Letters from The Samantha

A detailed Summary of Letters from The Samantha

An interesting short story is "Letters from The Samantha" by Mark Helpin. This story tells the fascinating tale, in the form of never sent letters, of an ape brought aboard an iron-hulled sailing ship in 1909 by Samson Low, the ship's captain. Although the author makes a point to tell the reader, through Samson Low, that the animal does not symbolize anything or mean anything, in fact, "He stands for nothing" (280), several arguments can be made to contradict this. One could argue that the ape symbolized the untamed and rarely used wild side of Samson Low through a comparison of their personalities, appearances, and the way they are treated by others.

Samson Low was a captain of a ship owned by the Green Star Line. He is a stickler for rules and the proper code of conduct. When writing to his company, he reminds them of "the complete absence of disciplinary action against me" (271). This serves to highlight that he has never been in trouble or broken the rules. He is comfortable and comforted by his pattern of obedience and thinks others must be as well: "Though my subordinates sometimes complain, they are grateful no doubt, for my firm rule and tidiness" (271). His ship is always on time or even ahead of sche

The ape and Samson seem to mirror each other in other areas as well. The ape is definitely not a human, he is covered with long orange hair, has sharp, pointed teeth, his "feet and hands are human in appearance except that they have a bulbous...look common to monkeys." (275). It is interesting to note that both beings are approximately 5' 10" tall. Perhaps the oddest fact concerning the ape is the fact that his eyes "are a bright, penetrating blue." (275). Theses blue eyes would seem like those of a human and give the creature a less animalistic quality. This could be why the captain has such an odd response when face to face with the ape. Although hungry, the ape, a vegetarian, won't come down until the captain has ordered a special meal prepared. Surprisingly it is the captain's favorite meal, enjoyed at a point in his life when he was less conservative. The ape devours the meal. The captain has this dish prepared, perhaps, because the ape reminds him of what he was and of the little recklessness he had as a young man. They are affected by their surroundings the same way. The heat also affects them similarly. Heat prostration has hit the captain and he suffers from very severe headaches for the first time in his life and "The ape has begun to suffer from the heat. He is listless..." (280). For the first time the captain has headaches' on the same journey he has taken aboard an ape. The heat my be partially to blame but the guilt he feels of not living his life as he secretly wants to could also be a factor. The ape also imitates what Samson Low does. When Samson offers his hand to the creature, "In imitation, he put out his arm, looking much less fearsome." (277). The captain and the ape act as if they are communicating on a different, more primitive level.

There is a bit of a wild animal in most people. It seems to be balanced by the appearance we maintain for society's standards. The ape seems to symbolize Samson's "wild" side and how Samson dealt with it. He only broke the rules when the ape was on board. This let him live, as he had not in a long time, from climbing the rigging, to socializing more freely with his men, to being lenient where he had never been before. T

Some common words found in the essay are:
Samson Low's, Low Samson, Star Line, Eventually Samson, Samson Low, Mark Helpin, samson low, , wild samson, samson wins, ape shrieks, fight creature, face ape,

Approximate Word count = 1498
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English