John Rowland's Resurrection

Focuses strictly on Rowland's spiritual and physical transformation from wreck to redemption.

increasingBearing stren­gth in each eventdecreasing

The Broken Man

The Broken Man The Moment Rowland is introduced as a debauched, watery-eyed sailor who trembles at the sight of Myra Selfridge. He is a graduate of Annapolis, but he has fallen to the forecastle and drinks heavily. Why It Matters His disgrace is both social and spiritual. He believes his life is a waste, a failed love, and a long surrender to whisky. This is the character who must be destroyed and rebuilt by the events of the novel.

The Crippling Fight

The Crippling Fight The Moment A starving polar bear attacks the child, and Rowland meets it with only a jackknife. He crushes his left arm and ribs, but drives the blade into the bear's brain and kills it. Why It Matters This is Rowland's first fully selfless act: he risks certain death for a child who is not his own. The physical cost is an arm, but the moral cost is repaid tenfold. The fight gives him a concrete proof of courage that will later impress Captain Barry and the public.

The Amputation

The Amputation The Moment At Christiansand, surgeons amputate Rowland's crushed arm. He lingers between life and death, cared for by Captain Barry, and finally recovers enough to travel to London. Why It Matters The amputation is the outward sign of his inward change. He has given up part of his body for another human being. It also closes off his old life as a sailor, forcing him to find a new identity on land.

The Sober Choice

The Sober Choice The Moment Captain Barry asks Rowland whether he will begin drinking again now that his ordeal is over. Rowland answers, "Never again. I've a future now, as well as a past." Why It Matters The vow is not a religious conversion but a practical commitment to the future. He accepts the second cabin ticket as a bribe and agrees to take the child to her mother. This is the turning point of his resurrection: the man who was all past turns toward the future.

A Future of His Own

A Future of His Own The Moment Rowland has worked his way up from dock fishing to a government desk. He tells himself that his future is his own and that he suffered only from a mistaken estimate of women and whisky. Why It Matters The line sounds triumphant, but the letter from Mrs. Selfridge proves he is wrong. His past, in the form of the child Myra, reaches out to him. His resurrection is not complete until he can face the woman who once rejected him and the child who loves him.

aboard the Titan, early April

on the iceberg, the morning after the wreck

at Christiansand, after rescue

in Captain Barry's cabin, the night before sailing

two and a half years after the wreck