Stevenson's The Ebb-Tide is a tale about morality. He is playing with ideas of what dictates moral obligation and what judgements that dictation allows. His main characters - Huir, Herrick, and Davis - all struggle to conform to traditional morality. Huir is a drunk and a crook. Herrick is a washed-up businessman who is bothered by his present chosen lifestyle. Finally, Davis is a desperate former ship's captain who will stop at nothing to reclaim his former credibility. All three make a series of unscrupulous decisions which endanger the crew and condemn themselves to almost certain death. The tipping point of the story is when they meet Attwater, the pinnacle of Christian virtue.
Since Attwater is a devout Christian, he believes that he has the moral superiority to judge his fellow man. He soon catches on to the type of characters these men are and chooses to play along with their guise for a bit. Unwilling to let the opportunity for theft escape them, Huir, Herrick, and Davis all try to scam Attwater out of his pearls. When Attwater foils their plans, he vents his full moral outrage upon them. Herrick cannot stand to live with himself, convicted by Attwater's harsh admonishment, so he throws himself over the side of the boat. He doesn't drown, however, and swims to shore. Once more Attwater is place in a position of obvious authority as he chooses to spare Herrick's life despite his previous betrayal. This demonstration of mercy confirms in Attwater's mind that he is indeed the better man. Then again, after an attempt on his life, he spares Davis' life as well. At some point during the next couple weeks Davis is converted to Christianity and devoutly dedicates his life to the religion, much to the moral satisfaction of Attwater.
The commentary raised by this book relates to who is truly in the right. Is Attwater's religious convictions and rigid self-discipline justification for his smug superiority? He believes that because he has a system of morality that he is in fact a good person compared to the other three. The three conspirators come from various places in life, but they all have fallen on hard times. Their morally questionable and dishonest decisions are based upon desperation. They don't want to starve and be scorned like dogs any longer. Are their actions then circumstantially justified? Stevenson belonged to a time when people lauded moral uprightness, but they were hypocrites. He doesn't really provide clues as to which side he is advocating in this comparison of characters, but he asks the question. It's left to readers to decide what they believe is the better path.
