A Lion to Guard Us

The minister on board, Master Buck, tells the children that Dr. Crider is “in a better world” (65), but Amanda can’t accept that he’s really gone. She realizes that after all the loss they’ve experienced, there’s no guarantee their father will be there waiting for them in the New World. She can’t express herself to her siblings, though, because she has to be the responsible one.

That night, she uses some scraps of cloth to make a doll for Meg and a ball for Jemmy. In the morning, she tries to give them their presents, but Meg will not take the doll because, in the light, it looks very ugly, like a devil doll. The ball isn’t much better. Jemmy asks if he can have the doorknocker instead. Amanda gets it for him, and he takes it up on deck and shows it to Anne and David. They want to play with it, but he won’t let them have it. They playfully chase him around the deck, and he knocks the doorknocker on the wood, saying, “Knock-knock, here comes Jemmy!” (67).

Amanda throws the doll and ball she made into the sea and feels better, as if she’s thrown away some of her fear and sadness.