Two Years Before the Mast · Chapter
I explained
The narrator, Richard Henry Dana Jr., boards the brig Pilgrim in Boston on August 14, bound for California via Cape Horn.
What happens
The narrator, Richard Henry Dana Jr., boards the brig Pilgrim in Boston on August 14, bound for California via Cape Horn. He describes his transformation from a Cambridge student into a sailor, his first watch, and the vessel's departure from Boston harbor.
Themes in this chapter
Transformation and Identity
The narrator undergoes a deliberate transformation from a Cambridge student to a sailor, changing his clothes and lifestyle, yet his inexperience is immediately apparent to the crew.
Isolation and Longing
The departure from Boston marks a farewell to his native land and friends, emphasizing the beginning of a long, isolating journey.
Characters to notice
- Richard Henry Dana Jr.
The narrator joins the crew of the Pilgrim, describing his transformation from a student to a sailor and his first experiences aboard.
- Captain Thompson
The captain is mentioned as the one to be called if the wind shifts; the narrator receives orders to call him.
Key passages
“The change from the tight dress coat, silk cap, and kid gloves of an undergraduate at Cambridge, to the loose duck trousers, checked shirt and tarpaulin hat of a sailor, though somewhat of a transformation, was soon made, and I supposed that I should pass very well for a jack tar.”
The narrator quickly changes from his student attire into sailor's clothes, thinking he looks like an experienced seaman.
Highlights the theme of transformation and the narrator's initial naivety about his appearance.
“There is not so helpless and pitiable an object in the world as a landsman beginning a sailor’s life.”
A person starting as a sailor with no sea experience is the most helpless and pitiable thing imaginable.
Emphasizes the narrator's feelings of bewilderment and inadequacy during the departure.