gentleman, allowing Byam to read his letters in private, as well as take exercises in the open; in general, he treats Byam with the humanity due Byam. After Byam is cleared of the charge of mutiny, Montague asks Byam to join him in Montague's next excursion at sea. Dr. Hamilton As the doctor aboard the Pandora, he continually intercedes for the benefit of the prisoners; he sees that their quarters are clean and that they are well fed, and he uses his influence with Captain Edwards to secure some small amenities for them. He remains firm in his belief that Byam is innocent of mutiny, and he continues to support Byam even after Byam is convicted and sentenced to death. www.cliffs.com Cliffs Notes on Mutiny on the Bounty © 1990 7 Sir Joseph Banks Byam's influential friend who is responsible for Byam's first meeting with Bligh; later, he is Byam's staunchest defender during the court-martial. To Byam, Sir Joseph is one of those exceptional men who seem to be a member of a race apart from all others, the type of man who finds himself equally at home among common seamen or among the lords of the realm. In appearance, he is described as being a typical Englishman, one who could have been taken from a Dickens novel. He is solidly built, yet seems to radiate energy and strength, and is one of the busiest and most influential men in London. Part of Sir Joseph's influence comes from his being president of the prestigious Royal Society, an organization which has influence in all spheres of English life. Officially, Sir Joseph is anxious for Byam to undertake a journey on the Bounty in order to complete a dictionary of the Tahitian language for use in Britain's vast trading and colonization network. Throughout the trial, and afterwards, Sir Joseph remains convinced of Byam's innocence, and when Byam is condemned to die, Sir Joseph announces that no greater injustice has ever been perpetrated than that against Byam: "There has never been a more tragic miscarriage of justice in the history of His Majesty's Navy." The fact that Sir Joseph uses his influence as president of the Royal Society to gain Byam an extra month to finish his dictionary also gives him enough time to find Tinkler and submit his testimony on Byam's behalf. At the end of the novel, Sir Joseph is influential in convincing Byam to make the navy his vocati