This story is an exercise
in subtlety, from the gentle joke of its title to the surprise catch at its
ending. Analyze the story title.
The story title can be
understood in two different ways. The first one is when Mr. Botibol jumps off
the ship to the sea. It would be a funny and ironic way of saying “deep in the
sea”. The other way the title can be understood, is that the pool mentioned in
it is the pool of money of the bets. Mr. Botibol was deep in the pool of money
because he betted all his savings and because he is “drowned” in the pool of
money he has no possibilities of winning.
What drove Mr. Botibol jump
overboard?
It gave him more
possibilities to win. Staying on the boat would mean that he was going to lose
for sure (he would be alive but with no money left). Jumping off the ship was
the way of solving the problem. He would win the bet because they would have to
save him (he would be alive and would have all the money), or he could die,
which considering that money is more important than living; it would be another
solution, because if he is dead he doesn´t have to worry about the money. Anyway,
dying wasn’t part of his plan.
Why did his plan fail?
His plan fails because the
woman he chooses to give the alarm that he was in the sea, was mentally insane.
If I were him, I would have chosen a group of people, just in case the person
that was supposed to help me left or didn’t help me.
What would have done if you
were the old lady?
I think I would take a
glance to the sea just to make sure there was no man in the sea. Although the
other woman was mentally insane, you never really know when they are telling
the truth or not. Of course, if there was a man in the sea, I would immediately
tell the captain.
The last scene is that of
the elderly woman “allowing herself to be led away across the deck" and
offhandedly mentioning “Such a nice man. He waved to me". What does this
tell you about the old lady and poor Mr. Botibol?
It tells me that the woman
was not mentally sane, so the elderly woman was taking care of her, and that
the plan of Mr. Botibol failed. It is clear that she is insane because she
thinks that the man is exercising in the sea. Mr. Botibol was clearly desperate
and took a very quick decision. He was killed by his own ambition and desire of
being the winner of the bet. He made a very bad decision on betting all the savings
he had.
Identify the story themes
and expand on them. Find at least two.
Money: It is a common
ambition on people and they are willing to do almost everything just for having
more. It is very important for some because it defines their social status and
because they think that it makes them better than other people and because it
gives them more power.
Betting: It is also shown in “Taste”. It is shown as a
very dangerous obsession in people and that can also make them take dangerous,
quick and wrong decisions just for winning.
“Ambitions and obsessions”
is a theme shown in a lot of stories of Roald Dahl. In this story is shown with
money and betting.
Insanity is shown in this
story, but in my opinion it isn’t developed by the writer as a theme, but it is
only shown as a very important part in the development of the story-specially
in the ending-.
I think all the themes used
by the writer are used to show the reader the real nature of the human being,
in almost all his stories.
Find similarities between
this story and Man from the South.
The similarities I can
notice between these two stories are that the main character is apparently on holidays,
the appearance of an insane person and of a sane person taking care of it, and
the existence of a bet. In both stories the main character makes his decisions based
on the odds he has for winning the bet.
What´s the message Roald
Dahl gives its reader?
I think the message Roald Dahl gives its reader is that people’s decisions
are made very often based on their ambitions and obsessions, and that people
are able to reach very extreme points when carried away by them. This is
something this writer shows in his stories very often – he kind of tries to
unmask the real nature on the human being, a nature that sometimes can scare
anyone.
