“…he had at times seemed to her so human, so Germanized, she had been quite lulled and led astray.”
Frau Rittersdorf, one of the most racist and hypocritical characters on the ship, leads a journal of her white supremacist thoughts, her opinions of the dominance of the white German race. She is also bitter that a Mexican nobleman refused to propose to her, something she expected as an obvious course of events, as she sees herself as the best specimen of a woman, her being German and all. It is obvious that her hatred for other races stems from this humiliation she endured, and she finds a form of comfort and self-assurance in it.
“I would do this for them: I would put them all in a big oven and turn on the gas.”
Herr Rieber talking about the poor Spanish travelers on the ship in the company of other insecure racist white supremacists who find confidence in making fun of the other’s sufferings to fill the empty void that is their life portrays the atmosphere prior to the Second World War in Germany.
"Deeply he hoped she would give it up all together-there had never been a really great woman painter, nothing better than some superior disciple of a great man; it disturbed him to see a woman so out of place; and she did not believe in her talent for a moment."
David’s low opinion of his fiancée Jenny, and women in general, always looking for a way to bring her down so that she can join him in his insecurities, while sulking in the corner when she turns her attention elsewhere other than him. David doesn’t like for Jenny to express herself, because he sees it as a direct insult to him. He is also insecure, indecisive and indulges in self-pity.
