What is the setting in Theodore Taylor's The Cay, and how does the setting relate to Phillip's mother's uncharacteristic behavior? What does...

In Theodore Taylor's The Cay, there are two ways in which Phillip's mother behaves uncharacteristically in direct relationship with the setting of the story.

The story is set on the Dutch-owned island of Curacao in the Caribbean Sea, near Aruba and Venezuela. Phillip specifically lives on a section of the island called Scharloo. The story opens the morning after German submarines, in the middle of the night, torpedoed the oil refinery on Aruba at which Phillip's American father works. The year is 1942, just three years after the start of World War II and one year after America became involved in the war.

Phillip's mother is described as a very nervous person, the sort who is always worrying about dangers and trying to protect Phillip. Phillip, the narrator, describes his mother's nervous state, especially after the German torpedoes hit, in the following passage:

She seemed very nervous. But then she was often nervous. My mother was always afraid I'd fall off the sea wall, or tumble out of a tree, or cut myself with a pocketknife (p. 14).

Characteristically, the morning after the torpedoes hit, Phillip's mother tells him to stay near the house that day. But when she discovers Phillip went off to play at the old fort with Henrik and check out the view of the sea from the Queen Emma pontoon bridge, she does something very uncharacteristic. She tells her husband that she and Phillip will go back to Norfolk, Virginia. The problem is, as her husband warns her, "There's more danger in the trip back" than staying on the island since the Caribbean waters are infested with enemy submarines, and it is unlikely the Germans will target Scharloo. Hence, due to the terror she experiences as a result of the torpedoes, Phillip's mother does something uncharacteristic by making a decision to head towards danger rather than run away from it.

Sadly, his mother's decision is a mistake, and the ship they sail on is also torpedoed. It's during the attack that she again behaves uncharacteristically. When the ship is hit, Phillip notes that, as she gives him instructions for getting ready to go out to the lifeboats, she does not behave with the same nervousness as at home:

My mother was very calm, not at all like she was at home. She talked quietly while she got dressed ... . Her hands were not shaking. (p. 28)

Hence, Taylor creates a direct relationship between the novel's setting and the behavior of Phillip's mother. Since the novel is set in the Caribbean during World War II, the setting allows us to see Phillip's mother behave uncharacteristically in the face of danger. In one moment when danger is near at hand, she behaves uncharacteristically by deciding to head towards more danger in an effort to protect herself and her son. When faced with danger head on, she uncharacteristically behaves very calmly as she strives to rescue both herself and her son. Phillip emulates her behaviors as the novel progresses.