The sea, with its boundless beauty, lures him toward the spirit of grand adventure. Ryuji's tragic death after forsaking his life of adventure on the high seas for the fatuous roles of father and husband implies that man is impotent when his quest for a Grand Cause is lost. The following short story personifies sea and earth to portray this theme.
M orning rays of sun sparkle magically on the sleeping Sea.
The cargo ship sways gently, noiselessly, on her back. A slight wind whispers to this spectacle with the delicacy of a prayer. It tosses up little ripples that playfully catch the light as if it were a toy. She rolls a wave over the length of herself the way a woman might glide her arm gently across her dimpled cheek or belly, a touch to remind herself of her beauty, of the sensuality of womanhood. She rolls over beneath the sun, warmth beginning to tingle in her icy depths.