52 pages • 1 hour read
Carl DeukerRunner
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2005A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Character Analysis
Chance Taylor
Chance Taylor is the protagonist, main character, and narrator. The story is told in his voice, and his dangerous situation creates a climate of suspense throughout the novel. Because Chance engages in illicit activity that he knows may harm people, he also qualifies as an antihero—a literary status reinforced by his general attitude: He doesn’t try hard at school and regularly uses coarse language. He’s not optimistic and lacks the upbeat attitude typical of a hero. Yet Chance’s socioeconomic status justifies his conduct and makes him more of a hero and typical protagonist. His dad struggles with alcoholism, and money is a central issue. To pay for boat fees and other necessities, Chance accepts the “smuggling” job. He doesn’t do it to enrich himself but to help him and his dad afford basic things.
Chance is independent—his mom left him, and his dad is undependable, so he has to be self-reliant. Speaking to his mom’s friend about his choice to join the Army, he wonders,
[H]ow could I explain to her that I wanted somebody to give me orders, that I wanted somebody to tell me what to do? Kids like Melissa—they couldn’t wait to get out on their own, to make their own decisions. I’d been doing that for a long time, and I was worn out by it (170).
He lacks parental guidance and structure, and the Army gives him that. It also gives him an escape from his dispiriting life on the Tiny Dancer.
Before Chance became a smuggler, he cleaned pots at Ray’s restaurant. Chance and his dad are in a low socioeconomic class, so money consumes him, and the “smuggling” gig offers a significant income increase. Chance doesn’t talk much about his looks and clothes, but he compares himself to other students, noting their “hundred-dollar running shoes, their fifty-dollar running shorts, their bottles of Gatorade, and their energy bars” (31). As Chance doesn’t have money, he likely doesn’t have expensive clothes—though his dad buys him a nice pair of gloves for Christmas.
Chance’s main relationship is with his dad. His dad doesn’t abuse him, but they don’t always get along. Chance sees him as a symbol of hopelessness, stating, “He wasn’t ever going anywhere on that crummy sailboat” (163). Yet he’s not ready to banish his dad from his life. Chance admits, “One minute I’d want him to disappear from my life forever; the next I’d panic at the thought of being alone in the world” (33). Chance doesn’t cry at his dad’s funeral, but his dad’s death pushes him to live his truth and stay faithful to his memory. As Chance links his life to his dad’s life, he stops viewing his dad as a hopeless figure: He becomes an inspiration.
Chance’s name reflects the theme of Paranoia and the Loss of Security. Chance takes a “chance” and agrees to the illicit job. The chance exposes him to harm and results in the death of his dad. Before Chance took the “chance,” he was in a precarious place—he didn’t know how he’d pay for necessities. He felt hopeless, and The Intense Pressure of Money made him vulnerable to a destructive scheme.
Melissa Watts
Melissa is a sidekick and foil. As a sidekick, she tries to help Chance. She tries to make him a part of her newspaper, and she says her dad can help him and his dad with money. Since Melissa comes from an affluent home, she’s Chance’s foil, so she has what Chance lacks. She doesn’t have to worry about her dad (he’s not battling alcoholism), and she doesn’t have to stress about paying for housing or food. Summing up her fortunate situation, Chance writes, “She lived in a big house overlooking Puget Sound. She drove a brand-new blue Jetta, wore hundred-dollar shoes and hundred-dollar pants and hundred-dollar shirts” (41). Yet money doesn’t prevent Melissa from engaging with complex social issues. She questions the prevailing narrative for the War on Terror, regularly acknowledges her privilege, and wants to use her newspaper to confront “controversial topics.”
Melissa’s tenacious quest for the truth transforms her into an antagonist. Her house gives her a view of Chance’s route so she can see what he’s up to. As she questions Chance, she creates tension, with Chance trying to keep her ignorant and out of trouble. Chance has a crush on Melissa, and he puts his arm around her when they go for a walk in Part 2, Chapter 11. Her suggestion that they write each other meaningful letters as people did during Jane Austen’s time indicates that she has romantic feelings for him. Yet nothing dramatically romantic happens between them. With Chance’s risky “smuggling” gig and Melissa’s activism and college worries, there’s not much room for a romance.
Chance’s Dad
Chance’s dad, Jack Taylor, is a former US soldier. He fought in the First Gulf War. After the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990, the United States, led by President George H. W. Bush, and its allies sent troops to defend Kuwait. Almost 13 years later, when Bush’s son was president, the United States invaded Iraq, a conflict that influences the plot of the novel. Chance doesn’t know why his father was discharged from the Army, and he worries that it may have been for cowardly conduct during the First Gulf War. Brent Miller exploits this worry when he tells Chance, “You’re a coward [...]. […] Just like your old man” (17). In reality, Chance’s dad conducted himself bravely during combat. His dad admits, “I was a good soldier under fire. It was the other times I had trouble with” (183). Chance’s dad demonstrates his courage with the terrorists and on the boat. He maneuvers Tiny Dancer away from people and successfully subdues one of the terrorists before the boat explodes. Chance’s dad sacrifices his life, and he dies a hero.
For much of the book, Chance’s dad isn’t a hero. As he doesn’t provide his son with much help or stability, he’s something of an antagonist. His son views him as a hostile force. When he talks to Chance about potentially sailing around the world together, Chance yells at him, “No, we’re not. And Mom’s never coming back either. You’re a drunk, and that’s all you are. So just shut up! OK? Just shut up and leave me alone!” (30). Though he’s not much of a hero, he’s not wholly an antagonist either, nor is he only a “drunk.” He stops drinking, cleans up, and finds work. During the summer, he works as a janitor in an apartment complex. He also gets a job at the bike shop, and he earns money helping people prepare their boats for winter. He’s not hopeless or irredeemable. He makes an effort to be a decent person.
When Chance’s dad drinks, he’s not abusive. About his dad, Chance says, “He’s not like drunk fathers in books. They’re always no-good bastards who even beat their kids and their wives. My dad never hit me; never yelled at me. He was just a drunk” (7). Though his alcohol addiction interferes with his ability to provide a stable life for his son, he truly loves Chance and tries his best to do right by him. When he sees Chance’s “wad of bills” and realizes his new job is illicit, he looks for ways to extricate him from the situation. He also has the wherewithal to keep the police off the boat, and when he finds the plastic explosives, he smartly sends Chance to Melissa’s dad. In the final chapters, Chance’s dad takes charge and saves lives.
Melissa’s Dad
Melissa’s dad—his official name appears once, and it’s Trevor Watts—stays on the periphery for much of the story. He and Chance’s dad were best friends in high school, and then they went their separate ways, with Melissa’s dad becoming a “hotshot” lawyer. Like Melissa, Watts is generous. Melissa says her dad can help Chance and his dad, and her dad does aid Chance’s dad by getting him a solid job as a janitor for his office building downtown.
In the final chapters, Melissa’s dad appears, and Chance describes him as a “balding, barrel-chested little guy” (197). Showcasing his connections, Melissa’s dad puts Chance in contact with the applicable law authorities. Through her dad, he gets into the helicopter and finds his dad on the boat. Her dad also serves as Chance’s lawyer, and he keeps Chance out of jail. The dad is a static or flat character, though his belief that there are better ways to atone for crimes than jail suggests he has some liberal or left-leaning beliefs, like his daughter.
Charles Burdett
For most of the novel, Charles Burdett is referred to only as “the fat man” or “the fat guy.” When he dies in the car crash, Chance learns his name from an ensuing newspaper article. Burdett’s character reflects fatphobia—assigning negative traits to bigger-bodied people. Burdett is the antagonist or villain. He ropes Chance into the illicit scheme and exposes him to an array of lethal dangers, leading to the death of his dad. The names “fat man” or “fat guy” make bigness synonymous with villainy.
Yet Burdett isn’t an archetypal antagonist, nor is he entirely flat or static. At a basic level, he helps Chance and his dad by offering him the job. He gets Chance the money he badly needs. Burdett didn’t create the scheme, and he’s not the primary beneficiary. Chance isn’t working for Burdett. He still works at the marina, and he drives an Acura—the illicit activity isn’t making him conspicuously rich.
There are worse people than Burdett. He tells Chance, “You think I’m scary, kid? I’m Mother Teresa, that’s who I am, compared to the other people involved in this” (109). Burdett isn’t the embodiment of evil. He doesn’t appear to know much more than Chance. When Chance asks him about what’s in the red packages, Burdett replies, “I don’t know what’s in them, and I don’t want to know. And you don’t either” (156). Arguably, Burdett is just trying to make some extra cash. Unlike Chance, he doesn’t survive the perilous work.
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