How we cite our quotes: (Chapter, Paragraph)
Quote #1
"You fools!" cried he with the wooden leg, writhing himself loose and inflamedly turning upon the throng; "you flock of fools, under this captain of fools, in this ship of fools!" (3, 50)
Don't have to knock us over the head with it, man. The dude with the wooden leg is not happy that people are not on his side against Guinea. More than just an extended insult though, these lines are a nod to Sebastian Brant's Ship of Fools, an idea Plato came up with that gets picked up later by thinkers like Michel Foucault. Main message: the world itself is sort of a ship of fools—and ships of fools are usually headed toward a bad end.
Quote #2
To some observers, the singularity, if not lunacy, of the stranger was heightened by his muteness, and, perhaps also, by the contrast to his proceedings afforded in the actions—quite in the wonted and sensible order of things—of the barber of the boat, whose quarters, under a smoking-saloon, and over against a bar-room, was next door but two to the captain's office. (1, 16)
To the crowd, the mute is not simply foolhardy, he's bonkers. These folks are also not super tolerant of the fact that the dude doesn't speak—regardless of the fact that he's deaf. This moment, when the narrator relates the crowd's ideas about the mute's foolishness, is also as an opportunity to assess the crowd's own folly. They align themselves with the hustle and bustle of the barber, with little sympathy for anyone in the mute's position.
Quote #3
After eying the rude speaker a moment with an expression of mingled admiration and consternation, the company silently exchanged glances of mutual sympathy under unwelcome conviction. Those who had purchased looked sheepish or ashamed; and a cynical-looking little man, with a thin flaggy beard, and a countenance ever wearing the rudiments of a grin, seated alone in a corner commanding a good view of the scene, held a rusty hat before his face. (17, 35)
After an angry dad puts the herb-doctor in his place for selling potions and lotions unlikely to actually cure anything, the rest of the crowd sort of gets that shuffling, uneasy feeling when you know you've messed up. Some regret being so silly as to buy the fake medicine. Others who were skeptical throughout the herb-doctor's presentation get a good laugh out of this moment.