#35

The Silver Outrigger: How the Setting Affects the Plot

             In ‘the Silver Outrigger’, there is this one kind of setting that lifts up the readers’ tension; the weather. In this story, the weather could be separated into three parts. First part is when the storm builds up, then the storm rushes in, and the last part is when the storm is dissolved. As the reader reads trough the story, s/he gets all focused and yet nervous and then BOOM! comes the storm and the climax. Thus, the tension and the weather are parallel to each other.

             The story begins by telling the readers about how Captain Jarvis and Tod invited Mr. Williamson to a feast, but he refused. The weather of the night was humid and hot like the tropics. Jarvis and Tod start to go and visit Williamson in face. When they arrive ashore, they are welcomed by an earthquake. The earthquake is the trigger of the readers’ tension. On top of that, whining of the mosquitoes also pushes up the tension. These settings are on top of the basic setting, the humid and hotness. The sky becomes cloudier and the humidity rises even more, which parallels to the tension of the story. When they finally meet Williamson, he greeted them unpleasantly at first because he was haunted by the silver canoe. Then, he explains all about this canoe with no one on it. The weather is still building up and is very close to giving a huge storm. Jarvis recommends to chase after the canoe after he and other people had seen it with their own eyes. When they start to chase after the canoe, the storm comes right in and the story has reached its climax.

             As one can see, when the plot had reached the climax, the weather, too, had built up till its storm broke out. While the three of them are chasing after the canoe, the readers are constantly stimulated by frequent reminders of how the weather is like at the moment. There is fog, rain, strong winds, harsh waves… etc. This plot is the most active and so is the weather. It seems like when they get closer to the canoe, the weather worsens and tries to keep them apart. However, they manage to get near it.

             Finally, Jarvis, Tod, and Williamson got close enough to see who was in the canoe. When they did, the weather softened and the storm went by. Everything was solved. The weather and the plot’s tension had gone down slightly. However, some tension is left behind so that the story is a bit unfinished.

             ‘The Silver Outrigger’ is a story that uses weather as its biggest setting. So by following the weather patterns, readers can understand the basic plot.