How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
He raised sharply his simple face, overcharged by a terrible growth of whisker. (1.7)
You can tell from this description that the narrator doesn't like his chief mate all that much. He seems especially annoyed by the man's whiskers. This might be because the whiskers remind him that his chief mate is significantly older than him, and he's just a fresh-faced boy who's expected to captain a ship. Feeling insecure much?
Quote #2
My second mate was a round-cheeked, silent young man, grave beyond his years, I thought; but as our eyes happened to meet I detected a slight quiver on his lips. I looked down at once. It was not my part to encourage sneering on board my ship. (1.7)
As much as he dislikes his older chief mate, the captain seems to have an even stronger dislike for his second mate, who's younger than him. This dude seems to sneer at nearly everything this new captain says, and once again, the captain assumes that this is a sign of disrespect. This could all be in his head, of course, but try telling him that.
Quote #3
He had rather regular features; a good mouth; light eyes under somewhat heavy, dark eyebrows; a smooth, square forehead; no growth on his cheeks; a small, brown moustache, and a well-shaped, round chin. (1.43)
The only guy who the narrator in this story describes in a positive way is Leggatt. It seems like a coincidence that the only guy the narrator likes is also the best-looking guy in the story, so we're going to go ahead and say that the narrator's descriptions of people's appearances tells us an awful lot about whether he likes them.
Quote #4
His expression was concentrated, meditative, under the inspecting light of the lamp I held up to his face; such as a man thinking hard in solitude might wear. (1.43)
The captain might as well be describing himself when he talks about Leggatt's appearance. After all, the captain is the one who's been thinking in solitude a lot lately. And let's not forget that he constantly describes Leggatt as his "double."
Quote #5
It was, in the night, as though I had been faced by my own reflection in the depths of a somber and immense mirror. (1.53)
The captain comes really close to saying that Leggatt is imaginary when he says that looking at Leggatt is like looking in the mirror. Then again, it could be a coincidence that the two of them look the same. Or it could be the captain projecting all his own emotional baggage onto some guy who's wandered onto his boat.
Quote #6
It's clear that I meant business, because I was holding him by the throat still when they picked us up. He was black in the face. It was too much for them. (1.60)
There aren't many things that look worse than a man who's been strangled to death in the middle of a rainstorm. No wonder the sight of the guy was "too much" for Leggatt's crew.
Quote #7
And then, with his face nearly hidden, he must have looked exactly as I used to look in that bed. (1.99)
The captain likes to think about how Leggatt looks when he's sleeping, which is kind of creepy. What's even creepier is the fact that he likes to think Leggatt looks exactly like him when he's asleep.
Quote #8
There was a sort of curiosity in his [the chief mate's] eyes that I did not like. (1.109)
The captain doesn't communicate a whole lot with his crew, which means he's developed a series of snap judgments he makes whenever he sees one of them walking toward him. In this case, he can tell in one second whether or not he wants to talk to his chief mate.
Quote #9
I watched him coming with a smile which, as he got into point-blank range, took effect and froze his very whiskers. (1.109)
The captain feels like a smile is the best way to stop his crewmembers dead in their tracks. He thinks that it conveys power, but his crew might take it as a sign of madness. In either case, the look tends to do the trick of making people go away.
Quote #10
[The skipper of the Sephora ] was not exactly a showy figure; his shoulders were high, his stature but middling—one leg slightly more bandy than the other. He shook hands, looking vaguely around. (2.1)
The skipper of the Sephora isn't a bad dude. He just seems kind of lazy and disinterested in his job, even though he's supposed to be looking for a fugitive murderer. In this description, the captain-narrator seems to think he won't be much of a threat.