The Wreck Of The Mary Deare Essay, Research Paper
What drives people in this modern age of ours? It is evident almost everywhere in our
world that greed controls lives. Society has morphed into a money sucking monster. Everywhere
we look there are cheaters and crooks just trying to get rich and not caring about anything or
anyone they harm or destroy. However, many people also work hard and are fair, but they still do
it just for money. The book The Wreck Of The Mary Deare portrays this theme of life well. The
search for money and possessions drives everyone, be they good or bad, right to the very end.
In the beginning of the book John Sands is trying to get money. He is driving a boat on a
mission of salvage collecting. He is just trying to get money rather fairly but greed is driving him
nevertheless. Salvage! A ship of 6,000 tons, drifting and abandoned. It was unbelievable (18).
As the quote says he spots a ship that has been abandoned. The first thing that comes to mind is
how he can make money off of it. That it is just salvage waiting to be collected. He does not
think of trying to find any survivors, and worst of all, he is not thinking about his own safety.
There is a storm coming, but he wants that ship. He boards it and knows that if the storm blew
his ship away he would be stranded. If fact he is so blinded by greed that he thinks he might be
able to operate such a large ship and bring it into port! Greed drives all men, even the heroic
character in the book.
Next, in the middle of the story, greed drives a company and other men. A company that
insured cargo on the Mary Deare, the very same ship Sands tried to salvage, is bringing the case
of the wreck of the ship to court. This shows the greed of the company and the greed of lawyers.
Do you know who s representing the insurance people? he whispered. I shook my head. I had
no information about the legal representatives. All I knew was that a Mr. Bowem-Lodge Q.C.
was chairman of the Enquiry. Sir Lionel Falcett. About the most expensive man they could have
got. (131). That quote tells that information quite nicely. The insurance company wants to win
the case so they do not have to pay for the wreck and it s cargo. It would seem that the lawyer is
the most expensive win every case money draining type. Also, after the case it comes up that
while the ship was in dock next to another ship it s cargo was exchanged. The captain of the
Mary Deare was offered a fairly large sum to sink the ship. The cargo would be sold and no
evidence would be left. Plus a hefty insurance bonus would be gotten. The insurance companies,
are bad enough, but what causes them to be this way are fraudulent people like the character.
Finally, by the end of the book, the characters are still trying to gain money. Many of the
loose ends of the case and the Mary Deare have been tied up, but there are still financial gains to
be had. At the time Mike and I had been working on the wreck off the Hook of Holland and
when we got back I found a similar letter waiting for me, together with a check for 2,500 pounds
- as some compensation for the loss of your vessel. (297). Another character also received a
similar sum of money. Greed still driving him the main character was working feverishly on his
salvage company trying to bring back as much as he could. He ran into several wrecks and was
able to bring them in. The other character, Patch, was given command of a huge ship. He was
still trying to make money as well even though he had just been through a terrible ordeal. To the
very end greed drove everyone.
The goal to get rich, to have possessions and money, drives all people today. Some would
say that it is the problem with today s society. Everyone is driven by money. This theme of life is
shown excellently in The Wreck of the Mary Deare. During the entire book, right from the very
beginning to the very end, everyone is trying to gain more money. Even though some people in
the book work hard to gain money, they are still driven by greed. The clear message is sent that
people will always value money and possessions. This is a very bad quality but it has become so
common that nobody stops to think about it.