Ship of Fools by Katherine Anne Porter ~ January Book Club Online

[JoanP]

The Book Club Online is  the oldest  book club on the Internet, begun in 1996, open to everyone.  We offer cordial discussions of one book a month,  24/7 and  enjoy the company of readers from all over the world.  Everyone is welcome to join in.

Ship of Fools
Katherine Anne Porter

"The idea for Ship of Fools originated in a voyage that Katherine Anne Porter took from Mexico to Europe in 1931. Some of the passengers she encountered on the ship became the models for the characters in Ship of Fools. Porter began work on the novel in 1941 and it took her twenty years to complete. Porter wrote that the title of her novel symbolizes “the ship of this world on its voyage to eternity.” The story takes place in the summer of 1931, on board a cruise ship bound for Germany. Passengers include a Spanish noblewoman, a drunken German lawyer, an American divorcee, a pair of Mexican Catholic priests. This ship of fools is a crucible of intense experience, out of which everyone emerges forever changed. Rich in incident, passion, and treachery, the novel explores themes of nationalism, cultural and ethnic pride, and basic human frailty that are as relevant today as they were when the book was first published in 1962."  - Goodreads Discussion Schedule: January 2-7  Part I Embarkation (p. 1-69 - hardback) January 8-15      Part II  High Sea  (first third:  p. 71-170 - hardback) -ending  before: "The Cuban Medical students, a hermetic society." January 16-23   Part II  High Sea cont.   (p.171 - 274- hardback) - ending before "The greasers are up to something.  Denny to David" - January 23-31   Part II  High Sea cont. (p. 274 - 360 - hardback) February 1-end  Part III The Harbors  (p. 361-497 - hardback)

*****

Some Topics for Consideration
January 23-31   Part II  High Sea cont. (p. 274 - 360 - hardback)

1. Are you beginning to sense a change in attitude in some of the characters as the ship nears the harbor?  Dr. Schumann?  Professor Hutten?  Jenny?  Freytag?  Who else?  
  
2.  What more do we learn about the hunchback, Glocken?  Do you see him as "everyman" in spite of his handicap, as he considers the his future, his remaining days?

3. It seems that Professor Hutton  believes in the fundamental goodness of man.  Does his wife?   Does Katherine Porter?  Is this belief or lack of it, what divides the characters aboard the ship?

4. Why are the two priests of no help to the captain in maintaining order below?  How do Father Carillo and Father Garza exhibit differences in their ministry of the steerage passengers?

5. Why doe Jenny become furious with Lowenthal?  Do you see him  like the Germans in their attitude to those different from themselves?

6.  Does everyone on board regard Echegaray a fool for  attempting to save a dog's life?  Do you believe he had ulterior motives such as a reward or suicide even?   How did Echegaray's death and funeral affect the passengers?

7. Who is writing those cruel notes on the ship's bulletin board?  How do they affect the targeted passengers?  Why would anyone pay any attention to them?

8.  "Me too, leave me on Vigo too."  Both incidents at the end of the journey involved Ric and Rac, tossing Bebe overboard, tossing the pearls.  What was your reaction to each?  What are your feelings about these two children now?    

Discussion Leaders:  Joan P  and  Marcie

[marcie]

Hats, please do read the book with us. The author seems to circle around her characters as if she were taking a walk around the ship, coming to each one in turn, and describing them. As JoanP says, it doesn't seem to matter if you haven't read from the beginning. We are all muddling through the book together. I hope you'll stay with us. And nlhome, I hope you'll continue too. There are so many details in the book, it will take all eyes to find them.

Jonathan, I am reacting to your quote from the Captain about La Condesa..."My own opinion is, she is one of those idle rich great ladies who like excitement, who get into mischief and make more mischief without in the least understanding what they do - this is always true of women in politics of any kind!"


What a chauvinist! I am in agreement with you, JoanP. The Captain seems one of the least likable characters. The Captain is authoritarian. He judges everyone and acts on his own impulses, hiding behind his authority.

[JoanP]

 

Good morning, Marcie!  We are posting together this morning over our morning coffee!  I agree wtih you about this Captain.  I see a place for him in Herr Hitler's scheme of things in the coming years.

La Condesa continues to be a puzzle, doesn't she? Jonathan's research shows the various reasons she is on the ship on the way to prison.  She's in first class, though not really confined to her rooms. 
The Captain  was told "she is a dangerous revolutionist, an international spy, that she carries incendiary messages from one hotbead of sedition and rebellion to another, that she incites to riot"  It is his own opinion she is one of those idle rich great ladies who like excitement."

Jonathan quotes Lizzi - "they say she is sleeping with every one of those students by turns. They are always in her cabin, sometimes two or three of them, and they say it is quite fantastic what goes on there."

It seems that all of this information is speculation, gossip, rumor.

Marcie, I was confused about her story about her two sons.  Didn't she say she "hid them" under an altar.   I was under the impression they were little boys at the time. I thought they all escaped.

Do you believe the story she tells the doctor?  Apparently the doctor doesn't - as Jonathan tells us  late in the book the Captain and the Doctor admit that neither knows the reason why she is heading to prison.
I wouldn't be surprised to learn that she is into some covert activity with those rebelling Cuban medical students...

[JudeS]

I'm begginning to think that Porter does have something special...
How often in a book do we get to really HATE so many  people? 
The author has the ability to elicit very, very strong feelings in all her readers. Sometimes these characters actually make me feel nauseous!Such as on page 268:
Frau Rittersdorf is writing in herjournal about her husband Otto:
"How unerring his instincts in everything! it was his boast that no Jew had ever set foot in his house, to the farthest known generation.."
This remark makes one understand how the Germans were able to treat the Jews like vermin and kill six Million. Those words show that the Nazis were not the first generation to hate theJjews. Only the ones who brought that hate to fruition.

When you look down on others, no matter what reason, you make yourself feel higher.  The essence of "looking down" is to enhance yourself in some fake or unrealistic way. That begs the question 'Why did the Germans feel so low that necessitated this attitude?
In Eric Erickson's book "Childhood and Society" in which he examines the childhood of a number of Evil Leaders he hypothesizes that constantly being beaten by parents as a child makes the need to hate arise in the Psyche.  You mustn't hate your parentss so you look for others to hate and you pour out your wrath upon the innocent.
When you look at the Neo-Nazi movement in America (and it is larger than you think) you find that most of the members  grew up in violent homes.
 

[Jonathan]

'How often in a book do we get to really HATE so many  people?'

Good question, Jude. And everything in your post needs saying. How did it ever happen!

[retired]

I find Herr Reiber the most distasteful and hate filled character .
He would no doubt be a valued member in Hitler's SS . A good choice for
a Commandant in a Concentration camp.

Herr Lowenthal's reaction to Herr Freytag 's ouster from the Captains's table
to his own small table was not one of welcome.
When he learns the reason for the ouster he tells Freytag that he does not believe
in Christian Jewish intermarriage . Particularly, when the Jewish woman makes this choice.
Since he eats only foods which are allowed to a devout Jew ( Jewish dietary laws ) during this voyage
we are to assume that he is devout to his heritage.
As for the woman , children born to a Jewish woman are considered Jews according to Israel law. If she
has not converted from her Jewish faith.

We have learned from reading that Hitler's Germany considered Intermarriage unacceptable
in their society.

[marcie]

hmmm, I'm not sure, JoanP, about La Condesa's story about her sons. We know that the doctor does not believe everything she says--especially about the drugs she has.

If she admits to being "50" her sons may be old enough to be part of a revolution rather than young children, but you never know.

JudeS, what a good point about Porter's ability to elicit deep feelings for (or actually against!) her characters. She has a very good eye and imagination for details that portray vivid characters.

Retired, you're right Herr Reiber would be good choice for a Commandant in a Concentration camp.

[salan]

Sorry, but I have abandoned ship.  It was too depressing and tedious for me at this time.  However, I do have a life vest on and my life boat has many supplies; so I may return one day......

[Jonathan]

Hi, Hats. Welcome aboard. How wonderful to hear from you. And you're coming aboard laughing. Do we ever need cheering up. Your timing is perfect. We've been angered by these mean characters (not that they have any characters of their own) but that will soon change as we begin to feel sorry for them. And you're in time for the grand party in the Captain's honor, being organized by the Spanish dancers.

I must admit I'm surprised by the opinions about the stressed-out Captain. Joan sees him as 'the least likable character,' and Marcie finds him 'the most offensive and dangerous character aboard the ship.'

I feel he is just doing his job as responsibly as he can. He's on the high seas and is staying clear of rocks. Beyond that, I find him as confused and bewildered as the rest.

The one we really need on this ship is Herr Freytag's Jewish wife, Mary. She, he tells us, would put all these people in their places. Is that a spoiler?

It's a marvellous book. Where did Porter ever find the courage to write it? Such strange relationships everywhere one looks. Pick any two and look closely. It makes on laugh. It makes one cry. David and Jenny are a good example, with their hopeless love kept going by hot flashes.

[JoanP]

Jude, you're right - the Germans were not the first to hate the Jews, but they were the ones who would go so far as to "bring their hatred to fruition," as you say.
It's difficult to read so much hate, I agree, Sally - but I think what keeps us going is the need to understand how such a thing could happen - and recognize the symptoms... If you can't read any further, please stick with the discussion?  We appreciate your input.

In  considering your question - "Why did the Germans feel so low that necessitated this attitude" - I don't get very far...but I do see fear, Jude.  Fear for their social and economic position - economic primarily.  The competition could be eliminated if they are all simply made to disappear.  I'm not sure why they ended up in the camps.  It must have become a huge burden sustaining the camps.  Do we know anything where the idea for the mass killings came from - whose idea were the gas chambers?  Back to Herr Hitler?

An interesting observation - children beaten by parents, learning to hate and pour wrath on the innocent.  Do you suppose this explains Ric and Rac?  Or Johann, Herr Graf's nephew?
But they are not German, are they?  Do you see people of other nationalities aboard this ship who bear such hatred for the Jews - besides the Germans?  

"Where did Porter ever find the courage to write this book?"  Jonathan, maybe the twenty years after the war, the thirty years after the voyage - in other words, distance, provided the courage.

[JoanP]

Tell me, is Dr. Schumann German?  I remember some discussion at the Captain's table regarding his name - and whether it was really German.  If so, how is his attitude explained - so different from most {all?) of the other Germans aboard the ship? 
He doesn't express his opinion one way or another regarding Herr Freytag's ouster from the elite dinner table.  Why is that, do you think? 

Retired, I think Rieber is easy to dislike...his hatred is so overt, his comments so crude. Yes, his type will find their way into the "SS"...chilling isn't it, to think that men just like him, so full of hate, would be put in charge of handling the Jews who were at their mercy? 

You mention Herr Lowenthal's lack of a welcome to Freytag at his table.  I noticed that too - and yet he is trying to be social and friendly to other German's on the ship.  Why not Freytag?  Have you noticed Freytag, a German, is ordering meals similar to Lowenthal's - meatless,  porkless?

I suppose Captain Thiele, a German himself, is not unlike his compatriots in his hatred and disdain for the Jews, Jonathan.  I find him frightening because he is in such a position of power and it seems he'll go to any extreme to keep order on the ship, even go so far as to punish the innocent.  He reminds me of the monster who is rising in German politics at this time.

[JudeS]

I read the required pages.
Need to take a break again.
Had a nightmare about the book last night.
See you on Monday.

[JoanP]

Oh Jude, a nightmare - because of what you are reading in this book?  Or the implications about where the Vera is heading, the route it is taking?  I am so very sorry, but grateful that you will be back Monday.  Your reactions are important to us. 

I've finished reading Part II, which we are scheduled to begin discussing on Tuesday.  Have not read the final section, The Harbors yet.  It occurs to me as I read that we may never get to Germany.  Do you feel that way too?  

We have extended this discussion into February to give everyone time to read/react to Porter's lengthy novel, but if you are  all ready to move on and finish discussing Part II of the High Sea section of the book, we can start that tomorrow.  
Let us hear from you.  

I'm finding Dr. Schumann a "person of interest" - are you?  Is he German?  He doesn't express his opinion one way or another regarding Herr Freytag's ouster.  He seems to have wonderful insight into the rest of the passengers, into human nature.  What is Porter telling us with this character?  

[nlhome]

I renewed this book again, for the 3rd and last time allowed. I am still reading slowly, as life gets in the way, and now I have to  borrow my husband's computer. My new one failed this morning, and I "lost it" with tech support through Dell - luckily my son came in and finished the session but it could not be fixed over the phone, which is what I told Mohammed was the case when I got so frustrated. He wanted us to remove parts that were welded in. Anyway, I have no patience of the fools tonight, will read something else.

[marcie]

nlhome, I'm so sorry about your computer woes. Remove welded parts!!!?

JoanP, I'm definitely interested in the doctor ...and the condessa. The list of characters in the beginning of the book lists the doctor with the German characters. He is very controlled and reserved but he doesn't seem controlling of others, as the Captain does. He seems to reflect on humanity....and seems understanding, except in the case of the twins. He has given up on them. Perhaps he is right.

[JimNT]

JoanP:  I would very much like to extend our discussion into February.  I'm at that point where Denny is spreading the word that land is in sight.  I need to give further thought to these characters as i find myself often referring back to earlier events.  Re whether or not the doctor is German, I believe the Captain thinks he is but I'm not convinced.  I do wonder if Ms. Porter would have identified herself with one of the passengers.

[JoanP]

Oh my goodness, nlhome! I know what that's like, hanging on the phone while "Mohammed" is giving instructions on how to fix it from afar.  Remove parts that have been welded together!  I would have lost it at that point too.  Lucky your son intervened.

I'm glad you haven't given up on the fools yet.  Believe it or not, I'm seeing change as the ship nears the Harbor.  The question is - is it change for the better?  Anyway, things are coming to a head.  And passengers are revealing more about themselves - and even changing in response to some of the events aboard the ship.

"Re whether or not the doctor is German, I believe the Captain thinks he is but I'm not convinced."  JimT - He is so unlike the other Germans on the ship, isn't he?  He never expresses the belief that they are a superior race - nor does he look down on his other patients.  On the other hand, he keeps silent on the comments made by his fellow-Germans.  My question - is he hiding something?  I think I detect a change in him too - as the ship nears the Harbor. Does anyone else notice this?

Some of us believe that Porter has put herself into a number of the characters aboard the ship, JimT.  How about you?   At this point, I see her in Mary Treadwell's character - and nothing to the contrary.  We get to see more of Mary in this last section of "High Seas."

[JudeS]

It's Monday and time to return to the fray.
What struck me as one of the most important and dramatic parts  of the book was the incident of Bebe the dog being thrown overboard by Ric and Rac.  So much of the inner workings of so many people revealed by this incident.(pgs 310-324).

I especially found Frau Huttens inner thoughts about her relationship with her husband revealing.  If we find the author anywhere it must surely be in this unhappy yet lasting relationship with the love of a dog replacing the love that is usually given to a child. The need to be subservient to a man is the theme of Frau Huttens thoughts.  A typical German or Nazi philosophy. Porter, of course could never last in a relationship of that nature.
Porter had three or four marriages. None of them lasting.  Her first marriage, at sixteen, seemed to be particularly brutal and unhappy. She never had any children. Perhaps she had a dog or other pet on which she lavished the love we see expressed towards Bebe.  A person who never loved an animal could never write that particular scenario.
We see Frau and Professor Hutten not even able to remember the name of the man who died to save their beloved Bebe. How awful is that?

Meanwhile we get our taste of some decent thoughts and feelings from Jenny and Dr. Schumann. They somehow save this
Ship of Fools, or in my mind Ship of Horrible Fools, from being a totally depressive trip. 

[retired]

Dr. Schumann:
I am not surprised that the author describes his character and
behavior as one of being reserved and verbally nonjudgmental.
Our expectations of a doctor are that he care for any patient without regard to race to or religion.
We do not expect him to be verbally judgemental despite how he may feel or believe .
They take an oath to practice with out regard to personal stereotyping.

This novel highlights and gives many examples of racial and religious hatreds and stereotyping
of a variety of ethnic groups not just the Jews . Particularly any group not German.
Although Jewish hatred and stereotyping are paramount to the story.

Another example is the stereotyping of the Spanish by Denny ( Texan) to David ( American) when he says " the greasers
are up to something " .
The heavy use of fried foods and cooking oil . Oiling of the hair as a styling use are examples for the use of the word
"greasers" . They are " up to something ". Distrust of this ethnic group and stereotyping as gypsy thieves.
Denny lives in Texas close to the border of Mexico .  Probably has visited Mexico on personal or business travel .

Perhaps the novel also makes the reader begin to examine their own ethnic stereotyping and the rational for
these feelings and beliefs.
   

[Jonathan]

Porter did in fact love cats, only to leave others stuck with them. She made frequent moves, leaving a newly acquired cat behind. It exasperated her friends who had invited her for a longer stay, or the new owner of a property she was leaving behind. In fact she left a great deal behind as she extricated herself from certain relationships. But took with her tons of experience, and acquired more as she travelled. So, I think the book is about herself as much as it is about the tragedy of the 20th century.

Dr. Schumann, I believe, represents the good German, with his reservation, his professional manner, and, of course his badge of courage, his duelling scar. And of course he is a devout Catholic.

Frau Schmitt is a very kindly person: '...she felt again for the thousandth time, how difficult it is to be  good, innocent, friendly, simple, in a world where no one seems to understand or sympathize with another; it seemed all too often that no one really wished even to try to be a little charitable.' p159

Pity the poor Captain, reacting to the rioting among the steerage passengers: '...(he) had a riotous, violent imagination which now took possession of him. He dreamed for a brief moment of a cinematic crisis full of darkness, hand-to-hand struggle, flashes of light and thunderous explosions, broken heads and mangled limbs and pools of blood, screams and yells and incendiary flames lighting the sky, with lifeboats being lowered away into the heaving sea, himself still on the bridge somehow in full command of the situation, and completely calm.' p173

Does it seem tyrannical to take away the wood-carver's little knife. How soon we forget. After 9/11 one had to surrender even a nailclipper or file before boarding a plane. The captain's nightmare is an inability to cope with a world gone mad. It turns out he longs for the capability of the American gangsters armed with their machine guns. As he sees them in the movies.

[JoanP]

So many really good thoughts expressed here yesterday!  Enough to keep us busy for the coming week - and give others time to catch us with the reading.

Jonathan - Porter left her many cats without a backward glance?  Not the attachment one has for a dog, as Jude pointed out. 
"But {she} took with her tons of experience, and acquired more as she travelled. So, I think the book is about herself as much as it is about the tragedy of the 20th century."

That's interesting.  Can you expand more about how you arrived at this conclusion?  And do you see the author in the character of Mary Treadwell - she seems to share the same detachment to tragedy you ascribe to the author.

Though Mary Treadwell does express distaste at Lizzi's constant comments against the Jews - which caused Lizzi to ask her whether she likes Jews.  Mary Treadwell's dry response: "not particularly, should I? - struck me as funny, considering all  the antisemitc comments expressed by other passengers.  Mary Treadwell doesn't seem to like or dislike anyone in particular, does she?  Except Parisians - Paris has a special place in her heart.

I'm not sure what makes Mary Treadwell so detached and unable to settle down...  we're told of her failed marriage - she fell in love with the wrong man at a young age.  And then her parents' death - why didn't she go home for their funeral?  I wonder if we will hear more of this character before the ship makes land.  I sense the author's unhappiness, detachment and pain in this character.

[JoanP]

"A person who never loved an animal could never write that particular scenario"  -

Jude - I'm trying to put together your observation of the author - and Jonathan's comment about Porter's numerous cats, left behind in many ports.  Bebe was a child substitute for the Huttens.   They lavished all of their love on this dog to fill a void.  

There are a number of  references to unhappy children in these pages though - children whose parents had no time, love or interest in them. Is there a message here?  Ric and Rac are examples of this, yes, but there are other seemingly well brought up adults, who express the regret that their parents didn't love them.  I've been shadowing Mary Treadwell - who claims a happy childhood - luxuries, travel, a warm nurse - but when her parents died, she seemed so detached.

[JoanP]

Your reactions to some of the other characters help to put their actions in perspective...

"The captain's nightmare is an inability to cope with a world gone mad. "  I had developed quite a dislike for his disdain of the human beings in steerage,  Jonathan  but will try to keep in mind that his is an unenviable position, given the volatility below.

retired, the fact that the doctor has "taken an oath  to practice without regard to personal stereotyping " would explain why he holds his tongue and keeps his opinions to himself.

I wonder if any of you are sensing a change in him as a result of this voyage though?  What do you think this meant about his -"feeling the oppression of millions" -

  "He goes off in hope of saving a nameless, faceless fool stupid enough to fall overboard."

 Are we finally getting a glimpse into the inner workings of his mind?


retiredmakes another observation- -"Perhaps the novel also makes the reader begin to examine their own ethnic stereotyping and the rational for these feelings and beliefs."  Do you think this might have been Porter's intent?

[marcie]

Joan, didn't Mary Treadwell say that she grew up in a loving home -- was told that she was almost loved too well as a child-- an idyllic childhood. Then she married someone her parents hadn't met and he beat her, and presumably controlled her, out of jealousy.

It seems that she was too ashamed to let her parents know or to go home.

That changed her life forever. She keeps retreating to her thoughts and dreams of her childhood.

[JudeS]

One of the questions you ask Joan P. is what do we think of Ric and Rac now?

Well at first I felt sorry for them but after the incident with Bebe I am sadly changing my opinion or rather adding to it.
These children are being brought up with no moral compass. They care for no one but themselves.  They are almost animals in human form.  They do as they pleases. Their parents may beat them, quite severely at times, but this only makes them more full of anger and hate.

There is a belief that the early signs of a person with no concious ,a psycopath, is the attacks on animals in childhood .  They attack animals until they grow up and  are large enough to attack humans.  This is sad but true.

I don't want to envision these evil sprites as grown ups.

[JoanP]

Jude, your changing opinion of Ric and Rac seems to point to what I see as a major difference in the way a number of the passengers regard "the fundamental goodness of man."  Is there any hope for them?  Professor Hutten believes that all men are "born with a moral compass"  as you put it.  I don't think his wife believes this.  She's kept quiet about her difference all these years - but she makes it clear that she's the one who has to deal with them on a daily basis.   What seems to be Porter's view on the subject?


Mary Treadwell - Marcie, I'm going to have to read the description of Mary Treadwell's upbringing again.  The first time I came away from it, I sensed that her childhood was spent away from her parents - with nurses, with travel, expensive schooling - which she referred too as an expression of "too much love."  What you see makes sense though...that she didn't want to return home because she was embarrassed for having left for that husband of hers in the first place.  But not attend the funeral?  When there was so much love in the home as a child?  I don't get that.  If she was grieving their loss, wouldn't she be there for their burial? 

So Mary T considers Paris "home" now.  What's in Paris...I know everyone loves Paris, but is MaryTreadwell's heart there?  Her loved ones?  Are there any loved ones? 
Have you noticed the quotes KA Porter selected to begin each of the three sections?  Before Part II - High Seas, she included this one from a song by Brahms...

   "Keine Haus, keine Heimat" (No house, no homeland).

 

Do you have any idea why she chose this particular  line?   "Why did we leave Mexico," Frau Hutton asks.  (Why did they?)  Are the Germans hoping to return "home"to the land they left behind?  Why no house, no homeland?  There's got to be a message intended by the author here.

[PatH]

Well, I swam as fast as I could, and at least for now have caught up with the ship.  I found the whole sequence of Freytag being evicted from the captain's table to sit with Lowenthal and the surrounding material so painful that I could only take it in tiny doses.

[PatH]

"Kein Haus, keine Heimat"--I would have thought it would be easy to find the words of one of Brahms' lieder, but I couldn't. 

I did find this, though:

"Kein Haus, keine Heimat (No House, No Home). This text is from Halm's narrative In der Südsee in which the hero kills himself to save his former mistress. Although only twenty measures, Brahms' austere setting is intensely dramatic."

That doesn't seem to fit very well.  I'm guessing the title is a catch phrase on its own.

[JoanP]

PatH!  Are you in need of resuscitation?  That was quite a swim!  Impressive. I agree, small doses is the only way to go with this story.  I'm wondering if this is the reason KA Porter took 20 years to write it.  What I've been doing...I take one small, very small section at a time - one character sketch, one conversation.  As soon as a new character appears on deck, I put down the book and let settle what I just finished reading before picking it up again.  Any other way, I get overwhelmed.  

Note that we have bought extra time - and will continue into February as long as we need before  starting Dickens'  Bleak House midmonth.  Hope everyone here will join us in that discussion.  Folks are gathering already.  It's a long book, we'll take it very slowly -

[JoanP]

Let me know if you can get this link to work, Pat - Keine Haus, keine Heimat (No house, no homeland)

First scroll down on the right to the song title.  Then hit the volume icon - I can hear a voice singing the Brahm's melody in German - and then in the bottom right, there's a link to the translation.  Can you see it?  There has to have been a reason Porter selected this quote to introduce the "High Seas"  portion of the book, don't you think?

[PatH]

Yes, it worked perfectly.  Rather stodgy performance.  Here's the translation:

No house, no homeland,
No wife, no child,
Thus I whirl, a straw,
In storm and wind.

The wave rises and the wave falls,
Now there and now here,
World, if you don't ask about me,
Why should I ask about you?

That sort of fits the middle section.

[marcie]

Oh, yes, Pat. Thanks for that translation. It does fit. The ship theme of the waves rising and falling and individuals caught up in their own world and the collective group on the ship caught up in their own world, oblivious of the happenings in the wider world around them.

[PatH]

And, as with kein Haus, keine Heimat, they are out of context.  Without their usual restraints, comforts, places of refuge, all the things that make up their systems of coping, they are behaving abnormally.

[PatH]

The other quotes fit too.  "Embarkation" has "Quand partons-nous vers le bonheur?" (When are we setting off towards happiness?)  Most of the characters are setting off for something they think or hope will make them happier, or at least looking for some improvement in their lives.

I haven't read "The Harbors" yet, but it's got "For here have we no continuing city..." which quote continues "...but we seek one to come".  I'm guessing that no one is going to find a stable situation, or what they had expected.

[Jonathan]

I think the three quotes, in French, German, and English are intended to add a special significance to Porter's artistic vision. In keeping with the 'voyage to eternity' idea she mentions in her short note before the tale begins. It's almost as if the author is pointing out a bigger picture than the one she presents in dramatic form. None of the major characters, it seems to me, is without Haus or Heimat, despite the exclusivity some are preaching. Aren't they all coming from or going home? I don't see 'heimatlos' as a theme in the book, unlike, for example the alienation, prejudice, bigotry, intolerance, chauvinism, and self-delusion so rampant among these people.

But I can hear the author singing these lines to herself in the course of her long life's journey.

You always were a good swimmer, Pat.

Jude, I can appreciate what you say about Ric and Rac. Especially the observation that these two small children 'are almost animals in human form.' And isn't animal behavior a constant theme throughout the book? They are constantly calling each other animals, or the narrator is pinning animal labels on them. Here are some I've seen: cats, dogs, parrots, monkeys, serpents, pigs, goats, gorgons, frogs, wildcats, ostriches, rats, crows, fauns, kittens, buzzards, and that peahen Fraulein Lizzi.

This crowd should sail off the edge of the world. Except for Herr Lowenthal. The Lion.

[JudeS]

PatH
Thank you for the translation.
This short song has a feeling of hopelessness about it.
If the real world was filled only with such sad and\or terrible people where would we br?

After reading another "downer' part of the book I reflect on a voyage to England I made with my Mother at the age of three. The crew made me a wonderful Birthday party and everyone was so kind and friendly to me. It was a British ship.
Not every ship is a "Ship of Fools".
Is the horror because the passengers are mostly German? Is it the 1930's, the beginning of the Nazi regime?
With heavy heart I report on Herr Glocken pg.351:On the wallboard was written:"If you are a hunchback, symbol of every kind of degeneration, you may be excused from behaving like a normal human being".
Poor Herr Glocken. Not even the strongest soul could take such an insult as this. Hated because of  something he has no control over. The hump which has made him suffer all his life is now "HIS FAULT" and  it makes him a target of further derision..
Then we have frau Ritterdorf adding:(pg 352):"Query if it would not be a benefit to the human race if there was a well enforced law that all defective children be given euthanasia at birth........"
Even though she keeps a notebook I think that there is none of our author in her.

[JoanP]

Thanks to you all, I now see what Porter intended with those quotes before each section.  If you take them as they are, at face value, they relate to the passengers aboard the ship.  If you add the context,  as PatH provided, completing the lines we had been given, the quotes refer to a broader picture...and then if you consider what all three together are saying, you get "Porter's artistic vision" as Jonathan points out - the 'voyage to eternity' idea.  Loved it - the sum of your contributions!

You're right, Jude...the short Brahms song does have a feeling of hopelessness about it.  Do you think the words represent Porter's feelings about this ship of passengers?  That they are on a hopeless path,  too foolish to notice where they are heading?

Jonathan thinks the whole crowd ought to sail off the edge of the world.  Except for Herr Lowenthal, the lion."  Do you think that's the solution?  Do you think that's where they are heading? 

Loved those references to the animal characterizations, Jonathan.  Thanks for bringing them to our attention.  Though this book contains more than its share of downers, there is much in Porter's writing to admire, I think.

[JoanP]

"Is the horror because the passengers are mostly German? Is it the 1930's, the beginning of the Nazi regime?"  

Jude, that's the impression I'm getting - though Porter seems to be pointing her finger at others for putting down racial characteristics different from their own.  I don't think I've ever read so many racial epithets in one place as those that came out of Denny's mouth in his conversation with David.   I don't think he left anyone out.  If he did, I don't know them.

And not just racial characteristics - but as Jude pointed out, their were slurs against the infirm - like Uncle Graf, and Glocken's dwarfism.  I've a question about those notes that are appearing on the bulletin board.  Who do you think is writing them?  They're not only  directed at the Germans, are they? Are we to believe it is the Spanish dancers?  I'm not sure why these notes were allowed to remain  there - hurtful as they were.  Why didn't the passengers just tear them down when they saw them?  Do you think anyone found them amusing?

Glocken was quite devastated by the notice directed at him...and it was cruel, I agree.  But I really thought he was made of tougher stuff than that.  I was moved when he confessed that he had always wanted to be a violinist.  And that he still believes he has the soul to play.  I haven't finished the book yet, but harbor the hope that he will play before the tale is over.

[PatH]

The bulletins seem to be produced in collaboration by the Spanish dancers and the Cuban students, and target the people who have not forked out money for the lottery tickets and festival.  People do seem to be tearing down ones targeted at themselves, but not before they have been widely read.

It's a failure on the Captain's part to let this happen.  At the very least, he should have his men remove them promptly.  Ideally, he should not allow his passengers to be subjected to this kind of extortion, but I admit that the dancers would be hard to control.

[JoanP]

So the bulletin notices were in retaliation for those who did not buy raffle tickets for the big gala.  The Spanish dancers and the Cuban students must have been studying the first class passengers very closely to zero in on their weaknesses and know how to press their buttons, don't you think?  I suppose this is what happens when in such close quarters.
 
Is anyone besides the men who are interested in the Spanish "dancers" buying tickets?  It seems that everyone is trying to avoid them - and not looking forward to a grand celebration to honor the captain - who seems to have lost control on his ship.  

Jonathan, can we look a bit closer at the character you've described as a "mench," who is liked by everyone - ..."a lion."  Is it just me?  I thought that Porter is beginning to portray Lowenthal a bit differently in these pages...as someone who is much the same as the other passengers on board the ship - only different - in the way he regards those who are not Jewish as inferiors.   Why is Jenny so furious with him?  What brought this on?