Oakland is a nearby geographical reference in the episode of the whiskey crate, not the location of Pier 91. Its brief mention helps distinguish the shore beside which the ship lies from the landing the gig is approaching and from Captain Queeg’s stated plan for the crate.

Setting and Geographic Distinction

The ship lies near the Oakland shore while the gig putters toward a concrete landing at the foot of a deserted street. When Willie Keith points out that Pier 91 is not in Oakland, he corrects the location associated with the landing; the scene’s wording does not identify that landing as Oakland itself.

Oakland and the Whiskey Crate

During the attempt to bring the crate ashore, the gig drifts away from the dock after its bowline is released. Captain Queeg calls attention to the crate as the men try to manage it. Afterwards, he tells Willie Keith that a friend of his up in Oakland would have taken the crate and shipped it home. The passage presents this as Queeg’s proposed alternative, not as an action the friend actually undertakes.

Narrative Significance

Oakland supplies a practical point of reference in a scene driven by a mishandled transfer and Queeg’s response to it. The distinction between the approaching landing and the friend’s location also sharpens the exchange: Willie’s correction concerns where they are, while Queeg turns to what might have been done with the crate and presses Willie to consider his part in the mishap.