journal 23

Nika Bogoslovsky
2/21/08
Crane

Quote: "'Ugly brute,' said the oiler to the bird. 'You look as if you were made with a jack-knife.' The cook and the correspondent swore darkly at the creature."

Summary: The men became irritated with the birds while stuck out at sea. One in particular really bothered the men but the captain was afraid to smack it in fear of capsizing the boat. He waved it away instead.

Response: When I read this scene I thought it was strange and unnecessary how angry the men got at the seagull. I know seagulls are annoying but I couldn't believe that they were actually cursing it and wanting to beat it. But while I thought about it a bit more it started to make a little more sense. The men were probably so envious of the birds because they could easily and safely fly to their shelter and shore while the men were stuck on the dangerously bitter, cold water. This probably annoyed them even more than the usual common annoyance of seagulls and thus brought out the angry frustration of the men. The struggle with the birds made the naturalism of the story evident. They were obviously battling nature out on the ocean but Crane even managed to bring nature that shouldn't belong out on the sea into the story, making the fight between man vs. nature that much more visible. I thought since the men were treating nature so badly they were for sure doomed because that seems to be a common theme in books and movies. Especially since they lashed out at nature rather than fight it for a cause.