Master and Commander

A Tale of Courage and Humility

Today I bring to you some reflections on our first film for the Christian film club, which I announced a while back. There will be spoilers, so if you haven’t already, why not use this weekend to watch it, and then come back? This post will be my first especially for paid subscribers. If you think you can afford to contribute, please do so! Most of my content will remain free, but any contributions help me to justify writing more often. Without further ado, let’s discuss Peter Weir’s 2003 epic tale Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.

At the core of Master and Commander is the friendship between Jack Aubrey, captain of the HMS Surprise, and Dr. Stephen Maturin. It’s 1805, and Captain Aubrey is tasked with capturing the French privateer Acheron, which is threatening to attack British ships in the Pacific Ocean. Aubrey is a confident, capable, and fearless man. He is a born leader, and his crew trust him enough to follow him to what, back then, must have felt like the ends of the world. Maturin, a surgeon and naturalist, is a much more subdued and quiet man, though as competent as Aubrey in his own profession. From the very beginning, it is clear that the two men have an immense amount of respect for each other. They fit the description of Aristotle’s friendship of virtue; they show interest in each other’s pursuits, and they keep each other in check, thus growing in virtue together.