Shipbreaker Summary

Shipbreaker Summary Set in a terrifying dystopian America where fossil fuels have run out and cities have been drowned, Shipbreaker takes place along the US Gulf Coast and centers around the life of a seventeen year old boy named Nailer, who is just one of the numerous teens working in crews to disassemble grounded oil tankers for their parts. Living a life of complete and utter poverty, Nailer works on the light crew scavenging for copper wiring and other light metals from the ships, working hard just to make quota each day and not get cut off the crew by his heartless boss. Each day, Nailer crawls into the mess of wrecked oil tankers with an overused dust mask and LED paint on his forehead while he scavenges for copper wiring in their humid and tight tunnels. One day, a brutal storm tears apart his city and Nailer and his friend Pima stumble across a wrecked clipper ship on
It represents how he used to work taking apart ships every day and scavenging for metal, a life which he hated and wanted to get away from. Furthermore, it also represents how he used to work for the sake of supporting his father, and how his father was abusive and terrifying. Nailers entire life was centered around breaking down ships for their parts but he didn’t want to live like that. The ship brings back many memories for Nailer, such as suffering and pain. As a result, Nailer changes as a person to escape these memories. The ship represents the spur that led Nailer to change and pursue what he wanted to, not what he was bounded to do. The ship is also a representation of when his life reaches a turning point when he saves Nita. From the minute he saved Nita, his life started to go down a different road, which eventually led him to where he wanted to be. In conclusion, although the ship represents bad memories of a life Nailer wanted to forget, it also represents the change in his life that led him to where he wanted to