Jack Aubrey ashore is a generally incompetent gentleman who is easily fooled. Jack Aubrey afloat is an incomparable seaman who is always essentially correct in his judgment. Compare and contrast these two aspects of Aubrey's persona. What is the essential difference in his spheres of competence?

The novel mentions prize money—money paid to commanders and sailors for the capture of enemy ships and stores. Do you think it was morally and ethically correct for Britain to remunerate their warriors by giving them a portion of the value of enemy goods seized during combat?

Maturin and Cotton perform a type of brain surgery—lifting a depressed fracture—on Colley. The entire crew watches in mute fascination. This same scene is repeated in another novel of the series, and in general the concept of brain surgery is socially fascinating. What aspects of...