Why do people join the crew of the Wager?

In 18th-century Britain, the conditions on Navy fleets were so appallingly bad that few men volunteered to serve on them willingly. Many who did, like David Cheap, sought to escape difficult financial or social situations on land, meaning that people from lower social classes were more likely to become seamen. Less commonly, aristocrats like John Byron were naively drawn to the romanticism of seafaring. Because it was so difficult to staff a ship with its full complement of men, the Navy employed armed “press gangs” to find sailors on land and violently force them into service. In the case of the Wager, the squadron’s crew shortage is so extreme that the Navy tries to forcibly enlist 500 soldiers from a hospital for disabled and elderly veterans, many of whom manage to desert anyway.

What role does race play among the crew of the Wager?

Though segregation was less extreme on a ship than in many other spheres of 18th-century society, the British Navy protected the slave trade. As a result, even though free Black men were permitted to join crews because of the dire need for sailors, Black seamen like John Duck faced the very real threat of being captured and sold into slavery abroad, unlike their white counterparts. After surviving the wreck of the Wager and as a castaway on Wager Island alongside his fellow crewmembers, Duck is kidnapped and sold into slavery when he finally reaches Buenos Aires.

What is the purpose of the voyage of the Wager?

The Wager is part of a five-warship squadron with a two-part mission in an imperial conflict between England and Spain called the War of Jenkins’ Ear. First, the fleet is to pick off Spanish ships along the coast of South America in order to weaken the Spanish Empire’s colonial holdings in the area. Then, the squadron is to steal the contents of a Spanish ship carrying an immense amount of Spain’s colonial wealth on its way to the Philippines.

What causes the Wager to wreck?

Numerous factors lead to the ship’s wreck, from the disastrously low morale of much of the ship’s crew to the fact that the Wager is a repurposed merchant vessel, not originally a man-of-war. However, for the purposes of The Wager, the most significant reason for the wreck is that Captain Cheap ignores the warnings from multiple of his men that the ship is getting dangerously close to land. 

How does the crew interact with Indigenous people?

The shipwrecked crew of the Wager repeatedly relies on Indigenous people during their time as castaways, from the Kawésqar who easily secure provisions for the men on Wager Island to the Chono who lead Captain Cheap and his party to Chile after the mutiny. Ironically, though, and in keeping with the imperialistic beliefs of their empire, the British seamen still regard the native Patagonians as inferior to them, with John Byron referring to them using a racial slur in his journals even while he admits they are saving his life.

Why do crew members of the Wager decide to mutiny?

Crew members of the Wager decids to mutiny while stranded as castaways on Wager Island because of what they perceive to be Captain Cheap’s poor leadership, particularly in comparison to John Bulkeley’s natural aptitude for leading. In response to his suspicions that the castaways are unhappy with him, Cheap only grows more paranoid and egomaniacal, which in turn causes his crew to trust him even less. Finally, Cheap’s fear peaks when he shoots and kills Henry Cozens after mistakenly thinking that Cozens is planning to mutiny. This rash action, ironically, drives John Bulkeley to begin planning mutiny in earnest.

Why is mutiny considered such a serious crime?

The gravity of mutiny as a crime and the fascination it holds for the public in 18th-century Britain both stem from the danger it poses to social order. Because a mutiny is a rebellion within the military, and the military is the state-sanctioned system of enforcing order, mutiny is more threatening to social stability than other revolts. In addition to casting doubt on the both the mutineers and the leaders against whom they rebel, Grann argues that mutiny also raises questions about the social system as a whole.

Why doesn’t the Admiralty punish the Wager crew?

Grann argues that the reason the crew of the Wager escapes prosecution for the vast majority of their potential crimes is to keep the truth of their story from tarnishing Great Britain’s reputation. The British Empire needs to maintain its reputation as a superior force to justify its right to rule over the people it conquers in other parts of the world. The crew’s descent into chaos, murder, and mutiny upon shipwreck risks undermining Britain’s colonial ambitions.

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