The Martinez was sinking fast, for the water was very near. Numbers of the passengers were leaping overboard. Others, in the water, were clamoring to be taken aboard again. No one heeded them. A cry arose that we were sinking. I was seized by the consequent panic and went over the side in a surge of bodies.
-- Humphrey Van Weyden (Chapter 1)

Importance: This quote signals a major turning point in the narrative, as the narrator experiences a shipwreck that leads him eventually to the Ghost, where he encounters Wolf Larsen.

My name is Johnson, not Yonson,’ he said, in very good, though slow, English, with no more than a shade of accent to it. There was mild protest in his pale blue eyes, and withal a timid frankness and manliness that quite won me to him., ‘Thank you, Mr. Johnson,’ I corrected and reached out my hand for his.
-- Humphrey Van Weyden (Chapter 2)

Importance: This quote illustrates the kind of...