How we cite our quotes: (Section.Paragraph)
Quote #7
The presence of this biding thing did not affect the man with the same horror that it would if he had been a picnicker. He simply looked at the sea dully and swore in an undertone.
Nevertheless, it is true that he did not wish to be alone with the thing. He wished one of his companions to awaken by chance and keep him company with it. But the captain hung motionless over the water-jar and the oiler and the cook in the bottom of the boat were plunged in slumber. (5.22-23)
Cue the Jaws theme. It's the correspondent turn with the oars when a very unwelcome shark comes circling around the boat. The correspondent's (relative) calm is certainly noteworthy—things are already so bad that he really doesn't seem too surprised by the shark. What makes this quote significant, though, is how he emphasizes that he wishes he had some company—he wouldn't find the shark so scary if only someone else were there to share the experience with him. What does that tell us about the correspondent? And what about brotherhood?
Quote #8
In his childhood, the correspondent had been made acquainted with the fact that a soldier of the Legion lay dying in Algiers, but he had never regarded the fact as important. Myriads of his school-fellows had informed him of the soldier's plight, but the dinning had naturally ended by making him perfectly indifferent. He had never considered it his affair that a soldier of the Legion lay dying in Algiers, nor had it appeared to him as a matter for sorrow. It was less to him than breaking of a pencil's point.
Now, however, it quaintly came to him as a human, living thing. It was no longer merely a picture of a few throes in the breast of a poet, meanwhile drinking tea and warming his feet at the grate; it was an actuality—stern, mournful, and fine. [. . .] He was sorry for the soldier of the Legion who lay dying in Algiers. (6.8-10)
This is another great example of the correspondent's growing sense of connection to his fellow human being. We've already been told that he had been taught to be "cynical of men" (3.1). Here he compares a man's death to breaking a pencil point. No, not even that, he considered it less significant than breaking a pencil point. That is some serious cynicism. But now he totally cares about the dying soldier. What's changed? It sounds to us like he now feels a connection with the soldier, and can not only sympathize, but also empathize with his situation and his suffering.
Quote #9
At last there was a short conversation.
"Billie. . . . Billie, will you spell me?"
"Sure," said the oiler. (6.26-28)
We've already addressed how much the correspondent appreciates communication, but this is another good one. The relief suggested by the words "at last," it's almost like the correspondent is nourished by the conversation, like he's taking a long drink of water. Of course, there's the strong possibility that Crane is being entirely ironic here, lampooning the idea that a four-word question and a one-word answer could possibly be considered "conversation." What do you think?