The Bounty (2003) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit

Write a ridiculously simplified synopsis.

Characters/People edit see section history

• William Bligh: Captain of the Bounty.
• Fletcher Christian: Master's Mate aboard the Bounty who ultimately seized command of the Bounty from Bligh.
• Peter Heywood: Midshipman aboard the Bounty who claimed that he had hidden below deck, coming up too late to join the loyalists in the Launch.
• James Morrison: The Bo'sun's Mate aboard the Bounty whose diary became a definitive chronicle of the voyage.
• Joseph Banks: English naturalist, botanist, and patron of the natural sciences who took part in Captain James Cook's first great voyage. He proposed an experiment to transplant breadfruit from the South Pacific to the Caribbean islands, and he recommended William Bligh as commander of the voyage.
• James Cook: British explorer, navigator and cartographer.
• John Hallett: A midshipman on the Bounty who was forced by the mutineers to accompany Captain William Bligh on his open boat voyage in April 1789.
• Joseph Coleman: The armorer of the Bounty who took no active part in the mutiny, but was ordered to remain on the Bounty due to the need for carpenters and armorers.
• John Fryer: Master aboard the Bounty who was constantly quarreling with Bligh's decisions, ability, and Bligh's favored treatment of Christian.
• Thomas Pasley: Add a description of this character.
• Thomas Burkett: A menacing looking man whose face was severely pitted by smallpox. One of the most active mutineers aboard the Bounty.
• John Adams: Seaman who signed on board the Bounty using the assumed name of Alexander Smith. He was part of the active mutineer party who arrested Bligh.
• Aaron Graham
• George Stewart: Midshipman aboard the Bounty, promoted to acting master's mate when Christian was made acting lieutenant.
• Charles Norman: One of the carpenter's mates on the Bounty who took no active part in the mutiny, and was ordered to remain on the Bounty due to the need for carpenters and armorers.
• Edward Edwards: British naval officer and captain of HMS Pandora whom the Admiralty sent to the South Pacific in pursuit of the Bounty mutineers.
• William Peckover: The Bounty's gunner and Senior Warrant Officer who served on all of Capt. Cook's three voyages. During the mutiny, he was one of the officers to be confined early below deck.
• William Muspratt: Able-bodied seaman, tailor, and assistant to the cook aboard the Bounty. He joined the mutineers and armed himself with a musket when ordered to do so by Churchill, although he would later claim at his trial that he had done so only with a view to helping in any attempt the officers might have made to put down the mutiny
• Thomas Ellison: Able-bodied seaman on the Bounty. During the mutiny, confused, he had unsuccessfully sought the council of others, and finally joined the mutiny enthusiastically.
• John Millward: One of the seamen who mutinied against Bligh.
• David Nelson: A botanist aboard the Bounty.
• Frederick William Beechey: English naval officer and geographer who found Pitcairn's Island while commanding the HMS Blossom.
• Thomas McIntosh: A member of the carpenter's crew who was ordered to remain on the Bounty due to the need for carpenters and armorers, even though he strongly expressed the desire to go with Bligh in the Launch.
• Thomas Hayward: Midshipman aboard the Bounty who was the first person ordered into the Launch by Christian, whom he had alienated on numerous occasions.
• Michael Byrne: Nearly blind fiddler of the Bounty who took no active part in the mutiny, and was told to keep aside by the mutineers to avoid injury.
• Mayhew Folger: An American whaler who captained the sealing ship Topaz that rediscovered the Pitcairn Islands in 1808.
• Charles Churchill: Ship's Corporal aboard the Bounty who attempt to desert the ship at Tahiti, together with Millward and Muspratt. Later, he took an active part in the mutiny, and was among the party the confronted Bligh in his cabin.
• John Smith: The Captain's steward who also served as the second cook on board the Bounty. Fiercely loyal to his commander, he remained as Bligh's servant after the voyage of the Launch.
• John Huggan: The Surgeon aboard the Bounty whom Bligh unsuccessfully tried to remove from the roster because 'his indolence and corpulency render him rather unfit for the voyage.' He died before the mutiny took place.
• Edward Belcher: British naval officer and explorer aboard the HMS Blossom.
• Edward Young: Midshipman aboard the Bounty who was involved in the mutiny.
• William Cole: Boatswain aboard the Bounty who tried to dissuade Christian from continuing the mutiny, and later intervened with Fryer to try to convince Christian to simply arrest Bligh and return with him to England.
• Thomas Ledward: Surgeon's Mate aboard the Bounty. He took no part in the mutiny, and was confined early on below decks with the loyalist officers until being placed in the Launch.
• John Mills: Gunner's Mate about the Bounty who was involved in the mutiny.
• William Purcell: Carpenter aboard the Bounty with the rank of Senior Warrant Officer, which exempted him from flogging. Despite his confrontations with Bligh during the voyage, he did not join the mutineers.
• Matthew Quintal: Able-bodied seaman aboard the Bounty who joined the mutiny.
• John Norton: Quartermaster on the Bounty who went in the Launch with Bligh and was then killed by natives on Tofua.
• John Samuel: Clerk aboard the Bounty, and in practice acted as Bligh's personal servant.
• George Simpson: Quartermaster's mate aboard the Bounty.
• Robert Skinner: Able-bodied seaman and barber on the Bounty. He was an active mutineer and seemed to have been on the point of shooting into the launch, probably aiming at Bligh, when someone next to him knocked his musket aside.
• John Sumner: Able-bodied seaman on the Bounty who took an active part in the mutiny.
• Matthew Thompson: Able-bodied seaman on the Bounty and mutineer who was perhaps the most brutal man on the Bounty.
• Robert Tinkler: Able-bodied seaman on the Bounty who remained loyal to Bligh.
• James Valentine: Able-bodied seaman on the Bounty who died from an infection on October 9, 1788, a few weeks before the ship reached Tahiti.
• John Williams: Able-bodied seaman on the Bounty who took an active part in the mutiny.
• William Brown: Gardner and botanist's assistant on the Bounty. He stayed below deck during the mutiny and seems to have joined the mutineers only afterwards.
• William Elphinstone: Master's mate on the Bounty. He was asleep when the mutiny began and was put under guard, so he did not have much first-hand knowledge about what went on.
• Thomas Hall: Able seaman and ship's cook on the Bounty. On the morning of the mutiny, he was sitting with Muspratt, the assistant cook by the starboard fore scuttle splitting wood for the galley. His actions during the mutiny seem to have involved bringing up provisions for the launch.
• Henry Hillbrant: Able-bodied seaman and cooper on the Bounty. Born Heinrich Heildbrandt in Hanover, he spoke English poorly and with a heavy accent.
• Robert Lamb: Able-bodied seaman and butcher on the Bounty who initially joined the mutineers, accepting a musket from Thompson and standing guard over the fore hatchway, but he changed his mind later and went into the launch..
• Lawrence Lebogue: Sailmaker on the Bounty.
• Peter Linkletter: Quartermaster on the Bounty.
• Isaac Martin: Able-bodied seaman on the Bounty who was flogged on Tahiti for striking a native. He had struck the Tahitian in his effort to get back an iron hoop that the islander had stolen.
• William McCoy: Able-bodied seaman on the Bounty. He was a violent man and had been involved in many fights, as evidenced by several scars on his body and face.

Quotes edit see section history

• “"I have been in Hell this fortnight past and I am determin'd to suffer it no longer".(Reportedly said by Fletcher Christian as told by a witness at the court martial.)”

• Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers

• Two weeks before the arrival of the Middlesex in England, Charles Christian had been involved in a mutiny.

  Highlighted by 3 Kindle customers

Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Tahiti: Pacific island mistakenly called Otaheite by the English.
• England
• Bounty
• London
• Pandora
• Providence
• Portsmouth
• Pacific
• Batavia
• West Indies
• Spithead
• Pitcairn
• Boat
• Timor
• Ship
• New South Wales
• France
• Cumberland
• Coupang
• Tofua
• Lord Hood
• Brunswick
• South Seas
• Anamooka
• Jamaica
• Tubuai
• Channel
• East Indies
• Europe
• Matavai Bay
• Deptford
• East India Company
• Lord Howe
• Bedford
• Australia
• Africa
• New Holland
• Madras
• Cambridge
• Surabaya
• Gosport
• Tynah
• Horn
• Botany
• Friendly Islands
• China
• Tenerife
• Topaz

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Caroline Alexander (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Awards edit see section history

• National Book Critics Circle Award (Finalist, 2003: General Nonfiction)

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: DU20 .A53 2003
• Dewey: 996.18

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Nonfiction › True Accounts
• Books › History › Europe › England

More Books Like This edit see section history

Books That Cite This Book edit see section history