# I explained — Two Years Before the Mast

> Chapter companion for Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana Jr..

## 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.

## Character check-ins

### 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 lines

> 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._

## Links

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- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/two_years_before_the_mast_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/two_years_before_the_mast_se/chapters