Previous
Sal
Chauncey is one of the children living at Marsyas Orphanage. Nobody knows exactly what he is, but he appears as a translucent green blob with eye stalks and a red mouth. Linus figures that Chauncey is classified so highly only because of his appearance, as Chauncey is harmless and good-hearted. After spending his earlier childhood being told that he was a monster whose lot in life was to live under people’s beds and scared them, Chauncey discovers at Marsyas that he can be more than that—and he dreams of being a bellhop. His biggest goal in life is to help others and make them feel welcome.
Chauncey Quotes in The House in the Cerulean Sea
The The House in the Cerulean Sea quotes below are all either spoken by Chauncey or refer to Chauncey . 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:
).
Chapter 7 Quotes
“The world is a weird and wonderful place. Why must we try and explain it all away? For our personal satisfaction?”
“Because knowledge is power.”
Mr. Parnassus snorted. “Ah. Power. Spoken like a true representative of DICOMY. Why am I not surprised you have the rule book memorized? You should know there’s a chance that you’ll find Chauncey under your bed at one point or another.”
That startled Linus. “What? Why?”
“Because for the longest time, before he came here, he was called a monster, even by people who should have known better. He was told the stories of monsters hiding under beds whose calling in life was to frighten others. He thought that was who he was supposed to be. That it was his job to scare people, because it’d been ingrained in his…head that was all he was capable of.”
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 14 Quotes
Helen scoffed. “A home isn’t always the house we live in. It’s also the people we choose to surround ourselves with. You may not live on the island, but you can’t tell me it’s not your home.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The House in the Cerulean Sea LitChart as a printable PDF.
"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
Chauncey Character Timeline in The House in the Cerulean Sea
The timeline below shows where the character Chauncey appears in The House in the Cerulean Sea. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 5
...and can hear barking and a high-pitched voice inside. Talia explains that she can hear Chauncey in there. Chauncey, she says, probably brought Linus’s luggage around because he desperately wants to...
(full context)
Chapter 6
Linus is passionate about keeping kids safe, so he shoves Talia behind him toward Chauncey and Sal. The three children are annoyed and confused as Linus steps outside into the...
(full context)
Linus walks through the guest house and discovers that Chauncey has put all his clothes and toiletries away for him. Sitting with Calliope on the...
(full context)
...and about his job and the city, questioning whether he’s truly happy with his life. Chauncey is extremely interested in the city, as there are lots of hotels in need of...
(full context)
Chapter 7
Mr. Parnassus and Linus discuss briefly what kind of being Chauncey might be, and Linus is unsatisfied when Mr. Parnassus suggests they might never know for...
(full context)
...door behind her when she returns, and forces himself to check under the bed for Chauncey before he lies down for the night. He tries to read RULES AND REGULATIONS to...
(full context)
Chapter 8
...his ankle. Screaming, Linus pulls away and falls off the other side of the bed. Chauncey brightly informs him that they’re having eggs for breakfast.
(full context)
Chapter 9
...man walkin’” and then giggle. He enters the house, greets Theodore, and then heads upstairs. Chauncey is practicing greeting hotel guests in his room, and Linus briefly considers getting him a...
(full context)
Chapter 10
...debate, but Arthur insists there’s a ton of nuance. Additionally, he suggests, there’s “perceived immorality”: Chauncey wouldn’t hurt a fly, but people see him as wrong and dangerous. The goal, Arthur...
(full context)
Chapter 11
Linus spends his days with the children, learning about their interests. One afternoon, Chauncey shows him a thick tome titled The History of Bellhops Through the Ages, which he’s...
(full context)
Chapter 12
...go on another adventure this afternoon. Zoe says that today they’ll picnic in the garden—and Chauncey gets to choose what they eat. Unfortunately, Chauncey likes raw fish. But even this can’t...
(full context)
Chapter 13
...a normal trait for gnomes. But it’s also normal for preteen girls of any species. Chauncey, Linus believes, is only classified level four because of his looks. He’s been verbally abused,...
(full context)
Linus and Zoe find the children huddled downstairs. Phee explains that this happens sometimes, and Chauncey anxiously says that Lucy isn’t bad. Talia, Theodore, and Sal note that Lucy would never...
(full context)
Chapter 14
When Merle gapes at the van—in which Linus, Arthur, Zoe, Phee, Lucy, Chauncey, Theodore, Sal, and Talia sit—Linus mutters that it’s lucky Merle hasn’t killed anyone yet with...
(full context)
...parlor at the appointed time. The kids seem totally unaware that villagers are avoiding them. Chauncey happily shows off his new cap, which the hotel’s bellhop gave him when Chauncey said...
(full context)
...Sal suddenly changes into a Pomeranian—he’s terrified of Norman. Phee and Talia help Sal while Chauncey hides behind Linus. Lucy, meanwhile, threatens Norman, calling Sal his brother. But Arthur quiets Lucy—and...
(full context)
Chapter 16
...things isn’t just about creating, but about nurturing the earth. Later that day, Linus joins Chauncey in his room to help Chauncey practice greeting people as a bellhop. Linus hands over...
(full context)
Chapter 18
...(Linus fingers Theodore’s brass button in his pocket.) Continuing, Linus says that nobody knows what Chauncey is, but he grew up believing he’s a monster. Yet, all Chauncey wants is to...
(full context)
Chapter 19
...help Talia in the garden, spend time in the woods with Phee and Zoe, let Chauncey do his laundry, give Theodore buttons, let the kids call him Linus, and dance with...
(full context)
Epilogue
...has submitted a petition. He leads Helen inside, past the children absorbed in their hobbies. Chauncey is practicing his greetings—he’s going to be working with the Marsyas Hotel’s bellhop one day...
(full context)
