How we cite our quotes: (Section.Paragraph)
Quote #1
It was probably splendid. It was probably glorious, this play of the free sea, wild with lights of emerald and white and amber. (2.1)
A big part of existentialist philosophy is the idea of alienation: that we are isolated from ourselves and from the world around us. Crane expresses this idea very cleverly. The "free sea" the men are floating across is really quite beautiful, but due to the nature of their predicament, these guys in the boat can't appreciate it. Amidst a (literal) sea of splendid glory, the men are so caught up in their own problems that they're alienated from the beauty. We've got to admit, though—we'd have a pretty hard time finding beauty in the same waves that threatened to throw us to our doom.
Quote #2
"Oh, well," said the captain, soothing his children, "we'll get ashore all right."
But there was that in his tone which made them think, so the oiler quoth: "Yes! If this wind holds!"
The cook was bailing: "Yes! If we don't catch hell in the surf." (2.7-9)
Here's another existentialist theme: anxiety, the idea that we are vulnerable to all sorts of dangers and hazards just walking around every day so we should be afraid—and that's on dry land. Imagine, again, being in a tiny boat in the…well, you know. It's pretty clear in what the oiler and cook say, that in their minds, they're envisioning all the ways they might meet their doom out here. There's even something in the tone of the captain's courageous reassurances that say he's not too sure either.
Quote #3
Was I brought here merely to have my nose dragged away as I was about to nibble the sacred cheese of life? It is preposterous. If this old ninny-woman, Fate, cannot do better than this, she should be deprived of the management of men's fortunes. She is an old hen who knows not her intention. If she has decided to drown me, why did she not do it in the beginning and save me all this trouble. The whole affair is absurd. (4.12)
Now we're getting into the heavy stuff. The men are still wrapped up in this idea of a grand scheme, a master plan to the universe, governed by God or Fate, or something like that. They're convinced things are supposed to go a certain way, so some message must have gotten lost, or wires got crossed, because what's happening now just isn't the way things were supposed to go. It's just not fair. They'd like to speak with the manager, please.