The Open Boat

     Although the men are pitted against an uncaring sea, they still at this point seem to think their destinies are controlled by some outside force. Their collective thoughts are given: 'If I am going to be drowned--if I am going to be drowned--if I am going to be drowned, why, in the name of the seven mad gods who rule the sea, was I allowed to come thus far and contemplate sand and trees?...If this old ninny-woman, Fate, cannot do better than this, she should be deprived of the management of men's fortunes.'(6) It soon dawns on them, though, that there is no 'fate,' no purpose for their being where they are. It is the realization of this fact that brings the men to the brink of despair: 'When it occurs to a man that nature does not regard him as important, he at first wishes to throw bricks at the temple, and he hates deeply the fact that there are no bricks and no temples.'(6) It seems to them that their

The Open Boat, written by Stephen Crane is discusses the journey of four survivors that were involved in a ship wreck. The oiler, the cook, the captain, and the correspondent are the survivors that make onto a dingey and struggle to survive the roaring waves of the ocean. They happen to come across land after being stranded in the ocean for two days and start to feel a sense of hope that they would be rescued anytime soon. They began feeling down as they realize nobody was going to rescue them and make an attempt to reach shore. The story discusses an external conflict of man vs nature to help state clearly the central idea. The central idea of the story conveys man’s success against nature when ones’ abilities are combined together to increase the chances of survival. The use of 3rd person limited omniscience and character analysis helps to explain how the journey of the men’s survival to get out of the ocean and reach shore is able to succeed while Stephen Crane uses symbolism to demonstrate the unity created amongst the survivors.

There is also a shark that is “playing around” near the boat; curiously, it does not seem to even acknowledge their presence. The realization that they have no purpose brings them to the brink of despair. In the beginning of the story, the author describes the “dawn of seven turned faces.” These are faces of the “seven mad gods” who are apathetic towards the men; moreover, they are part of nature. Towards the end of the story, the correspondent recalls a childhood verse that helps him to understand nature’s indifference. Through their experience together, the four men realize that all they have is each other. The correspondent feels sympathy suddenly for a dying soldier, one who does not even exist, “The correspondent, …dreaming…was moved by a profound and perfectly impersonal comprehension. He was sorry for the soldier of the Legion who lay dying in Algiers.” Being in the current situation, the correspondent finally understands the tragedy of the dying soldier. He realizes what it is like to be alone in a cruel world and more importantly, he realizes he does not have to be alone. When he first heard the story, he was also indifferent towards the soldier, just as nature is indifferent towards the rest of the world. He now understands what it is to be human. Crane opens a view of reality that first seems bitter, but in the end, stands as

Even though the oiler suffered on his journey on the open boat all of the characters were victims of life’s unfortunate and twisted series of events. These four men have possibly gone through a shipwreck that left them stranded in the middle of the ocean without any tools for survival aside from a small dinghy. This event in itself is unfortunate enough, but for these men it is barley the beginning. They endure rough seas, fatigue and endless rowing alongside several other complications during their desolation at sea. Nearing the end of the story a large and furious wave completely runs

They are so consumed with their struggle against the waves they do not even have the time to notice something as simple as the color of the sky. From the very beginning the reader is filled with the suspense that each individual character feels. Despite the crews struggle with Mother Nature, they are continually struck by the fierce waves. With each passing wave the reader is lead to believe that this one will surely be the one that capsizes the little dingy. “As the salty wall of water approached, it shut all else from the view of the men in the boat, and was not difficult to imagine that this particular wave was the final outburst of the ocean (256).” Crane creates suspense between the reader and the characters that allow both to feel the relentlessness of nature’s indifference of their struggled attempts to survive. It seems that no matter how hard the crew works to keep the dingy from capsizing “… the waves continued their old impetuous swooping at the dingy, and the little craft, no longer underway struggled woundily over them (259).” The narrator describes the waves as acting carefree and rather impulsive as if they had no obligation to the men for their survival. Nature does not care that this crew of men were working to survive, but nor does it mean to cause the men any harm. The waves are merely there, doing as nature intends the waves

“The Open Boat” opens with a captivating line, “None of them knew the color of the sky.” None of the men know the color of the sky because they are so determined to survive. Crane automatically sets the scene for this story by telling us there’s nothing appealing about one fighting for their life. “The Open Boat” is a short story written by Steven Crane about four men stranded on a dinghy after their boat had sunk overnight. The four stranded men in this story were a correspondent, an oiler, a cook and a captain. The men were having trouble staying alive because at first, they had no hope for survival. Naturalist themes occur in Stephen Crane's “The Open Boat” as it shows the struggle that nature throws at the men and their chance for survival. Naturalism's main belief, is that individual human beings are at the mercy of uncontrollable larger forces that originate both within and outside them. The only way the men were able to survive was perseverance, because the apathetic universe did not care what their outcomes were.  “The Open Boat” does well at representing naturalism and how the men get presented the changes and roughness nature approaches them with.

The men came to the conclusion that “fate” must be the reason that they are experiencing this deathly situation. It is the understanding of this fact that brings the men to the edge of their misery. At this point the men feel like their lives are coming to an end, so much so that they even ask the captain if they have a chance at survival, to which the captain replies "If this wind holds and the boat don't swamp, we can't do much else." This quote shows the uselessness that the men feel, but it also makes apparent there is still a possibility of hope.

The Open Boat is a tragic tale by Stephen Crane of four men contemplating what seems like their inevitable death. This paragraph above serves as a quality passage on its own and as an interesting part of the entire story as the author repeats it often. The text is a beautiful paragraph, perhaps the most flowery writing in the entire work. Lines such as "to nibble the sacred cheese of life" and "name of the seven mad gods who

The Open Boat by Stephen Crane is a story describing four men that are trapped together in a small boat or dingy. The men aboard the boat are a captain, a correspondent, an oiler, and a cook. The men were aboard a larger boat that crashed off the coast of Florida and are now searching for the safety of a light house they remember. After making a homemade sail and some brisk paddling they finally get near the coast. They spot some people and begin to signal for help but the people only respond with friendly waves. The tide is much too strong to swim to shore so they paddle back out to sea a ways and wait for it to calm. While waiting they get approached by a shark. The large fish circles in such a way that death searches for the

Although steady, it was deep with mourning…” (Crane p. 585). Though usually optimistic and upbeat, the captain shares a couple of pessimistic thoughts while they were stranded. In section 4, the captain says, “if we don’t get ashore…if we don’t get ashore, I suppose you fellows know where to send news of my finish?” (Crane p. 590). The captain, the supposed leader, says these discouraging words. He also repeats, “If we don’t get ashore” which it also shows a pessimistic attitude. Even though pessimism is an important part of naturalism, an indifference of nature is one of the key characteristics in naturalistic literature, and it is shown in The Open Boat.

Crane begins the story with four characters, the captain, the correspondent, the cook, and the Oiler, bailing and rowing in their small craft. He shows the self sacrifice of each individual, and how each person must do his part for the community of men to survive. In the beginning of the story a passage states, "The oiler, steering with one of the two oars in the boat, sometimes raised himself suddenly to keep clear of water that swirled in over the stern. It was a thin little oar and it seemed often ready to snap. The correspondent, pulling at the other oar.... ." 1 This in the most basic sense illustrates each man doing his part for the group. The correspondent and oiler continuously take turns rowing their small craft, never stopping, only resting when spelled by the other. The cook sits in the bottom of their floating hell bailing the seawater. The captain masters the craft and keeps the men together. Without each finger of the proverbial hand there would be no fist. Together, the men fell into this situation, and for their survival, together they must learn to become one.

"The Open Boat," by Stephen Crane, has been critiqued and deconstructed by many thinkers. One such critique is "The Dialogic Narrative of `The Open Boat'." This critique on Stephen Crane's "The Open Boat," was written by two authors: Sura P. Rath and Mary Neff Shaw. The authors focused on a five main points in the duration of this Critique. First Mikail Baktin's theory of the "Five basic types of discourses," are discussed and used in the deconstruction of "The Open Boat." The critique then delves into the use of first-person actor-character to third person spectator-narrator. Shaw and Rath then annotate the tonal quality of "The Open Boat." Fourthly the critique characterizes and analyzes the key figures of the Novel. Lastly

Adrienne Rich’s poem “Diving into the Wreck” is a detailed piece written in free verse that discusses the emotional journey of her narrator as she sails out into sea to scuba dive and try to uncover a myth that she once read in a book. The narrator uses a detached tone while explaining her dive beneath the sea to show a constant image of lonesomeness and a clear focus of the actions of humanity. In doing so, she creates a feeling of isolation while discovering the wreck she originally came to find as well as an internal journey we soon come to find out.

“Can you please tell me where the captain is?” The young man pointed towards the starboard side, the upper deck, avoiding further engagement. Our ears attend on the crackling of the planks we walked on. Sudden pops in the hull made me reconsider our choice of vessel.