Content wise, we do not run into a lot of major turning points in the novel here.  However, there are a few ideas which need to be explored from this page.

First of all, S can not will himself to help the young rescued sailor, trapped in the cabin of the boat.  Throughout the novel, S does not have the courage to help others, as he admits here, stating if he “were a braver man, he thinks, he would have investigated” what happened to the boy more aggressively (60).  In addition to this, Straka finishes the page with S very pessimistic about his life, a potential mirroring of Straka’s life.

When Straka describes the rescued sailor, the paragraph is quickly interjected into the book.  There is not a lot of lead up to the discussion of the boy, or any take away.  Both the boy and the monkey being rescued together, clearly entangles their meanings in some way or another.  According to the whoisstraka.wordpress blog, the monkey parallels S’s feelings throughout the novel, which would imply that S is probably also empathizing with the boy. What connects the two most likely is a loss of identity.  The boy has been stripped of where he should be, while S does not even have an identity.

Secondly, in Straka’s description, he quickly adds a note about Malestrom catching his telescope in his beard. Perhaps it is used to mask his true identity playing on the theme of self.

In the margins, we can see that Eric and Desjardins’ relationship has begun to sputter out, but he gains motivation to go and see him.  This is a pretty big step for Eric, as in the past he has been very hesitant to take big risks, especially with Jen.

Desjardins, a large association of Canadian credit unions, is an interesting word choice for Straka to make a helpful character, as he typically hates big businesses.  Perhaps he had some sort of connection to this association, or he just randomly picked a popular French name.

Ultimately, the biggest take away from this page is the use of the boy and the monkey, and their future implications.