In any good book or story, the characters inside of it develop in some way. In Theodore Taylor’s The Cay, Phillip (The main protagonist) reveals that, through many conflicts, he developed independence, bravery, and kindness, the polar opposite of what he was at the beginning of the novel.
The first topic being discussed is how Phillip demonstrates Independence after being struck with blindness. Before developing this, however, he was very dependent on his mother, shown when he is sobbing for her after his ship sank in page 38. Anyway, one of the first signs of this trait developing is when Phillip finally climbs a palm tree to get its coconuts. (Pages 98-99) While this does show bravery (As he was too cowardly to attempt it earlier), it shows independence more, since completing this small feat will help him survive later in the novel. Speaking of later in the novel, this trait has fully developed by the time the hurricane hit the Cay. (Pages 108-111) He uses it to stay alive while waiting on being rescued. While doing this, Phillip either develops or has already developed other traits.
On another note, Phillip also demonstrates bravery after Timothy dies. (Page…show more content… At the beginning of the novel, he was very racist and didn’t see blacks as people, rather as lesser beings. One way this shows is when he slanders Timothy for his race (Page 71). He became angry after not being able to complete a task and lashed out at him. This began to turn to kindness right after this event, when he tried to make amends with Timothy (Page 72). The text even explicitly says that he was beginning to change. Later in the novel, he took care of Timothy while he was down with fever and Malaria (Page 88-92). He could’ve easily let Timothy deal with the sickness himself, but he took the kindness from his heart to nurse the man back to health, using some of their resources to do
