How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
At that moment I was alone on her decks. There was not a sound in her—and around us nothing moved, nothing lived, not a canoe on the water, not a bird in the air, not a cloud in the sky. (1.2)
Lonely, I'm so lonely… You can tell from the very first lines in this book that the captain feels isolated in the world. Sure, we don't yet realize how isolated he feels from the rest of his crew, but we definitely know his ship is out in the middle of nowhere. So in a sense, the isolation of the ship eventually mimics the isolation the captain feels from the rest of his men.
Quote #2
All these people had been together for eighteen months or so, and my position was that of the only stranger on board. (1.7)
The captain feels bad about the fact that everyone on the ship knows one another well, which basically makes him the new kid in town. That's a lonely proposition in any situation. But it's even worse in this context because the crews of ships are tightly knit and he's supposed to lead them.
Quote #3
But what I felt most was my being a stranger to the ship; and if all truth must be told, I was somewhat of a stranger to myself (1.7)
The captain's sense of isolation from his crew has gotten so bad that he even feels isolated from himself. It can be hard to know who you are when you're alienated from human society, and this is exactly what's happening to the captain.
Quote #4
But on the whole I felt less torn in two when I was with him. There was no one in the whole ship whom I dared take into my confidence. (2.62)
The captain feels a lot better when he takes the fugitive Leggatt under his wing. Now he has someone to talk to, and an ally in his isolation from his crew. A Bonnie for his Clyde, a Robin for his Batman, a Louise for his Thelma.
Quote #5
I was not wholly alone with my command; for there was that stranger in my cabin. (2.73)
Leggatt completely changes the way the captain feels onboard his ship. Instead of being alone, the captain feels like he has someone to care for and someone to care for him. It's amazing how much of a difference a single person can make when you're struggling with loneliness.
Quote #6
I felt that I was appearing an irresolute commander to those people who were watching me more or less critically. (2.73)
The captain can't help but feel as though his crew is scrutinizing every decision he makes. So as you can imagine, he's pretty insecure and alienated in basically everything he does.
Quote #7
This was the sort of thing that made my terrifically whiskered mate tap his forehead with his forefinger. (2.82)
The captain hates the way his chief mate taps his forehead behind his (the captain's) back. The gesture is meant to tell other crewmembers that the captain is either crazy or dumb, which no doubt leaves him feeling more isolated than ever.
Quote #8
Already the ship was drawing ahead. And I was alone with her. Nothing! No one in the world should stand between us. (2.204)
By the end of the book, the captain embraces his isolation and takes charge of his ship in a confident, "don't mess with me" sort of way. It looks like his experience with Leggatt has made him a new man.
Quote #9
The wind fanned my cheek, the sails slept, the world was silent. (2.173)
The captain wants to make sure he can get Leggatt to safety. But there's a price to be paid for Leggatt leaving the ship. The captain will be lonely again, and you can already sense this loneliness coming in the way he describes standing alone on the ship's deck.
Quote #10
His terrible whiskers flitted round me in silent criticism. (2.115)
The narrator of this story is obsessed with the whiskers of his chief mate. Instead of his chief mate criticizing him, it seems to be the whiskers that do most of the talking. But in any case, this "silent" criticism could be coming from the chief mate or it could be coming from the captain's own paranoid imagination. It's tough to tell.