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Lupe Sanchez
Zack Selby is Lem Harvey’s brother-in-law. An old-fashioned sailor who distrusts “by the book” sailing (in other words, modern navigational techniques such as the ones Nat Bowditch uses), he also seems to suffer from jealousy after Lem uses his education to rise from common sailor to officer. Selby takes every opportunity he can to mock and disdain Nat Bowditch and his modern methods.
Zack Selby Quotes in Carry On, Mr. Bowditch
The Carry On, Mr. Bowditch quotes below are all either spoken by Zack Selby or refer to Zack Selby. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 17: Lunars and Moonlight Quotes
Zack Selby sneered. “You’d think he was running a whole fleet of ships, single-handed, to hear her take on.”
Sour grapes, Nat thought. Zack’s still before the mast, and he’s ten years older than Lem. He said, “I’m glad for Lem, Amanda, but I didn’t do it for him. He did it for himself. He worked and studied harder than any man in the crew.”
“That’s just it, sir!” Amanda said. “Nobody else ever got him to stick his nose in a book!”
Zack sneered again. “Books! Salem men have come to a pretty pass when they have to sail by books! Time was they could double the Horn with nothing but log, lead, and lookout.”
“That’s right, Nat agreed. “They doubled the Horn. And sometimes they got home again. But what about all the ships that don’t come home? If ‘sailing by book’ makes men a little safer, what’s wrong with it?”
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Chapter 24: Man against the Fog Quotes
Lem growled. “When did you last shoot the sun?”
“About three days ago.”
Lem gulped. “Three days? Seventy-two hours? And since then?”
“It’s simple mathematics, Lem. At such a speed, in so many hours, you log so many miles in a given direction. It’s—”
“Yeah,” Lem growled. “Seventy-two hours through the Roaring Forties. Seventy-two hours by dead reckoning, and then you enter Salem Harbor. Why, you…[…]” He slumped in a chair and stared at Nat.
Nat winked at Polly. “Have you any idea what’s the matter with him?”
Polly’s eyes danced. “He just doesn’t understand about you and mathematics, dear. Two plus two is four. It comes out right, doesn’t it?”
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Zack Selby Character Timeline in Carry On, Mr. Bowditch
The timeline below shows where the character Zack Selby appears in Carry On, Mr. Bowditch. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 17: Lunars and Moonlight
After supper, Lem Harvey knocks on the door, accompanied by his wife Amanda and brother-in-law, Zack Selby. Lem has signed as a second mate on a smaller ship, thanks to Nat’s...
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Chapter 20: Book Sailing
...that he’s done with sea life. When he returns to Salem, Lem Harvey’s wife and Zack tell him that Lem and his ship went down on a reef, thanks to one...
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Chapter 21: “Sealing is Safer”
One night, while Nat chats companionably with Polly and Dr. Holyoke, Zack Selby pounds on the door. He triumphantly announces that the sealer Nat backed has sunk....
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Chapter 22: Science and Sumatra
...town to get more details about the sinking. When they get home, Polly asks about Zack’s visit. Dr. Holyoke explains that Zack speaks for a lot of people who don’t trust...
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Chapter 24: Man against the Fog
Zack Selby pounds on the door, intent on gloating over Nat’s presumed loss of the Putnam....
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