Summary of The Last Voyage of the Ghost Ship | The Heritage of Words

UNIT THREE : HUMOUR AND SATIRE
THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE GHOST SHIP
ENGLISH | THE HERITAGE OF WORDS
Garcia Marquez


This is a story written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, a Colombian novelist .It is written in the stream of consciousness style. Here is no plot in the story in usual sense, but the story dose trace a chronology of events. Involving the protagonist’s passes from a time of weakness as a bay without a man’s strong voice to a time in which his strength and power are asserted his new man’s voice.


The protagonist of this story is the boy. Many years ago he had seen the huge ocean liner for the first time. It was without light and without any sound. It had been seen by the old slave port. The ship appeared and disappeared in the fifteen seconds. After sometime, it headed towards the shoals, and ran to the ground, broke up and sank without a single sound. At that time the boy was without a man’s strong voice and had stayed very late on the beach to listen to the wind’s nights harps. It was unbelievable to him and next day he himself thought it was a dream and he didn’t tell anyone and didn’t remember the vision.

Again in the same night on the following march, he saw the illusory liner by the slave port. It was appearing and disappearing as in the previous time. Then the boy told his mother about the ship. But she didn’t believe and felt sad. But she sent a boat man to see what had happened .The boatman couldn’t see anything except different fish and hairs of drowned victims. But the boy insisted and his mother promised to watch with him the next March .In the same night of the next march she sat in an easy chair and started thinking about her husband who had died eleven years ago. Next morning when the boy came to see his mother he found her dead body in easy chair. Then the boy became orphan.

In the following March, he again saw the huge liner and cried to inform others .There also came some villagers after hearing his voice, but they could not see the liner and they became angry and beat him seriously. They also thought him as the source of disaster and didn’t give any charity .So he had to steal fish from the boat. But the boy determined to show the villagers who he was .In the same night of the next march he rowed a stolen boat in the sea of the slave port towards the mouth of the bay. He suddenly found the huge liner in front of him .It seemed that the liner was grouping for the invisible channel. It didn’t have any light and sound. The boy lighted the lantern that was in his boat .That lantern guided the pilot and the liner corrected its course and followed the next day the boy was able to guide the liner up to the shoals. On the bank the liner seemed very large. It was twenty times taller than the steeple and some ninety-seven times longer than the village with its name engraved in iron letters, Halalsilag. The villagers also came to see that liner .They were very much surprised to see the largest ocean liner in front of the this is a story if self-discovery. It tells us that truth is obtained after great efforts.



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