MAES 34: Desperation

[renaiya880727]

AN: Considering how truly terrifying it must have been to the crew to wake up one morning and find their captain and doctor lost overboard for so long, POB gives us little insight into what it was like for them.

Desperation

William Mowett, first lieutenant of HMS Surprise, stood on the quarterdeck of the frigate, anticipating the sight of the dawn.

Comments

[derien]

Quite good! I like the insight into Mowett, and Davies, and all of them, really. :)

[renaiya880727]

That was what was such a pain - getting into all those character's heads. I'm glad you don't think it OOC.

[eglantine_br]

Love this, love it. I don't think I have ever read anything from Mowett's perspective before. I can just see him, so sad and frightened-- with his dear side-whiskers.

I especially like the detail of Killick. You got his behAvier just right

[renaiya880727]

Of all Jack's Lt's, Mowett is the hardest to write since he is the least well-known. Although he's a major character in the movie, in the books he's less so. Apart from MC, he's in the series in books 8-11, has a brief appearance in 12, and is then only mentioned afterward. I have a suspicion that POB didn't use him more because he'd have had to put more poetry in. I found an interview with him on YouTube where POB states that a lot of the poetry attributed to Mowett was actually taken from anonymous entries in various gentleman's magazines of that time period.

[esteven]

You used Mowett! :) I think he does not get as much attention as he should, being one of Jack's earliest middies/master's mates. You captured his anxiety for his captain and the esteemed doctor so well. Can't have been easy. I feel he had made a poem to celebrate the occasion (which unfortunately O'Brian never included)

Thank you aslo, for giving us insights into the reactions of other men, including Padeen and Bonden.

[renaiya880727]

I was happy to use Mowett. His movie version's cute. Maybe I should write that poem that POB didn't include?

[esteven]

That's great. Oh, would that not be lovely, if you wrote that poem?
:)

[alltoseek]

Wonderful! From the book you'd think that Mowett and the others were just cheerfully retracing their steps, confident they'd find the captain and the doctor as easy as kiss my hand - like Stephen's confidence as Jack had explained to him (Always loved that bit in the story: "Is that ambergris? There's the boat. An odd shape for a rock in these parts." Jack's all, wait, what? What boat? "Why, the one that Surprise would send for us, just as you said."

Mowett's endless cheerfulness, never faltering :-)

I would occasionally wonder that Mowett would search so hard - after all, he could always look around a little bit, then - YAY - he's captain! But Dr Maturin's too valuable a surgeon to lose, I suppose ;-)

Beautifully done, sketching out all the characters for us!

[renaiya880727]

That's why I wanted to write this: they couldn't have been as nonchalant as it seems. They are all seamen, and they couldn't have been unaware of the implications of being lost overboard.
And Mowett would only have been temporary captain - he wouldn't have been promoted officially. Besides, he's too fond of Jack to want to take his place that badly!

[alltoseek]

Yeah, but it was Mowett's big chance! If he took the Norfolk and brought the Surprise back safely, he'd be sure to be made captain! And he never did get his step, poor Mowett - or if he did, we never heard about it :(

But I know Mowett's too good to let any selfish reasons stand in his way! This was just idle speculation :-)

[eglantine_br]

It really shows what good men they all are, each in his own way a person you would be proud to know.