Genre
novella, adventure
Setting and Context
Arabic coast, Bangkok, sea; beginning of the 20th century
Narrator and Point of View
Narrator: name not mention, possibly the writer; Point of view: first person
Tone and Mood
Tone: introspective, hopeful; Mood: determined
Protagonist and Antagonist
Protagonist: the narrator is the main protagonist; Antagonist: the sea not working to the narrator's advantage
Major Conflict
The narrator gets a position as the captain of a ship.
Climax
After a storm, the ship starts moving in a fast pace and things are looking positively.
Foreshadowing
Captain Giles foreshadows that the narrator will be met with a lot of trouble upon arriving to his ship.
Understatement
The narrator understates the danger of having a diseased Mr. Barns on the ship which leads most of the crew to become affected as well.
Allusions
"D'autre fois, calme plat, grand miroir
De mon desespoir."
-BAUDELAIRE
Imagery
Imagery of ships and sailing, sea and water
Paradox
N/A
Parallelism
"And but for those bits of land there was no speck on the sky, no speck on the water, no shape of vapour, no wisp of smoke, no sail, no boat, no stir of humanity, no sign of life, nothing!"
Metonymy and Synecdoche
N/A
Personification
Ships are personified: "She lay with her head to the westward."
