How we cite our quotes: (Section.Paragraph)
Quote #1
These waves were most wrongfully and barbarously abrupt and tall, and each froth-top was a problem in small boat navigation. (1.2)
Right from the get-go, the boat and the ocean are described as adversaries—not quite enemies, but definitely playing for rival teams. If we think of the boat as representative of man, and the ocean symbolic of nature, we can see that this story is probably going to have something to do with man's relationship to the natural world. Of course, this story is brought to us from a human perspective, so naturally the ocean's actions would be presented as "wrongful," and its behavior "a problem" that the men have to deal with. We wonder what the ocean's take on the situation might be like…if it has an opinion at all.
Quote #2
A singular disadvantage of the sea lies in the fact that after successfully surmounting one wave you discover that there is another behind it just as important and just as nervously anxious to do something effective in the way of swamping boats. (1.10)
Pay attention to the first line here—how can a wave be "nervously anxious"? You almost imagine the wave rubbing its watery hands together, licking its salty lips, and getting ready to smash up some boats. Still, it's a little weird to imply the ocean has a will—we don't think waves are intentionally destructive. It's important to note the way Crane personifies the sea at the beginning of the story—this might change as the story progresses.
Quote #3
The little boat, lifted by each towering sea, and splashed viciously by the crests, made progress that in the absence of sea-weed was not apparent to those in her. She seemed just a wee thing wallowing, miraculously, top-up, at the mercy of five oceans. Occasionally, a great spread of water, like white flames, swarmed into her. (2.21)
Just in case you missed it, here's a reminder of how ridiculously outmatched the men in the boat are in facing off against the might of the sea. Like, way worse than David and Goliath, but somehow the boat has "miraculously" held its own—so far, at least. It's Crane's use of that word—"miraculously"—that should be noted here. Does this word fit in with the other ways the narrator presents their predicament?
Quote #4
Suddenly there was another swish and another long flash of bluish light, and this time it was alongside the boat, and might almost have been reached with an oar. The correspondent saw an enormous fin speed like a shadow through the water, hurling the crystalline spray and leaving the long glowing trail. (5.19)
Uh-oh, looks like the ocean's got backup. We can think of the shark as one of the ocean's evil henchman. There's not too much to read into with this quote—we just want to reiterate that it's not only man against ocean here, but also man against everything else in nature. They're in the ocean now so they have to deal with things like sharks and seagulls, but rest assured, if this story took place in the jungle, they would be all stressed out about quicksand and jaguars. These guys just can't get a break.
Quote #5
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. (6.2)
We've established two things so far: 1) man and nature are adversaries, and 2) nature seems to really have a bone to pick with man. This quote adds a third element to it all: the men think this whole situation is totally unfair—it's definitely not a fair fight, especially after they've held their own for so long. It's like, if you can survive ten minutes in a boxing ring with Mike Tyson, don't you think Tyson should give you some credit and let you go without knocking you out? The guys in the boat sure do.
Quote #6
When it occurs to a man that nature does not regard him as important, and that she feels she would not maim the universe by disposing of him, he at first wishes to throw bricks at the temple, and he hates deeply the fact that there are no bricks and no temples. Any visible expression of nature would surely be pelleted with his jeers. (6.3)
Question: What's the only thing worse than nature actively trying to destroy you? Answer: Nature not caring about you at all. That sounds like a pretty big screw you to us. It's like that big two-part episode of The Simpsons where Homer threatens to kill Mr. Burns for not knowing his name. Anyway, needless to say, this is a crucial turning point in our story. The men want to do something, anything, to make the universe notice them, acknowledge their existence, and maybe admit their lives are actually worth something. But as time goes on and things keep getting worse, they realize there isn't really anything they can do to be noticed.
Quote #7
A high cold star on a winter's night is the word he feels that she says to him. Thereafter he knows the pathos of his situation. (6.5)
This is a pretty classic illustration of someone realizing the insignificance of one measly human life in the grand scheme of things. While sitting in a boat in empty vastness of the sea, the correspondent looks up at a tiny twinkling speck of light in the night sky and starts to understand that in the grand scheme of things, between the wide open sea and endless night skies, his life is pretty insignificant. So yeah, in case you weren't feeling small enough before, that'll do the trick.
Quote #8
On the distant dunes were set many little black cottages, and a tall white wind-mill reared above them. [. . .] The correspondent wondered if none ever ascended the tall wind-tower, and if then they never looked seaward. This tower was a giant, standing with its back to the plight of the ants. It represented in a degree, to the correspondent, the serenity of nature amid the struggles of the individual—nature in the wind, and nature in the vision of men. She did not seem cruel to him, nor beneficent, nor treacherous, nor wise. But she was indifferent, flatly indifferent. It is, perhaps, plausible that a man in this situation, impressed with the unconcern of the universe, should see the innumerable flaws of his life and have them taste wickedly in his mind and wish for another chance. (7.2-3)
Wow, are you as surprised as we are? It's not every day you read a story that flat out says, "This is a symbol—pay attention, it's symbolic." So the windmill, with its back turned to the cottages, represents the indifference of the universe. Crane finds it cruel that the windmill would keep its (metaphorical) back turned and ignore the suffering beings on earth—do you agree? Let's think about it a little differently—it's like when our dog is barking for some reason, but you turn your back to it to ignore it. Sorry, Fido, it's not that we don't care about you, we just don't care about whatever you're barking about. At least, that's one way of thinking about it.
Quote #9
He did not pause swimming to inquire what manner of current had caught him, but there his progress ceased. The shore was set before him like a bit of scenery on a stage, and he looked at it and understood with his eyes each detail of it. (7.22)
Does the shore look like "scenery on a stage" because the correspondent has spent so long at sea that it doesn't seem real, or because he feels so separate from the natural world? It's also interesting that the narrator makes a point to mention that the correspondent doesn't bother asking questions about the current holding him, suggesting that he's mostly done complaining about nature messing with him. What a trooper.
Quote #10
He thought: "I am going to drown? Can it be possible? Can it be possible? Can it be possible?" Perhaps an individual must consider his own death to be the final phenomenon of nature. (7.28)
This might just be one of the most important quotes in the story—hang with us, because we're about to get a little deep into some philosophy here. This quote brings up some of the biggest questions in philosophy: about epistemology (the nature of knowledge) and metaphysics (the nature of reality) and especially the relationship between the two. For example: Do we create the natural world with our minds? Or does the natural world create our minds itself? This quote also touches on some more basic stuff, too, like how teenagers often think they're invincible, and how each of us secretly assume we're at the center of the universe. Wait—the world doesn't revolve around us?