The theme of the story is bravery. The theme is bravery for one reason. That is that Peter starts out by not believing in his self. He doesn't believe in his self because he is an orphan. Also the school that he went to was for orphans and he didn't like it. Peter feels even worse when he has to leave to go and serve a king. This king is very mean. But thankfully the ship never gets to its destination. Then the pirates attack and Peter uses starstuff that was given to him by Molly to save the trunk. Peter acted very brave and felt good about himself. On the island Peter is captured by the natives. When Peter escapes with the help of Molly he feels very good. He goes looking for the trunk he finds an injured mermaid. After helping the mermaid Peter steals the trunk from the pirates. When Peter is doing that the native people called Mollusks surround them. After the fight Peter feels very brave having accomplished so much.