{"id":"01KG8AJQ3R1WNFTSHSRDX7EZ4H","cid":"bafkreibapoeqjrxekevwue3e7ucrpmgml7badz7numjd7kk3kngi37zvdq","type":"chapter","properties":{"description":"# CHAPTER XVIII. A MAN-OF-WAR FULL AS A NUT.\n\n## Overview\n\nThis entity is a chapter titled \"CHAPTER XVIII. A MAN-OF-WAR FULL AS A NUT.\" It is part of the novel [White-Jacket](arke:01KG8AJ89Z18FKVJV5H0488ZAZ) and was extracted from the file [white_jacket.txt](arke:01KG89J19NC56FFGBCM2SWEZZY). The chapter covers lines 2912 to 2963 of the source text.\n\n## Context\n\nThis chapter is situated within the larger work [White-Jacket](arke:01KG8AJ89Z18FKVJV5H0488ZAZ), a novel by Herman Melville, which is part of the [Melville Complete Works](arke:01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW) collection. It follows [CHAPTER XVII. AWAY! SECOND, THIRD, AND FOURTH CUTTERS, AWAY!](arke:01KG8AJQ3R8BF7B9VDWJD8JZDA) and precedes [CHAPTER XIX. THE JACKET ALOFT.](arke:01KG8AJQ3RYCG05CMSKM7C58NJ).\n\n## Contents\n\nChapter XVIII uses extended metaphors to describe a man-of-war as a self-contained, diverse community, akin to a city or town. It highlights the wide range of professions and backgrounds found among the crew, suggesting that naval service serves as an asylum for those facing misfortune or adversity. The chapter details how various trades are practiced onboard, comparing the ship's structure to different urban environments, from a garrisoned town to multi-story lodging houses, emphasizing the hierarchical arrangement of living quarters from the captain's cabin down to the sailors' hammocks. The text also likens the ship's appearance, with its rows of cannon ports, to a suspicious urban dwelling.","description_generated_at":"2026-01-30T20:49:51.859Z","description_model":"gemini-2.5-flash-lite","description_title":"CHAPTER XVIII. A MAN-OF-WAR FULL AS A NUT.","end_line":2963,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:47:39.667Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"CHAPTER XVIII. A MAN-OF-WAR FULL AS A NUT.","source_file":"01KG89J19NC56FFGBCM2SWEZZY","start_line":2912,"text":"CHAPTER XVIII.\r\nA MAN-OF-WAR FULL AS A NUT.\r\n\r\n\r\nIt was necessary to supply the lost cooper’s place; accordingly, word\r\nwas passed for all who belonged to that calling to muster at the\r\nmain-mast, in order that one of them might be selected. Thirteen men\r\nobeyed the summons—a circumstance illustrative of the fact that many\r\ngood handicrafts-men are lost to their trades and the world by serving\r\nin men-of-war. Indeed, from a frigate’s crew might he culled out men of\r\nall callings and vocations, from a backslidden parson to a broken-down\r\ncomedian. The Navy is the asylum for the perverse, the home of the\r\nunfortunate. Here the sons of adversity meet the children of calamity,\r\nand here the children of calamity meet the offspring of sin. Bankrupt\r\nbrokers, boot-blacks, blacklegs, and blacksmiths here assemble\r\ntogether; and cast-away tinkers, watch-makers, quill-drivers, cobblers,\r\ndoctors, farmers, and lawyers compare past experiences and talk of old\r\ntimes. Wrecked on a desert shore, a man-of-war’s crew could quickly\r\nfound an Alexandria by themselves, and fill it with all the things\r\nwhich go to make up a capital.\r\n\r\nFrequently, at one and the same time, you see every trade in operation\r\non the gun-deck—coopering, carpentering, tailoring, tinkering,\r\nblacksmithing, rope-making, preaching, gambling, and fortune-telling.\r\n\r\nIn truth, a man-of-war is a city afloat, with long avenues set out with\r\nguns instead of trees, and numerous shady lanes, courts, and by-ways.\r\nThe quarter-deck is a grand square, park, or parade ground, with a\r\ngreat Pittsfield elm, in the shape of the main-mast, at one end, and\r\nfronted at the other by the palace of the Commodore’s cabin.\r\n\r\nOr, rather, a man-of-war is a lofty, walled, and garrisoned town, like\r\nQuebec, where the thoroughfares and mostly ramparts, and peaceable\r\ncitizens meet armed sentries at every corner.\r\n\r\nOr it is like the lodging-houses in Paris, turned upside down; the\r\nfirst floor, or deck, being rented by a lord; the second, by a select\r\nclub of gentlemen; the third, by crowds of artisans; and the fourth, by\r\na whole rabble of common people.\r\n\r\nFor even thus is it in a frigate, where the commander has a whole cabin\r\nto himself and the spar-deck, the lieutenants their ward-room\r\nunderneath, and the mass of sailors swing their hammocks under all.\r\n\r\nAnd with its long rows of port-hole casements, each revealing the\r\nmuzzle of a cannon, a man-of-war resembles a three-story house in a\r\nsuspicions part of the town, with a basement of indefinite depth, and\r\nugly-looking fellows gazing out at the windows.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r","title":"CHAPTER XVIII. A MAN-OF-WAR FULL AS A NUT."},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJ89Z18FKVJV5H0488ZAZ","peer_type":"novel","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J19NC56FFGBCM2SWEZZY","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AJQ3R8BF7B9VDWJD8JZDA","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG8AJQ3RYCG05CMSKM7C58NJ","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"next"}],"ver":3,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:47:40.664Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:49:52.112Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF5C36SQEVDHC9CBNZZJH9K"}}