Taylor Blackburn
2 November 2014
Professor Brown

Nailers Transformation In the novel “Ship Breaker” by Paolo Bacigalupi, Nailer, who is the main character, progresses throughout the novel to transform himself from an abused and powerless individual to a courageous force to be reckoned with. Nailer lives with his father, Richard Lopez, and is raised in a poverty stricken environment. The people are either extremely wealthy or severely poor. His father is a drunkard and uses Nailer for an income source and shows little or no emotion or tenderness towards his son. Nailer has a small frame which gives him an advantage when working in a ship yard. He was able maneuver throughout the ship through small spaces to collect whatever he could find of value to sell for food for him and his father. By examining Nailer’s changes throughout the book one can infer that Nailer begins to not submit to evil ways, finds the moral values he never knew he attained, and finally gains the courage to stand up for himself. Nailer spares the life of a young wealthy swank named Nita. There was a huge storm that lasted for three days. After it was over, Nailer along with his best friend Pima, went on a scavenger hunt among the shipwrecked boats that washed in from the storm. It was during this scavenger hunt that they discovered a rare clipper ship. As they approached the inside of the boat, they discovered dead bodies everywhere. Among the dead bodies they noticed a girl lying unconsciously on the floor. They were instantly drawn to the jewels on her fingers. Because they needed money desperately, they tried to get the jewels from her fingers but had difficulty taking them from her because they were so swollen. They decided to cut the girls fingers off to get to the jewels. As they began to cut, the girl began to move and that is when they realized that she was alive. Pima wanted