Gustavo Quintero
English 48B
February 21, 2008
Journal #26 Stephen Crane



Quote:
"Often they came very close and stared at the men with black bead-like eyes. At these times they were uncanny and sinister in their unblinking scrutiny, and the men hooted angrily at them, telling them to be gone"( Crane 1002).



Summary:
The seagulls are trying to tell the crew of the doomed ship that they should never have sailed in these conditions. Mother nature seems like she is getting the last laugh. These men decide to set sail into the impending weather and they expect to come back without a scratch. I love how Crane has the Seagulls glaring at the men. It's like the seagulls are saying, " Just what do you idiots think you are doing?" What do the men do? They yell at the seagulls to leave them alone. It is humans at their dumbest;There's a huge storm, oh well, we'll survive. This really makes you take a step back and wonder just how clever are we as a species.

Aside form the fact that these men have decided to continue sail in the terrible weather the seagulls have a omniscient quality to them. With their black sinister eyes they are telling the crew that they will perish for thinking they can overcome Mother Nature. It's as if the hand of the mighty sea god has slapped them in the face and saying, "Just what do you think you are doing"? "Go back to land where you belong". Of course the crew just gets mad at the birds because they think they are being mocked. Little does the crew know that the environment will teach them a lesson.