What does the narrator say is his greatest flaw?

The narrator says that his greatest flaw is his staunch rationality. He tries to find a scientific explanation for everything around him to the point where it annoys others. As we later learn that his narration comes from a manuscript he writes while on the deck of the mysterious ship, it becomes clear that his willingness to call his rationality a flaw at the beginning is a sign that his ordeal has changed his opinion.

Why does the narrator warn the captain about the weather?

The narrator notices tell-tale signs of a Simoom, or a hot windstorm. An isolated cloud in the sky spreads thin, and a red moon rises. The water looks unusually clear, and the air becomes extremely hot and still. However, the captain doesn’t consider these phenomena worthy of any concern. He orders the sails furled and anchor dropped, meaning that the ship is trapped right in the path of the storm, sealing the ship’s doom.

How does the narrator end up on the second ship?

After being trapped with the Old Swede in a bizarrely dark and still sea, the mysterious second ship approaches in the midst of a storm, riding a giant wave. As the crest of the wave descends, the trajectory of the second ship comes directly over the narrator’s ship. The narrator backs as far away from the approaching vessel as possible, and as a result, the giant ship landing on his own creates a kind of catapult action that launches him into the mysterious giant ship.

Why does the narrator stop hiding from the crew of the second ship?

The narrator stops hiding from the crew of the second ship because they don’t notice him. The narrator soon realizes that he can walk right in front of the crew’s eyes or into their cabins, and they don’t react to his presence. They seem unnaturally aged and ghost-like. Instead of speaking to each other, they merely mumble to themselves in a language the narrator doesn’t recognize. The narrator ultimately concludes that despite not being blind, they do not react because they cannot see him.

What is the second ship?

Neither the narrator nor the story offers a clear explanation as to what the mysterious ship is. Instead, it serves as a means to force a rational, scientific narrator into close proximity with the inexplicable. For all the narrator’s scientific inclinations, the ship resists rational classification. Its hull has no distinct markings. The ship’s construction, armaments, and cargo are of no help in discerning the ship’s purpose. Even the wood the ship is made of is inscrutable. By the end, the narrator admits that there is something ghostly about the ship.

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