The moral issue relevant to the slave trade in the early nineteenth century would by itself provide ample material for The Commodore, but the personalities of the other captains in Jack's squadron extend the range of ethical, social, and psychological issues that the novel examines. Captain Thomas of the Thames, also known as the Purple Emperor for his perpetual irascibility and barely suppressed rage, is a brutal disciplinarian who sentences his sailors to scores of lashes for performance that other captains would find perfectly acceptable. In contrast, Captain Duff of the Stately is, on the testimony of his ship's surgeon and on the evidence of his crew's behavior, a pederast in an era when homosexuality could be punished by death. Both men are courageous officers, but the flaws of each man as a commander of other men and as a fighting captain leave Jack with a...