AT SEA

By: Guy de
Maupassant
 I. Author
Henri René Albert Guy
(5 August 1850 – 6 July 1893)
de
Maupassant
Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant was a popular
19th-century French writer. He is one of the fathers of
the modern short story. A number of his stories often
denote the futility of war and the innocent civilians
who get crushed in it - many are set during the Franco-
Prussian War of the 1870s. He wrote some 300 short
stories, six novels, three travel books, and one volume
of verse. His first published story, "Boule de Suif"
("Ball of Suet", 1880), is often considered his
II.
Characters
• Captain Javel – Captain Of Trawling
Smack.
“No, do not cut, wait, I will luff.”

• Javel, junior – Younger Brother Of Captain

Javel.
“If my brother had been willing to cut
away the net, I should still have my arm,
that is sure. But he was thinking only of
his property.”
• The Four Sailors – Sailors Of Trawling
Smack
“We must cut it.”
“He will bleed to death, we must bind the
vein.”
“I hope we do not sell it at auction.”
• The Wife and Children of Javel,
junior
• Cabin Boy
III. Settings
Boulogne-Sur-Mer
(France)
• Boulogne-Sur-Mer is a coastal city in Northern France.
It is a sub-prefecture of the department of Pas-de-
Calais. Boulogne lies on the Côte d'Opale, a touristic
stretch of French coast on the English Channel
between Calais and Normandy, and the most visited
location in the region after Lille conurbation.
Boulogne is its department's second-largest city after
Calais, and the 60th-largest in France. It is also the
III. Settings
Freytag’s Pyramid
Plot

Exposition Denouemen
t
Exposition

There was a selfish Captain named Javel.

Captain Javel had on board his younger
brother, four sailors and a cabin boy. He
had set sail from Boulogne on a beautiful
day to go trawling.
Rising Action

They were peacefully sailing until a

hurricane came. Javel, junior’s arm got
stuck on the net, a sailor said that they
should cut the rope but Captain Javel refuse
to cut it because the rope is too expensive.
Plot

Because, Captain Javel refuse to cut the rope

out of Javel junior’s arm. The hand of Javel,
junior were cut but the ropes then when he
took off his jersey, He saw a horrible sight, a
mass of flesh from which the blood spurted
as if from a pump, then the other sailors
bind Javel junior’s hand. Then they put the
Falling
Action
When they got to harbor, the doctor examined
the wound and pronounced it to be in good
condition. He dressed it properly and ordered
the patient to rest. But Javel would not go to bed
until he got back his severed arm. Then they sent
for a carpenter to make a little coffin. The entire
crew of the trawling smack followed the funeral
Denouement

Javel, junior, gave up the sea. He obtained a

small position on the dock, and when he
subsequently talked about his accident, he
would say confidentially to his auditors:
“If my brother had been willing to cut away the
net, I should still have my arm, that is sure. But
he was thinking only of his property.”
V. Theme

The Theme of the story is about why you should

not sacrifice the safety of any person even on the
most expensive things you’ve got. “Because it’s
better to be safe than sorry.”
VI.
Reflection
The thing I learned about the story, At Sea, Is the
truth about the quote “Regrets are felt when it's
just too late.“ Because Captain Javel is selfish,
That he sacrificed the safety of his brother over
some expensive ropes.