How we cite our quotes: (Section.Paragraph)
Quote #4
During this dismal night, it may be remarked that a man would conclude that it was really the intention of the seven mad gods to drown him, despite the abominable injustice of it. For it was certainly an abominable injustice to drown a man who had worked so hard, so hard. The man felt it would be a crime most unnatural. Other people had drowned at sea since galleys swarmed with painted sails, but still— (6.2)
Did you notice what Crane just did there with that last line in, all subtle-like? You're reading along and you feel bad for these guys—they think they're going to die, the universe doesn't care about them, and it really does seem terribly unfair. Boo, universe. But then, right there at the end, he has the men sort of shrug and say, "Well, yeah, I guess this isn't the first time someone died a tragic death, or otherwise lost their life unfairly…but this is me we're talking about! I'm way more important than all those other dumb dead people. If anyone should be dying, it should be them re-dying." Are we being too hard on the poor boatmen? Do you think there's another way to see this quote?
Quote #5
The correspondent plainly saw the soldier. He lay on the sand with his feet out straight and still. While his pale left hand was upon his chest in an attempt to thwart the going of his life, the blood came between his fingers. In the far Algerian distance, a city of low square forms was set against a sky that was faint with the last sunset hues. The correspondent, plying the oars and dreaming of the slow and slower movements of the lips of the soldier, was moved by a profound and perfectly impersonal comprehension. (6.10)
We've already covered the correspondent's sense of Brotherhood with the French soldier. This passage is a window into the where the correspondent's mind really is. Sure, everyone's mind wanders all day long, but the correspondent's mind cannot be pulled from thoughts of death, even (unpleasant as they may be) down to imagining the gory details of the soldier's demise. Also, notice how he makes a point of imagining the soldier lying on the sand—as in, hot and dry sand. Surely, to someone stuck soaking wet and freezing cold in the ocean, being hot and dry has to sound pretty appealing. Dying or not.
Quote #6
As the boat caroused on the waves, spray occasionally bumped over the side and gave them a fresh soaking, but this had no power to break their repose. The ominous slash of the wind and the water affected them as it would have affected mummies. (6.23)
This passage gives us some conflicting ideas about the men's state of mind. The word "caroused" suggests that the boat is having some sort of party on the waves, and the word "repose" suggests that the men are calm and happy, at ease in their party boat. But then the waves are "ominous," and the verb "slash" rarely means anything calm and tranquil (we've all heard Guns 'n Roses, right?). Crane also describes the men as "mummies." Does he want us to think of the men as already dead? Or undead? Or just wrapped up in their own problems, and unbothered by the waves? It's a mist-ery.