As I read Winchester's story, the theme of luck struck me. Throughout the story, he reflects on how him being in the right place at the right time lead to such a pleasant trip. Looking back at the experience on the beach, it boils down to luck. Seeing the turtle and the comet and the eclipse all happened because he was in the right place at the right time. Winchester carries this theme throughout. He writes, "Brazilian green turtles, living on Brazil's Atlantic coast and yet choosing, due to some curious quirk of nature, to lay their eggs three thousand kilometers away" (Winchester 269). By chance, the turtles came here on the same night that he and the Wilsons were watching. Both came here by "some curious quirk of nature". Winchester parallels his journey to the island with the turtle's, which is effective in creating a bigger picture throughout the story. His journey belongs to some higher cause rather than just a pleasant vacation.
Another theme is kindness. Without the kindness of the Wilsons, Winchester would have had nowhere to stay and he wouldn't have had the same experience on the beach. Kindness drives the plot forward. Without it, the plot would be stagnant as he waits for his flight to depart. One effective use of language in the end is when his tailors remarks, "Wherever would you be--have you ever wondered?--without all the kindness, and without all this luck?" (Winchester 271). The tailor acts almost as a reminder of why Winchester's journey happened in the first place and he forces the reader to reflect on this. This also opens a door to the idea of paying it forward. Will Winchester pay the same kindness to other strangers? Or will he just leave, content that it just happened to him in the first place?
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