Question
Blackbeard’s Ghost
by Jed Alexander
I had approached the captain of every ship in Boston Harbor but the Freedom, and for good reason. The ship looked barely seaworthy, but her captain was the only one who had yet to turn me down.
“Don’t need a cabin boy,” he said, his looks hard, but his manner not unkindly.
“I will work hard, sir,” I said.
“Be a good boy and go home and take care a’ your mother,” the captain said. “Find some other work ta which yer better suited.”
I wasn’t about to tell the captain that my mother shared his sentiment. Though she forbade it, I was too stubborn to listen and had announced that, by day’s end, I would have a position as a cabin boy on a great merchant ship.
I walked home with heavy steps, ashamed to face my mother with my failure. Then the lie escaped my mouth before I could consider it. “I’ve gained the position of cabin boy aboard the Freedom,” I declared.
“You had no business to do it,” my mother said with bitterness.
“‘Tis already done,” I said.
“Well, if you’re to be so determined, I can’t keep you,” my mother said, tears in her eyes.
Before I knew it, I had packed up my kit, kissed my mother on the cheek, and headed off toward the harbor for a position I didn’t have on a vessel that wouldn’t have me. And why did I choose the Freedom, the most poorly ship in the yard? The only answer I can venture is that the captain, more than any other, had spoken to me like an adult would to another adult rather than how an adult would to a child. So, knowing nothing of the true character of her crew or her captain, I decided to stow away on the Freedom.
___
Adapted from Blackbeard’s Ghost, by Jed Alexander, ©️️ by Cricket Media, Inc. Reproduced with permission.
Why does the narrator tell his mother that he got a position as a cabin boy?
He misunderstands the ship captain’s rejection.
He knows his mother will be happy about the news.
He is too embarrassed to tell his mother the truth.
He is too excited to keep the news a secret.
by Jed Alexander
I had approached the captain of every ship in Boston Harbor but the Freedom, and for good reason. The ship looked barely seaworthy, but her captain was the only one who had yet to turn me down.
“Don’t need a cabin boy,” he said, his looks hard, but his manner not unkindly.
“I will work hard, sir,” I said.
“Be a good boy and go home and take care a’ your mother,” the captain said. “Find some other work ta which yer better suited.”
I wasn’t about to tell the captain that my mother shared his sentiment. Though she forbade it, I was too stubborn to listen and had announced that, by day’s end, I would have a position as a cabin boy on a great merchant ship.
I walked home with heavy steps, ashamed to face my mother with my failure. Then the lie escaped my mouth before I could consider it. “I’ve gained the position of cabin boy aboard the Freedom,” I declared.
“You had no business to do it,” my mother said with bitterness.
“‘Tis already done,” I said.
“Well, if you’re to be so determined, I can’t keep you,” my mother said, tears in her eyes.
Before I knew it, I had packed up my kit, kissed my mother on the cheek, and headed off toward the harbor for a position I didn’t have on a vessel that wouldn’t have me. And why did I choose the Freedom, the most poorly ship in the yard? The only answer I can venture is that the captain, more than any other, had spoken to me like an adult would to another adult rather than how an adult would to a child. So, knowing nothing of the true character of her crew or her captain, I decided to stow away on the Freedom.
___
Adapted from Blackbeard’s Ghost, by Jed Alexander, ©️️ by Cricket Media, Inc. Reproduced with permission.
Why does the narrator tell his mother that he got a position as a cabin boy?
He misunderstands the ship captain’s rejection.
He knows his mother will be happy about the news.
He is too embarrassed to tell his mother the truth.
He is too excited to keep the news a secret.
Answers
GPT-4o mini
The narrator tells his mother that he got a position as a cabin boy because he is too embarrassed to tell his mother the truth. He had just been turned down by the captain, and rather than facing his mother with his failure, he fabricates a lie to save himself from her disappointment and to maintain his sense of pride.