How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
"Stop apologizing for asking questions!" the captain said. "How are you going to learn if you don't ask things? Ask all the questions you like whenever you like to whomever you like." The captain tipped Manjiro's chin up and looked him in the eye. "Do you understand?"
Manjiro began to bow, but the captain put his hand on his shoulder.
"One other thing," he said. "It is good to be respectful, but it would be well if you would stop that incessant bowing!" (2.4.27-29)
Here's another major contrast between the Japanese and the American captain: The Captain wants Manjiro to "look him in the eye, " he wants Manjiro to be comfortable with him even though he has more authority than Manjiro. It doesn't seem to occur to the Captain, though, that perhaps Manjiro's bowing is worth honoring as its own cultural practice.
Quote #5
Denzo shook his head. "If you doubted they were barbarians, this"—he gestured to the roiling black smoke, the blood and grease on the deck, the sharks seething in the water around the ship— "this should convince you."
"Our countrymen kill whales, too," Manjiro said.
"Yes," Denzo said. "But not like this. You know how they do it—at home, whole villages work together to capture a whale in a net to drown it. Then they tow the creature to shore, butcher it, and distribute the meat to many people. They use all the parts — all the meat, all the bones, everything. But this—this is barbaric. Look at this waste!" Denzo nodded toward the men who shoved the carcass away from the ship, with most of the meat still intact. The sharks attacked it with such frenzy that the water seemed to boil around it. (2.5.25-27)
From Denzo's perspective, the Japanese way of killing a whale is not just more humane, it's more communal. People gather together to capture the whale, and they share in the spoils. He's also describing a practice that might only work for a small community or village that doesn't engage in global trade.
Quote #6
"The day," he said, "is divided into two pieces: sunrise to sunset and sunset to sunrise. Those are divided into six smaller pieces, like 'hours,' but instead of twenty-four, we have twelve. Each 'hour' has the name of an animal: tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, monkey, rooster. Now, I think, is the hour of the dog."
"That is interesting," Captain Whitfield said, "because we call this two-hour period of time the 'dog watch.'" He nodded to the sky, where the first stars were appearing. "Maybe we call it that because of that star." He pointed to a brilliant star and said, "That's Sirius, the dog star. Do you call it that?"
"No," said Manjiro. "We call it Aoboshi, blue star."
"Tis blue, indeed," Captain Whitfield said, filling his pipe once more. (2.10.25-28)
Here's what's happening: Captain Whitfield's trying to make a connection with Manjiro (not hard to do since they completely get along), so he's searching for common ground, like wondering if "hour of the dog" in Japanese comes from the English "dog star." The fact that there isn't a connection between the two things except mere coincidence shows that sometimes differences just need to be accepted, without explanation.
And that's pretty much what Captain Whitfield does. He doesn't press on, trying to find similarities where there aren't any; he just ends up being agreeable, noting that the "blue star" is indeed blue.