Other editions of book The Cay

After the Germans torpedoed the freighter on which Phillip and his mother are traveling from wartime Curacao to the U.S., Phillip finds himself dependent on Timothy, an old, black West Indian sailor. Shipwrecked, there is just the two of them. This is the story of their struggle for survival and of Phillip's efforts to adjust to his new disability, blindness, and to understand the dignified, wise, and loving old man who is his companion.

Phillip is excited when the Germans invade the small island of Curacao. Was has always been a game to him, and he's eager to glimpse it firsthand, until the freighter he and his mother are traveling to the United States on is torpedoed.When Phillip comes to, he is on a small raft in the middle of the sea. Besides Stew Cat, his only companion is an old West Indian, Timothy. Phillip remembers his mother's warning about black people: "They are different, and they live differently."But by the time the castaways arrive on a small island, Phillip's head injury has made him blind and dependent on Timothy.From the Compact Disc edition.