Main Characters - Eddie Atwell

Eddie Atwell is a rough looking kid with greasy hair covered up by a beat up Red Sox baseball cap. Tattered jeans followed up by a flannel jacket and typical lobster fishing boots. Throughout the book Eddie’s thoughts are about getting the stolen lobsters back and saving the family business. Eddie rarely thought about himself throughout the book, he is a very selfless and noble character. Eddie was the hero of the book based on his actions toward the end, saving the day based on his heroic performance.

Direct - Eddie is a very slick and deceitful character who can talk his way out of many situations, “We were just coming back to gas up.” Eddie said. “Then why were you out by Greenhead Island” questioned Eddie’s sister. “I uh heard the bass are active out by Greenhead I was just checking it out” (Afterwards) “Whew that was close,” Eddie said, pretty slick if I do say so myself.” (Moodie 70)

Indirect - Eddie doesn’t take anything from anybody and is very straight forward. He was raised to stand up for himself and not tolerate being pushed around. “Don’t you tell me what to do, Jake” said Eddie, anger flickering inside of him. “Those lobsters aren’t yours and I’ll go after them if I want.” (58)

Main Characters - Briggs

Neatly dressed with specifically matched clothes. Precisely cut hair and “nerdy” glasses that are two sizes too big. Briggs is a very rich and sophisticated character with an exquisite vocabulary. Briggs is the opposite of Eddie. Briggs is always looking for ways to get out of danger, and take the easy way out.

Indirect - Briggs is also a very high strung and nervous character. “Who… who’s that?” said Briggs. “There’s a … a woman sitting in a chair.”

“That’s my sister” said Eddie.

“What … I thought you said … what are you … what are we … what can we possibly do … what are we going to say … ?” Clearly one can see, that Briggs is a very awkward and reserved character where Eddie is outgoing and can think on the fly.

Setting

A small island (Fog Island) on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean; known for rich lobster seasons. Fog Island is only miles off the mainland of Massachusetts and is very popular when it comes to lobster season, attracting many lobstermen from across the country. The small island is complete with an old, rustic town, equipped with one gas station, one grocery store, a pub, and a generous sized market where the lobstermen cash in their daily catch. There is also a private sailing academy on Fog Island, that wealthy children from the mainland attend to learn how to sail. The population on Fog Island consists of mostly fisher / lobstermen where the income usually isn’t the greatest. The setting establishes the mood by describing a small, run - down town where people feel they want and / or need better but all they know is their lobster trade, as explained by Eddie’s sister (Moodie 70), “I know. But working on that boat is a dead end. I’m afraid I could get trapped in this business forever.”

Exposition

In the story “Into the Trap”, the story begins revealing the conflict and central problem. Eddie is talking with his dad when his dad mentions that if they don’t get the lobsters back and find the thief soon, there business could be depleted. We learn in the exposition that Eddie better do something fast before it’s too late.

Rising Action (pg.1)

The rising action begins as Eddie is out near greenhead island, bassing (fishing for bass) in the early morning hours. When he comes upon some unusual crates hidden among the rocks, followed by a suspicious looking boat. Eddie decides to investigate and moves in for a closer look. He spots Jake and Marty, two local boys who both have close ties to Eddie’s family, loading crate after crate of stolen lobsters into a small fishing vessel. Eddie realizes that those are his family’s stolen lobsters and sets out to bring down the thieves.

Rising Action (pg.2)

As Eddie begins his journey to find the thieves and bring them to justice he comes across a stranded sailboat lodged deep into the cat tales of the wetlands. He spots a awkward nerdy looking boy perched atop the sailboat crying uncontrollably. Eddie approaches the boy and asks what happened. The boy formally introduces himself as Briggs, a rich mainlander spending his summer at the local sailing camp while his parents were in Europe. Eddie is about to leave Briggs (as he’s got more important things to do) when Briggs mentions Jake and Marty’s name and how he knows all about their schemes. Eddie is immediately intrigued and wants to know all about it, but Briggs strikes up a deal, “My sailboat is ruined, stuck in these reeds, but your outboard seems to be running perfectly.” Briggs demands a ride to the mainland in exchange for all the information he knows about Jake and Marty’s heist. So Eddie’s plan is to get Briggs to the mainland, learn exactly when and where Jake and Marty are striking next, and take back the lobsters to save the family business. O was he wrong!

Climax

The climax continues as Eddie is on his way to get Briggs to the mainland when a coast guard boat flags his skiff down. Briggs immediately ducks down and proceeds to hide under an old fishing tarp. The coast guard announces over his radio that a young male has been reported missing from the sailing camp. Tall, skinny, with glasses. All fitting Briggs description. Once the coast guard is leaves Eddie is livid. Eddie had no idea he was carrying around an escaped student from the sailing academy and was on his way to turn Briggs in. But Briggs brings up that if he’s turned in there’s no way Eddie will know where Jake and Marty are planning to rob next, and Jake and Marty will ultimately get away with the crime. So Eddie faced a major decision; don’t turn in the escaped student and risk violating a coast guard order, or turn Briggs in and lose the trail on Jake and Marty.

Falling Action

Eddie decides to go along with the plan and bring Briggs to the mainland. They were just about to their destination when they make a gas stop. Briggs (being the awkward character he is) stops and talked to two middle aged boys also gassing up, saying Eddie was headed out to Greenhead to catch two lobster thieves. Little did Briggs know he was talking to Jake and Marty. Marty traps Briggs and Eddie telling them to stay out of the operation if they didn’t want to get hurt. Briggs then heroically decides to stay with Eddie and help him get the lobsters back against the jerk thieves.

Resolution

Briggs and Eddie have tracked Jake and Marty all the way to their final drop off spot. Little do they know they are way in over their head. The “boss” is a large man equipped with a pistol monitoring Jake and Marty loading up the lobsters. Two other large men (also with guns) stand around the perimeter watching for any activity. Briggs starts freaking out but Eddie know exactly what to do. The police vessel was across the alley but Eddie had no way of getting it’s attention, he would surely be shot if he tried to make a move and alert the police. Just the Eddie spots an old fishing rod with a large tuna hook tied to it. Eddie jumps out and yells, “hey over here”. One of the men guarding the perimeter pointed the barrel of his pistol straight at Eddie. Right when he was going to pull the trigger Eddie cast the hook straight into his leg sending him toppling over and the bullet firing straight up. The police vessel heard the gunshot and were over in a matter of seconds to arrest the lobster thieves. Eddie had saved his family’s business and caught the notorious lobster thieves!   

Alliteration

"An archipelago above the Arctic Circle." (35) This example of figurative language helps provide a clear example of the native land in which the lobster migrate from.