The Lieutenant is a book that features Daniel Rooke. At five years of age, Rooke is obsessed with prime numbers. His teacher is forced to take away a notebook where he writes down these prime numbers. Rooke’s passion for prime numbers makes Dr. Adair pay him a visit. Later, Dr. Adair ensures that Rooke is admitted to Naval Academy. At Naval Academy, Rooke falls in love with astronomy. When he graduates, Rooke requests the Astronomer Royal, Dr. Vickery, to get him employment. Ultimately, he joins Royal Marines, where he is assigned to a vessel. Here, he meets and befriends Talbot Silk.
Rooke offers to go to New South Wales aboard the First Fleet. Upon arriving the New South Wales, Rooke builds an observatory. He also becomes acquainted with local aborigines. Rooke is eager to learn the local language to create a strong relationship with natives. However, he is upset after learning that locals are forced to teach settlers the local language. Aborigines are captured and persecuted without any wrongdoing. Such violence makes him reconsider working under the orders of his seniors. Following his decision, the governor sends him to England.
Nevertheless, Rooke spends his later life in Antigua, fighting for the rights of slaves. He deems it unfit to oppress slaves because they are humans. Since he was a young boy, Rooke has been peaceful. He hates cruelty. Even when some boys were molesting him at Naval Academy, he never retaliated. Instead, he chose to conceal his intelligence to avoid intimidating them academically. In New South Wales, he decided to quit his job due to violence meted out to aborigines by settlers. That shows that Rooke was a peaceful man against the violation of human rights.
