Guide Mentor

Character Role Analysis

Leggatt

Leggatt comes along at just the right time for this book's narrator. The narrator feels crushed by loneliness and insecurity, and he's overcome with joy when he looks over the edge of his boat one night and finds a new best friend floating in the water who turns out to be a perfect match for the captain in terms of friendship.

The timing seems a little too good, doesn't it? By the end of the novel, it's clear that Leggatt's friendship has given the captain a sense of purpose and has allowed him to overcome his loneliness and become a proud, confident captain for his ships. So in this sense, you could say that Leggatt's purpose in this book is to teach the captain to be his own man and to have faith in himself before diving back into the sea.