How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
"'There is a kind of courage in facing it out as he does, knowing very well that if he went away nobody would trouble to run after him.' 'Courage be hanged!' growled Brierly. 'That sort of courage is of no use to keep a man straight, and I don't care a snap for such courage.'" (6.13)
Brierly and Marlow have very different ideas of what a man's duty is. Marlow finds Jim's courage in standing trial admirable, but Brierly calls it worthless. Brierly's protest is a bit confusing, but his diction helps reveal what he might mean. He uses the word "straight" which implies that Jim's decision to stand trial is making things crooked and confused. Brierly's notions of proper manly behavior seem to center around keeping things simple and maintaining the status quo. By standing trial and exposing his failure to the world, Jim is giving a sailors a bad name.
Quote #5
"'We aren't an organized body of men, and the only thing that holds us together is just the name for that kind of decency. Such an affair destroys one's confidence. A man may go pretty near through his whole sea-life without any call to show a stiff upper lip. But when the call comes ...'" (6.14)
... you had better show it. (Brierly was trailing off, so we thought we'd just finish his thought for him.) This quote reveals why the Patna scandal has so gotten under Captain B's skin: Jim has violated the one thing that binds sailors together: a sense of decency.