ATDTDA (19): Soon developing a sense of nuance, 522

[Paul Nightingale]

On the steamer, Kit's presence 'explains' the poor catch; when fortunes
change he becomes a "[b]loody Jonah in reverse". Another way of saying this,
perhaps, is to suggest that the second, or alternative, Jonah operates in a
parallel time and effects good fortune, although he "[finds] himself getting
looks even stranger than before".

Kit's skills as a fisherman, sorting the catch, are soon honed (he "soon
develop[s] a sense of nuance"). He thought there was no future for him as a
stoker, aboard the ship; here his career prospects appear more favourable,
the "looks even stranger than before" notwithstanding. In Agadir he was not
associated with the ship as some kind of malevolent presence; here, his
presence is used to explain "the continent-sized school they ha[ve] steamed
into".