Blue Fin by Colin Thiele
"Blue Fin" by Colin Thiele is a coming-of-age novel centered on the tumultuous relationship between a young boy named Steven "Snook" Pascoe and his father, Bill Pascoe, a struggling fisherman in Port Lincoln, Australia. The story opens with a strained father-son dynamic, characterized by Bill's financial desperation and Snook's feelings of inadequacy, exacerbated by bullying at school and at work. The narrative takes a dramatic turn following a tragedy at sea, where Snook's friends go missing, highlighting Bill's emotional distance and inability to connect with his children's grief.
As the plot progresses, a critical event forces Snook into a challenging situation on their fishing boat, the Blue Fin, presenting him with an opportunity to prove his worth. Despite the adversities he faces, including a devastating waterspout that endangers their lives, Snook demonstrates remarkable resilience and resourcefulness. The novel culminates in a bittersweet victory: while he manages to save his father and secure their survival, he also loses the boat, symbolizing the cost of his newfound maturity.
Thiele artfully weaves themes of familial conflict and the struggle against nature throughout the story, using the backdrop of southern Australia to explore deeper emotional landscapes. The author’s honest portrayal of complex relationships and the nuances of growing up has earned "Blue Fin" critical acclaim, making it a compelling read for those interested in stories of personal growth and the human experience.
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Subject Terms
Blue Fin by Colin Thiele
First published: 1969; illustrated
Type of work: Adventure tale
Themes: Nature, family, coming-of-age, and jobs and work
Time of work: The 1960’s
Recommended Ages: 10-15
Locale: Port Lincoln, South Australia, and the Southern Ocean
Principal Characters:
Steven (Snook) Pascoe , the protagonist, a tall, awkward boy in his middle teensBill Pascoe , his insensitive father, captain of the fishing boat Blue FinRuth Pascoe , Snook’s elder sister and best friend, who is in love with SamSam Snell , a crewman on the Dog Star, a handsome, athletic, good-natured young man of eighteenSnitch Hankel , a friend of Snook, who leaves school to join the crew of the Dog Star
The Story
The central relationship in Blue Fin is that of Steven (Snook) Pascoe and his father, Bill Pascoe. As the story begins, the relationship is clearly flawed. For some time, Bill has been financially desperate; in a business that requires a large investment and good luck, he is overextended and dogged by bad fortune. Unfortunately, it is the son, still young and awkward, who usually takes the brunt of the father’s anger. Bill has convinced himself that Snook will never be of any use, especially as a fisherman.
Shortly after the story begins, Snook manages to humiliate his father by falling off the boat, which causes him to lose the race back to shore. At school, Snook is the butt of his teacher’s sarcasm, and, at the cannery where he works part-time, he is tormented by one of his schoolmates. His only consolations are the companionship of three friends, including the irrepressible Snitch Hankel, and the friendship of Sam Snell, who seems to be falling in love with Ruth Pascoe, Snook’s elder sister.
Then comes one of those tragedies that the fishermen of Port Lincoln always dread. The Dog Star, with both Snitch and Sam in the crew, disappears and is never seen again. At this point, Bill’s lack of communication with his children becomes evident. His unfeeling comments indicate that he has no idea either of Ruth’s love for the missing Sam or of Snook’s grief over the loss of his two friends.
Shortly after Snook loses his job at the cannery, Bill loses two crewmen, and, in order to catch the fish that will pay his debts, he must replace them. He has no choice: He must take a chance on Snook. The final third of the book describes the events of the next few days. On Easter Sunday, full of fish, the Blue Fin is hit by a waterspout, which smashes the boat, tosses three crewmen into the sea, and moves on, leaving Snook alone with a badly injured father. What Snook accomplishes during the next several days is amazing: He pumps out the boat manually, transfers thirteen tons of tuna to a tank whose refrigeration still works, repairs the fuel line, and gets the motor started. Ironically, he runs out of fuel just short of shore, and, although he and his father are rescued, he loses the boat. What he has gained, however, is far more important: a new admiration from his father and a new sense of his own worth.
Context
Throughout his writing career, Colin Thiele has used the setting of his native southern Australia for stories of the unequal struggle between human beings and nature. Usually these stories are seen through the eyes of children or of young people, who must learn how to rise to the challenges and to cope with the losses that result from that conflict. For example, the “dragon” of February Dragon (1965) is a bushfire. Although it results from human carelessness, it costs the children of the story their home and their beloved pets. They must learn to live under the threat of natural disaster, so terrifying in its mindless cruelty, just as Snook had to learn to live with the irrational, murderous moods of the sea.
Usually, too, Thiele writes about family conflict or conflict with society. Often his books involve the relationship between a boy and his father. In Storm Boy (1963), there is no problem between the boy of the title and his father, Hideaway Tom, who live a carefree life in isolation from society. It is obvious, however, that at some point Storm Boy must make contact with society; he does so, in helping to save the crew of a shipwrecked boat. Similarly, in Fire in the Stone (1973), which varies from the usual Thiele pattern in its inland setting, a boy lives with his father among the opal miners. By the end of the story, like Snook, the young protagonist has become wiser than his purposeless father. Even the much-praised Albatross Two (1974), a story about ocean pollution, involves a problem within a family as well as an external struggle. In this book, the conflict is between the feminine protagonist and her brother, a temporary worker on an oil rig, who is contemptuous of his sister’s environmental concerns.
Like Thiele’s other works, Blue Fin has been admired by critics because it places a realistic family conflict within the exciting context of an adventure story. Furthermore, in Blue Fin the author avoids easy resolutions. At the end of the book, the father is little wiser, and the son’s new knowledge of nature has cost him his innocence. It is undoubtedly the honesty with which Thiele treats his complex subjects, as well as his literary skill, that has won for him such an enthusiastic following.