Chapters 15 + 16

Now it is the 27^th day, after a short deliberation the men chose to use flares to attract the attention of a passing bomber. It passed, then came around, the men were so ecstatic. The happiness was short lived because the bomber was Japanese. The men took turns getting shot at and getting charged by the sharks underwater where they hid from the bullets. Louie was beating away sharks underwater while intermittently coming back up for air. Though the bomber had made several passes it thankfully missed every shot - injuring no one. The bomber left but there was another problem at hand, the sharks took notice of the shredded raft and were flinging themselves on to the raft to try and have at the men. With every pounce the raft leaked more and more air, so the men devised a plan. Two men would combat the sharks and one would pump air like a mad man into the raft. They took roughly 15 minute shifts and this lasted for hours. Mac shows his true colors and though “he was barely strong enough to pull the pump handle a few times in a row…with the oar he kept every shark away.” Remarkable, in the face of danger Mac is using his last bits of energy to fight for his life. He knew that if he had failed to repel the sharks the men would die. Speaking of a shortage of men this chapter says that if any of the men had not been there then they would have all perished. Without two men swinging oars the crew would have been eaten. And with nobody pumping the raft would have sunk under and they would have been eaten. After a night sharks try again, Mac really shines and saves Louie’s life directly. The men decided they were going to get even with the sharks, especially Louie “If the sharks were going to try to eat him, he was going to try and eat them.” He tried with a five foot long shark, the plan was horribly unsuccessful. The second time they tried on a four foot shark, with better planning they had captured the shark and ate the only edible part – the liver. Mac had no energy to live after the day, asking Louie if he was going to die Louie said that he thought he would die that night. Mac with no reaction went to sleep and died before morning. Louie the following day heard angel singing, but it was only him Phil didn’t hear a thing. This was maybe a sign from within, the inner faith he had renewed from praying may have given him a mental reason to fight, and a mental reason to hear the singing. Finally after the 47^th day they were going to reach land.