A High Wind In Jamaica Reflection

Reflection
You’re caught. The FBI has everything -- all the bank records, the emails, and the SEC filings. You know you’re going away for insider trading for a long time. What goes through your mind at the very moment you know it’s over? You probably ask yourself, “How did it come to this?” Your mind starts racing, thinking about all the choices you made and all the things you could have done differently. In A High Wind in Jamaica by Richard Hughes, Captain Jonsen was surely asking himself the same questions when his fate was sealed. Captain Jonsen’s failure to rid himself of the children, his bad reputation, and trusting Emily to tell his story ultimately lead to his demise.
Captain Jonsen realizes that having the children on board is dangerous to him and tries to free himself of them. When the narrator writes, “Captain Jonsen was trying to get the lady to discuss the disposal of his impromptu nursery: the most reasonable solution being plainly to leave them at Santa Lucia, more or less in her charge. It was not till the banquet was over that he realized he had failed to make any arrangement whatsoever,” he demonstrates that Captain Jonsen knows the importance of removing the children from the ship but fails (108). By failing to persuade the
Chief Magistrate’s wife to care for the children, Captain Jonsen is left to resume his role as parent to the children and keep them on board longer than he would like, bringing danger to him and his crew. Also, when Captain Jonsen says, “If we get taken with them, where’ll we be, eh,” he reinforces how dangerous having the children on board is to him (202). If he is caught, he would not only be charged with piracy, but also with the kidnapping of defenseless children. Lastly, when the narrator says, “They were still a sort of holy novelty then: it was not till their shyness had worn off that he had begun to regret so whole-heartedly the failure of his attempt to leave them behind with the Chief Magistrate’s wife,” he reveals that Captain Jonsen knows how damaging his failure to dispose of the children is to him (133). It is dangerous to have the children on board, and it was also a great nuisance as well, distracting them from their pirate business and turning the schooner into a playground.
Captain Marpole’s false details of the Clorinda’s capture puts Captain Jonsen at greater risk and makes him a wanted man. When the narrator writes, “The twelve masked gun-ports had amused him hugely, since he was altogether without artillery: but when he heard Marpole accused him of murdering the children – Marpole, that lease reputable of skunks – his anger had broken out in one of its sudden explosions,” he demonstrates how furious Captain Jonsen is about the lies being spread about him (132). Captain Jonsen knows that these false stories are dangerous to him. The courts would not look kindly on a child murderer, and it would be his word over Marpole’s. Next, when Captain Marpole writes in his letter to the Bas-Thorntons, “I then put in to the port of Havana, where I informed the correspondent of Lloyds, the government, and the representative of the Times newspaper, and took the opportunity of writing you this melancholy letter before proceeding to England,” we are shown that Captain Marpole has made his false version of the Colorinda’s capture widely known (61). The story of the children’s demise would most certainly bring unwanted attention to Captain Jonsen, and it would be difficult to keep his involvement hidden. These stories back Captain Jonsen into a corner. When the narrator writes, “Either he must carry them about always, as a proof that they were alive, or he must land them and lose control of them. In the first case, their presence would certainly connect him with the Clorinda’s piracy of which he might otherwise go unsuspected: in the second, he might be convicted of their murder if he could not produce them,” he makes it clear that Captain Jonsen is left with little choice in the matter (238). Captain Jonsen is left to keep hold of the children longer than he would like, which put him in even greater danger.
Captain Jonsen’s foolhardy plan to put his trust in Emily is the final nail in his coffin.
With no options left, Captain Jonsen put his trust in Emily. While trying to persuade Emily to help him, Captain Jonsen says, “What on Earth were children’s heads made of, inside” (206). This indicates that he knows it was going to be difficult for Emily to play the part he is giving her. Otto equally has doubts about the plan by saying, “Well, he had done his best: but Otto felt heavy at heart. That little cherub! He didn’t believe she could keep a secret for ten seconds” (226). Being backed into a corner, Captain Jonsen has no other choice but to go ahead with his plan and put his trust in Emily, which ends in
disaster.
By failing to unload the children when he was given the opportunity, Captain Jonsen put himself in a dangerous situation. Next, the damage to his reputation forced him to keep the children longer, so he could prove he did not kill them. Finally, with no options left, he foolishly put his faith in Emily’s hands. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for Captain Jonsen. He became involved with the children by accident and tried his best to keep them all safe. Who would have thought that children would be the great Captain Jonsen’s downfall?