From the book The Cay by Theodore Taylor what is the problem in the story?

The Hato, which was bombed in April 6 1942, torpedoed the ship that Phillip was on. The he gets on a raft in the middle of the ocean with a black Negro named Timothy, he was rubbing a black name Stew Cat. Phillip was worried about here mom and Timothy said that she was on a lifeboat. Due to the timber: like a piece of wood, he will later on become blind.