The Adventures of Roderick Random

Isolation from Messmates

Under Crampley’s brutal tyranny, the narrator’s life becomes increasingly irksome. Crampley signifies to the narrator’s messmates that he wishes him expelled from their society, and they immediately grant his request. The narrator is forced to eat alone for the remainder of the passage.

Ignoring the Gunner’s Warning

After seven weeks at sea, the gunner tells the captain that by his reckoning, they must be in soundings and requests that the lead be heaved. Crampley dismisses this concern, swearing they are not within a hundred leagues of soundings and refusing to cast the lead. When the gunner claims to discover Scilly light, Crampley continues to neglect sounding. The gunner formally protests the captain’s conduct, for which he is put in confinement.

The Shipwreck

At three o’clock in the morning, the ship strikes and remains fast on a sand-bank. The crew is alarmed; the boat is hoisted out, but they cannot discern which way the shore lies and must wait for daylight. The wind increases, and waves batter the sloop violently, causing them to expect the vessel will go to pieces. The gunner is released and advises cutting away the mast to lighten the ship, but this proves unsuccessful. Seeing the desperate situation, the sailors begin breaking open officers’ chests, dressing in their clothes, drinking their liquors, and drunkenness, tumult, and confusion ensue.

Tumult and Plunder

In the midst of the uproar, the narrator goes below to secure his effects and finds the carpenter’s mate hewing down the purser’s cabin with a hatchet, whistling calmly as he claims he only wants to taste the purser’s rum. When the purser arrives and protests this injustice, the plunderer responds with deliberate indifference: “All’s one for that, let us live while we can.” The purser falls to his knees, begging heaven that they might not all perish for the sake of Jonas.