Summary

In “The Whaler” by Joe Sheerin, the narrator, a young boy, is walking home across a field. There, he meets the Whaler, a local whale hunter who has become the hero of his imagination. The boy has always idolised the Whaler and has imagined his unbelievable adventures and his brave meetings with whales.

As he comes nearer the Whaler, he notices that the man is defecating in the field and he becomes embarrassed. The Whaler approaches the boy and reveals that the boy’s teacher, Mrs Early, has told him nice things about him. The Whaler wants to share his secrets with the boy and reveals that he has never seen a whale in his life. At first, the boy is distrustful and refuses to accept that his ideas about the Whaler were lies. The Whaler reveals ...