1. George Gray
2. A life not lived to potential
3. Hobbled by fear of risk
4. Worse—the knowledge that he has lived what he terms a “life without meaning”
5. refers to it as “torture”
6. Imagery and Irony
7. Studies his grave’s inscription—inaction
8. “chiseled” out by someone else
9. could not even influence his own epitaph
10. A boat’s “furled” sail is unable to catch even a breeze
11. “[H]arbor” symbolic of a place sheltered from storm and wave
12. How would he have defined “meaning” while still alive?
13. Harry Wilmans
14. A young man killed in his prime, never having the chance to reach his potential
15. Inspired to enlist in the Spanish American War by a patriotic speech given by a

Sunday School superintendent too old himself to go to war

2. Lives long enough to recognize life’s ugliness; never has the chance to see the

good

1. Imagery and Irony
2. This superintendent did not uphold the flag’s honor by enlisting himself!
3. The final image of the flag upon his grave—this is what he followed; this is

what he gets

3. Both sail and flag are moved by the wind

III. Reason for Selection

1. They present the concept of risk and search for meaning approached from polar

opposite directions

1. Gray—his inability to risk in order to find meaning
2. the image of a becalmed boat “at rest,” at the same time floating atop

the turbulence of his “hunger” for meaning in his life

2. Wilmans—his willingness to risk, albeit blindly, to uphold “the honor of the

flag”

1. Is either one the “happier” in his death?
2. How have we, how do we, how will we define, find, and determine what is

“meaningful” for our life?