Jacob's Room

Jacob reads the plays of William Shakespeare but he finds it hard to finish any of them. While sailing to the Schilly Isles with Timmy Durrant, he is determined to try again. The Scilly Isles are located off the southern coast of England. The boat ride is marked by “sulky” (44) bickering, after which the pair eats in silence. When Jacob swims in the sea, Durrant helps him back onto the boat. As Jacob dries himself off, he knocks the Shakespeare book into the sea. They chat about Durrant’s university work, then about the female relations of their friends. As they approach the archipelago, they chat about hymns. Jacob sings hymns while lying on the boat. As the day ends, Durrant sails the boat toward the Scilly Isles’s lighthouse.

On the Scilly Isles, Mrs. Pascoe watches the sea from the doorway of a cottage. As tourists walk past the house, they seem to think of her as just another part of the islands’ rustic appeal. Timmy’s mother, Mrs. Durrant, pays a call on Mrs. Pascoe. She is expecting her son to arrive any time now. The conversation moves from their children to the blight that is threatening the potatoes in Mrs.