Looking+for+a+Ship,+III+All

A Reporter At Large, Looking For a Ship III By Amy Lawson The title can only make you wonder where John Mcphee is going with this. He has written a concise article on Captain Washburn but he titles this A Reporter At Large. I think John Mcphee, just like the reader can only sit here absolutely dumbfounded by the Captain and how he chooses to live his life. I’m seeing a familiar trend in John Mcphee’s writing, in the first paragraph Captain Paul Washburn is not looking forward to retirement. This article follows the captain’s life but not with the intention of documenting a retirement, but because Captain Paul Washburn intends on staying past retirement and merely quotes that, “Nathaniel Bowditch is the great, great, great grandfather of a member of the crew on the ship where he works.” This gives the reader the indication that Paul will never retire. Paul Washburn was forced to give up sailing and become a manger at a dry cleaner establishment, at the instance of his wife, but that would only last from November 2 until November 17. Then he quit and went back to sailing even at the risk of losing his wife. This article jumps back and forth with a nice balance referring to sports, sailing, friends, and the Captains wife, whom he kept in touch with throughout the years. I find it interesting that Captain Washburn is a mess. He is “the square peg in a round hole.”(45) The team he routes for never wins. In fact his favourite team was beat in a tie by a man with only one eye. He passed the ball across the field to his teammate with no depth perception and the eagles beat the redskins. The odds of this happening again are very rare. Paul ends up separated then divorced, not only because of his job, but because he continues to defend a losing sports team and fight about it. Captain Washburn defines a sailor as a freelancer. But it is only a matter of time until he begins a relationship with Lykes Brothers Steamship Company. I think I am seeing a trend of idiosyncrasy that not only envelopes Captain Washburn life in marriage but in his work and play. Take for instance golf if you hate gold then for sure you wouldn’t spend twenty thousand dollars getting lessons and buying equipment. He lives in a condo with his wife, past ex wife practically on the green. But, he hates the sport because he can never get any better at it. I had to think about this for a moment. At the captains age being the next golf icon is out of the question. Most people go pro before thirty. It says in the article that he has won many trophies. How much better does he think he should be at this sport? I finally have the title figured out the title “Looking for a Ship.” This title is another way of saying the sailor is trying to get a life and when your ship hasn’t come in; it more than likely could be referring to the fact that you might not have a life. This reporter John Mcphee has tried to capture the quintessential life of a sailor named Captain Paul Washburn by using and comparing many things. The ship can be seen as a new life for immigrants. Captain Washburn uses sailing as a way to remain a freelancer in his life and looking for the ship saves him as well as offers him a new life, just like the light house and the immigrants trying to escape to something better. John Mcphee is at large and this means the reporter has gone missing or cannot be found. The term at large refers to a missing ship or a merchant marine that goes missing and cannot be found, a wall. Criminals that have not been captured yet are at large. I may be a little confused how the reporter is at large. Unless John Macphee is referring to the fact that he has covered all his basis and now is at large looking for the ship.