Book Report on The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger
The fishing port of Gloucester, Massachusetts, just north of Boston, is one of the oldest fishing ports in the United States and can trace its history to around 1623. Since that time, around ten thousand men have lost their lives fishing the Atlantic Ocean. Not only did the fishing port feel the full brunt of the storm but that fateful day in October 1991 was to add another six men to that tally when the fishing boat Andrea Gail was caught in the full fury of the storm out on the fishing grounds, heading back to port with a hold full of swordfish. The Perfect Storm is the story of that fateful trip of October 1991 when the Andrea Gail headed out to sea for one last shot at a major haul of swordfish before the worsening storms of winter stopped the fleet for several months.
The setting of The Perfect Storm is in 1991 on the coast of, and out on the Atlantic Ocean. It takes place in the fishing port of Gloucester, Massachusetts and out on the Atlantic Ocean up and down the coast of New England and Canada. It is impossible to pinpoint the absolute location of all the different routes taken by the Andrea Gail written about in the book. The relative location of the setting is off the coast of New England and south east Canada. The port in Gloucester, Massachusetts is just north of Boston.
The place the book is neither urban nor rural really. The fishing port could be called urban but most of the story takes place out in the open ocean which really is neither. The weather described in this story is one of the most horrible storm to ever hit that part of the continent. It is described as a Force 12 gale with over 100 ft. swells. The culture of this place basically revolves 100 percent around the fishing industry. Most are Caucasian and speak English and seemed to have replaced religion with drinking. It has just a normal northern coastal climate.
The characters in this story can do absolutely nothing to modify the environment in which they are living. They are trying to get the last bit of swordfish back to port and get caught in a storm and there is not anything anybody can do when they get caught in that horrible of a storm. The environment influences the characters quite a bit. Everybody in that community does something that involves the fish industry or supplying alcohol for the fishermen. The lifestyles of the people are basically fish for a month out on the open sea, come home for a week, get a drunk as you can, give your wife and family all the money made and not spent on alcohol, and then leave to fish for another month or two. The main characters in the story are all crew members of the same fishing skipper so they act just as one would expect crew members to act towards one another. The availability of food and water are very good. The story takes place on the coast so obviously there is a lot of water and the entire story is based around fishing to supply the food industry with swordfish. Fishing for swordfish is very profitable so all of these crew members are well to do.
The characters are involved in travel for work. They travel up and down the coast in pursuit of swordfish. Therefore the goods that are being sold and traded are the swordfish. These swordfish are coming from the Atlantic Ocean to be sent to be served in sea food restaurants. The cause for the movement is the need of a job and money and food.
The physical region described in this story would basically be the coastal region. The part played by this region is basically the location of a job and food.
This book a fantastic book which was turned into a Hollywood film which is also extremely good. It describes the lengths people will go to for a job and the pure talent of writing such a tale my Junger.
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