Embarkation Summary

Ship of Fools is Katherine Porter's novel of prejudice, hatred, and racial discrimination among the passengers of a ship bound from Mexico to Germany in August 1931. The novel explores the personal dynamics among strangers confined in close quarters and the friendships and animosities, which are heightened.

The novel begins in August 1931 in Veracruz, Mexico, where an assortment of people of different nationalities is waiting to board the German ship Vera bound for Bremerhaven, Germany. The local people view the travelers with resentment and try to extract as much money from them as possible in this brief window of time before they depart. Most of the passengers are happy to be leaving Mexico, which is in a state of uprising as evidenced by today's news of the attempt on the life of the Swedish Consul.

Although the passengers have mixed nationalities, they are similar...