I Survived The Shark Attacks Of 1916

These chapters feature several key scenes and the climax which result in significant changes for characters like Chet and Captain Wilson. Captain Wilson is an especially significant character in this section of the text, emerging as a hero despite how the townspeople malign him. Tarshis uses this scene to explore The Difficulty of Changing Public Perception. When the people in town dismiss Chet, believing his shark encounter to be a hoax, Chet runs to Captain Wilson’s house because he knows that Wilson is the only one likely to believe him. Despite this, Chet’s biases nearly cause him to turn around, thinking about Wilson’s mind as “Swiss cheese, full of holes and gaps” (65). This stigmatizing portrayal of ageing suggests that, even when Chet knows that Captain Wilson can help him, it is difficult for him to change his clouded view of Captain Wilson. Nevertheless, Wilson does not hesitate when Chet explains that he has seen the shark in the creek. He does not allow how others in town treat him to affect his willingness to help, and instead he springs into action. This provides a moral for the novel’s young readership: to believe in one’s own convictions despite public perception.

Relatedly, the theme of The Role of Friendship in Overcoming Adversity reaches its climax in this section. Chet must overcome his fear of rejection in the face of knowing that people may not believe his claims about the shark in the creek. The boys do not believe Chet’s warnings at first, continuing to play in the river as they assume that Chet is staging another prank. Chet’s familiar anxieties threaten to overtake him, and he nearly turns back, thinking that “for the next hundred years, people around Elm Hills would be talking about Chet Roscow, the kid who had said there was a shark in the creek. He’d be a big joke, like the captain was” (71). This quote illustrates the weight Chet puts on acceptance by those around him. Upon seeing Sid frozen in the water, the shark advancing, Chet pushes through this doubt and continues into the water, jumping in to save Sid.

Tarshis also explores The Intersection of Human Activity and the Natural World in these chapters as Chet and his friends barely escape the jaws of the shark. For much of the text, the shark is a looming figure: a piece of newspaper reporting or fodder for a prank. It is only when Chet comes face to face with the shark that the reality of its power comes into full focus: “the shark exploded out of the water, its jaws wide open, its teeth smeared with blood” (73-74). The shark is the antagonist of the text, creating lasting damage when it nearly claims Chet’s leg. This represents the power that the natural world has over humans.

Newspaper articles appear three times throughout the text, each one detailing the gory results of the most recent shark attack. Chapter 13 is a newspaper article from July 13th, the day after Chet’s attack. The newspaper articles speak to the difficulty of changing public perception and the misinformation at this time. The residents around Elm Hills rely on the newspapers to report on the attacks and yet characters like Uncle Jerry suggest that the stories may be fabrications as a ploy to sell more newspapers. The newspaper articles emphasize how much it takes to sway people’s opinions, which reflects how easily people ignore Chet’s story: “His cries of warning were ignored, with most residents dismissing his story as a prank” (76). The articles within the text function as a record of how dangerous it can be when the public clings to its belief about something, unswayed by evidence.