Question

“A Raid on the Oyster Pirates” by Jack London describes the actions of several colorful characters. Neil Parrington takes leave of his patrolman duties to provide for his family all along supporting the work of his deputies. Charley illustrates the value of imagination and Nicholas, the Greek boy, steps in to assist with the raid.
Choose one of these three characters. Write an essay interpreting the actions that the character took in the story. Support your ideas with evidence from the text.

Answer 1

This is an essay about the character, Charley Le Grant.

Charley Le Grant is an ambitious and cunning deputy, who one day, decides to earn a bit of extra money by performing a task that would as well satisfy his thirst for adventure. He discusses the idea of collecting and selling oysters on the narrator after taking a glance of a boat full of them running ashore. He later witnessed the discussion between a constable and a pirate crew, arguing over the possession of the oyster trove. Charley learns of the constable, Mr. Taft's plight and notifies the narrator, "I'm going to interview him about that reward".  He volunteers himself and his crew on the quest of retrieving the oysters from the pirates.

Having successfully made a deal, Charley and the narrator use their wits on a plan's design to execute their task. They hire a third member, Nicholas, who aids them in providing knowledge of the pirate island. Having designed the plan, Charley drops his two companions on the island, promising to return later to extract them along with the goods.

After a while, Charley returns to the island and picks up his companions along with a couple of sacks full of oysters. They rowed back home, nimbly dodging gunshots, but manage to fulfill their task triumphantly.