The first setting of the book, The Cay, is Willemstad, the home of Philip, the protagonist of the novel. This location is important because it sets the plot in motion when u-boats start torpedoing tankers off of Curacao. As a result, Phillip 's mom gets scared, and wants to leave the island, ultimately resulting him finding himself on a raft with Timothy. The submarines are attacking the oil refineries on Aruba, the island west of Curaçao and some small oil tankers. Philip’s mother idealizes Virginia as a place that’s distant from everything she fears in Curacao. Philip begins to fear the germans. the only weapon he can think of is a hatchet to fight it with the germans. Philip couldn’t imagine that a shell from an enemy submarine would