Entry Two

Victor is a young Italian boy. He is tall, strong, handsome, obedient, honest, and kind. However, he suffered a traumatic loss by becoming an orphan at the age of fourteen. His parents were publically shot and killed by soldiers because of their different religious beliefs. They were caught attending illegal, secret meetings of the Carbonari. The Carbonari was a secret revolutionary society during this time who took part in the Italian Unification and the development of nationalism in Italy.

After questioning the identity of the young boy, an Austrian soldier took Victor to the chief mate of the boat, Ceres, Antonio Fabrizzio. A pudgy and straightforward man, he unwillingly took Victor into his boat to work as the cabin boy, who runs errands around the boat.

Victor faced big problems once he saw the tall, Russian man named Rubicon stealing food while everyone else was asleep. After the chief mate discovered that Rubicon was the burglar, they gave him a harsh beating and made the whole crew watch. Rubicon held a strong grudge against Victor for unintentionally exposing him to the chief mate for his crime. Rubicon was chasing Victor around the boat, so Victor began climbing a rope high off of the ground, while Rubicon was only several feet behind him. Victor fell from a large height, and his leg was completely shattered. He was told he would never be able to walk again.

Peter Smith is the kind, old, English man who found Victor floating on a stick for several days after being thrown overboard off of the boat. Peter personally made a crutch for Victor's damaged leg, as well as helped him learn to walk again, fed him, and took care of him. Victor got along quite well with Peter, as well as Tatters, his border collie. After several months of convenient and calm living, three strangers barged unto Peter's land one day, stealing his sheep, as well as beating Tatters and Victor. These men were able to flee with most of Peter's sheep.

The section ended on a mysterious note with Victor seeing two men handing Peter money, and Peter nervously taking it. I predict that these two men are paying Peter to buy Victor from him. Because this book is about "body-snatching," I believe that these two men are interested in Victor to murder him for the study of anatomy. The summary of Resurrection Men revealed that two men were beginning to grow impatient because of the lack of dead bodies where they could be sold for extreme prices for doctors' studies. I predict that these two men are those resurrection men, and they have come to Peter because of their interests in Victor to kill him and send his corpse to growing schools for anatomy.

I found it difficult to read parts of the book at times because of the gory details, as well as the cold and harsh things that Victor is forced to endure. All the characters in this book seem to be very merciless. The fact that soldiers ruthlessly killed Victor's parents in the wide open greatly shocked me. The public was able to witness their unfair death, and it must have been a traumatizing sight for the bystanders, but especially their son, Victor. The mariners on Ceres were able to throw a young boy into the ocean to die without second thoughts. Most of the characters seem to be very brutal and coldhearted, which may be because of the hostile time period where body-snatching was common.

However, I was glad to find out that not all the characters in the book were cruel. Peter Smith is a beautiful character in this book so far. Although Victor and he speak different languages, he set out to take care of him, feed him, and always watch out for him. Peter was the one who saved Victor from dying out in the ocean, and he almost takes a father figure on the young orphan. His caring and thoughtful character allows him to be the perfect role model for Victor.