The Secret Sharer Appearances Quotes

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.