The Innocents Abroad · Chapter
VII explained
The chapter describes a week of stormy seas and seasickness, culminating in a tempestuous night.
What happens
The chapter describes a week of stormy seas and seasickness, culminating in a tempestuous night. The ship finally reaches the Straits of Gibraltar, where the passengers sight Africa, Spain, and the Rock of Gibraltar. A beautiful American ship passes by, stirring patriotic emotions. The narrator reflects on the Pillars of Hercules, the Rock of Gibraltar, and the town. The chapter also includes anecdotes about a poet and an inquisitive young passenger, a private excursion to Tangier, and a visit to Gibraltar's galleries.
Themes in this chapter
Travel as Education
The narrator reflects on the ignorance of ancients and the learning gained through travel, such as the true nature of the Pillars of Hercules.
Home and Belonging
The sight of the American flag abroad evokes a powerful sense of home and patriotism among the passengers.
Satire of Tourism
The poet's annoying distribution of verses and the 'Interrogation Point' passenger's gullibility satirize tourist behavior.
Characters to notice
- The Narrator
Describes the storm, the sighting of land, and the emotional impact of seeing the American flag abroad.
- Dan
Accompanies the narrator and the ship's surgeon to buy kid gloves in Gibraltar.
- The Doctor
The ship's surgeon who goes with Dan and the narrator to buy gloves.
- Judge Oliver
Mentioned as part of the group met on the way to the theater in Gibraltar.
- Mehemet Ali Ben Sancom
Garrison commander of the fortress of Malabat, noted for holding the place for two years.
- Wm. C. Grimes
Implied as the poet who distributes verses and is referred to as the 'Laureate of the Ship'.
Key passages
“We don't mind the Oracle. We rather like him. We can tolerate the Oracle very easily, but we have a poet and a good-natured enterprising idiot on board, and they do distress the company.”
The Oracle is acceptable, but the poet and the naive, inquisitive passenger are annoying to everyone.
The narrator distinguishes between tolerable and intolerable fellow travelers.
“To see it is to see a vision of home itself and all its idols, and feel a thrill that would stir a very river of sluggish blood!”
Seeing the American flag abroad evokes a powerful, emotional vision of home and all it represents.
The flag sighting triggers a deep patriotic and nostalgic response.
“The information the ancients didn't have was very voluminous. Even the prophets wrote book after book and epistle after epistle, yet never once hinted at the existence of a great continent on our side of the water; yet they must have known it was there, I should think.”
The ancients and even the prophets were ignorant of the Americas, though the narrator sarcastically suggests they should have known.
A humorous critique of historical and biblical knowledge.