Chapter one starts off very powerfully, in my humble opinion. "Ships at a distance have every man's wish on board." How does the author distinguishes the life of men and women in the very beginning?

This quote is really a metaphor for the differences between the female and male temperament. Hurston indicates that men are more practical than women. They know their limitations and they are rational about their dreams. Women, on the other hand, blur the difference between dream and reality. The result is often bitter disappointment.