2. Key moments for me are the symbolic ending (deep symbolic significance – burning of the objects); Alec’s exam success (releases Alec from poverty, potentially; will enable him to make the most of his intellectual attributes); the opening trauma (depth of Alec’s scars; significance of Star of the Sea); all scenes involving the yacht (symbolic loss of mother – broken yacht = broken family that needs to be healed; again, Star of the Sea (Alec’s name for the yacht) – related to Virgin Mary, replacement mother figure for Alec).
3. Alec and Davie would be discussed in any essay about Sailmaker. Alec is fascinating as his journey is one of self-realisation and a journey towards acceptance of the losses he has suffered, and towards independence. Davie is Alec’s ineffectual, procrastinating father. He, too, suffers (bereavement and the irrelevance of his sailmaking trade). But he does pass on his love of learning to Alec, and it’s just possible that this (the love of learning) is the metaphorical sail that Davie DOES provide – the one that enables Alec to depart, to be free.
