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1. I can relate with Una's desire to liberate herself from the confines of the life dictated by her gender . I find it less easy to empathize with her decision to run away to sea at a time when her mother had lost both a husband and an unborn child and needed her daughter as one woman does another . 2. Una's sensibility was that of a woman even if she rejected the typical script of a woman's life . Though the story of her life was unconventional and dramatic in many ways , the saga of her emotional journey with the men she met ( Ahab being one of them ) occupied center stage in her mind . As Lord Byron said , " Man's love is of man's life a thing apart , 'Tis woman's whole existence " . 3. Call it the optimism of youth , but I feel that while we cannot control the direction of our lives , we can certainly influence it significantly . We live life , life doesn't live us . Perhaps hindsight will force me to feel differently . Having said that , however , I feel that every choice we make brings with it other choices/dilemmas we may or may not anticipate . The cannibal's dilemma , for example , was more likely with certain choices such as the short cut taken by the Donner Party or Una's going to sea . 4. The ( Tuna ) Tragedy of the Commons again highlights the disquieting realization we have struggled with during this course . Man looking to satisfy his ever growing wants is a menace to this planet ; armed with the technology to do so , he is a disaster .