Swallows and Amazons

Both Mother and Jim Turner enter the children’s imaginative games, but in very different ways. Compare their views of the children’s fantasy world and explain what these views show about each character.

Consider the moments in which John finds comfort in the presence of the hills in Chapter 16 and when Titty thinks of how the charcoal burners will still be there when they are gone in Chapter 31. What might the text convey about the nature of change?

How and why does the Walker children’s sense of doing what is right shift during their nighttime sailing adventure? What does this shift reveal about their characters?

Titty is portrayed as being both very silly and very smart. How does the novel’s theme of Imagination as a Gateway to Freedom reconcile these two sides of her personality?

Compare and contrast the scenes in which the Amazons “dip their colors,” or lower and raise their flag, to salute the Swallows (Chapter 22) and the one in which the steamboat does the same to salute both crews (Chapter 31). Why does John welcome one salute and not the other?

Consider the way the children sing sea shanties, or traditional sailors’ songs, at various points in the story, such as Chapter 3 (“Spanish Ladies”) and the end of Chapter 31. How do the songs enhance the story’s mood?

How does Titty’s view of “Captain Flint” change over the course of the novel? What does her change of heart reveal about her character and Jim/Captain Flint? What does this suggest about Titty’s potential choices as an adult?

What does “real life” mean as it appears in the children’s point of view in Chapters 14 and 23? What does it say about the importance of imagination for children?