Journal entry# 30 Stephen Crane

Siu Faat Jimmy Wong
English 48b
February 22, 2008
Professor Lankford

Quote:

If I am going to be drowned—if I am going to be drowned—if I am going to be drowned… Was I brought here merely to have my nose dragged away as I was about to nibble the sacred cheese of life?

Summary:

This is a quote which appears at least 3 times in the passage. The correspondent keeps asking this question to God when they are suffering in the roaring sea.

Response:

This quote was said by the correspondent when he encountered a terrible situation in the sea which almost killed him. In the very beginning, the men on the floating boat were numb with the fact they met. They did not know what to do, but just rowed the boat under the captain’s instruction. Instead of giving up, they started to imagine that there was a lighthouse or a life-saving station nearby which could salvage them. After they found out that there was really no place which they could land on. The correspondent started to blame God. In his mind, if God really wanted to dispose of them, he did not have to make them suffer so much. He could just kill them in the very beginning. Therefore, the correspondent said that “it was certainly an abominable injustice to drown [them] who had worked so hard, so hard” after they had floated on the sea for such a long time(Norton 1011).
After they found out that there were some other people on the land, the four men realized that they might not have to die. The sad thing is that although they were so close to the land, the nature did not allow them to reach the land. At that moment, the correspondent said again, “If I am going to be drowned…” He really did not understand what the aim of God and the nature are.

Finally, after the men successfully landed on the land, they found out that the oiler was dead. In the passage, the oiler is the strongest rower and seems the most likely among the men to survive. However, he was not able to finish the “game” which is set by the nature. Even though the oiler had worked so hard to survive, he still had to be drowned just in front of his destination.

After reading the book and listening to the discussion in class, I found out that the men really went through several different stages when they were being tortured in the sea. Also, I realized that life is really unpredictable and everyone is unable to know what is going to happen in the next step. I also learned that whenever I meet difficulties and nobody can help me out, at least I can say, “Yes, but [at least] I love myself” and try to cheer myself up (Norton 1011).