Naturalisn In The Open Boat Essay example

the purpose of Crane’s account was meant to reveal incidences in the soldiers’ lives, for example where they took place in the field. Crane wanted to make sure the reader could feel the same feelings as the soldiers, Crane wanted the reader to understand it felt like to be out on the

Undoubtedly, Stephen Crane’s Open Boat’ is regarded as one of the finest and most intriguing short story written by an author with a naturalistic point of view or perspective. Stephen sets up the story based on his real life experience thereby bringing out the intrinsic reality to his audience using symbolism, poetry, and imagery. Perhaps the most intriguing naturalistic approach of ‘the Open Boat’ is the way Stephen expresses the themes in the short story with an ironic twist regarding the vastness of the universe and the insignificance of man. As such, Stephen Crane’s short story, The Open Boat, is a true depiction of the tag of war between the unpredictable cosmic universe and man exposing the themes of determination for survival, mortality, friendship, with an exquisite touch of other devices such as poetry, symbolism or imagery, and tone. This paper aims at dissecting this subject matter through a detailed analysis of the plot created throughout the novel.

“The Open Boat” by Stephen Crane is a short story included in The Norton Introduction to Literature. In it, we embark on the journey of four men, whose ship has sunk and are now adrift. The characters fight for survival throughout the whole tale, trying to withstand nature. As the story passes, they realize that nature is indifferent and uncaring. Moreover, they begin to question the existence of God. Ultimately, three of the men survive and one of them dies. Stephen Crane’s “The Open Boat” shows the struggle of men attempting to understand nature and desiring to survive against this invincible and indifferent force. I will analyze literary elements of character, plot, and symbol, using Literary Naturalism to demonstrate this constant conflict between man and nature that plays out in “The Open Boat.”

Crane was giving the abysmal family life because again he was trying to give readers a background as well as a peak into the life of these people. He was explaining and analyzing the level of literacy buy writing passages how they would sound if you said it out loud. He was also showing how hard it was for people growing up in that lifestyle.

Stephen Crane’s ideas varied from those of Twain and Ambrose as shown in his short story, “The Open Boat.” In the story, the crewmates of a diminutive boat are caught in a storm. This is clearly more depressing than the stories of the other two authors cited but it also sanctions nature to play a substantial role. In naturalism, nature often acts as a force that humanity cannot control. The storm represents Crane’s belief in

     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” is a short story written by Steven Crane about four men stranded on a dinghy after their boat had sunk over night. The men were struggling to stay alive because it seemed as if they had no hope for survival. The four stranded shipmen were a correspondent, an oiler, a cook, and a captain. The theme of the story is that man has no control over his destinies and that nature controls everything. Naturalist themes prevail in Stephen Crane's “The Open Boat” as it demonstrates naturalist literature through the struggle that nature throws at the men. Naturalism arises throughout the men’s constant battle between their surrounding environment and keeping

“The Open Boat” is short tale of endurance, suffering, and redemption. The story focuses on four interesting sailors on a journey towards survival. They try their best to overcome the adversities of the water and raging storm. Crane focuses on the constant struggle of man’s immobility to control his own life. “The Open Boat” is a nonfictional fiction some call it. It typically is argued as only fiction, but many lean toward its nonfictional quality. Crane wrote the story based off his real life experience of a shipwreck he tragically endured. The Commodore, the name of the ship, was the victim of the waves and Crane just so happened to be one of its friends. He wrote 2 articles based on this tragedy, but “The Open Boat” became the best

Crane’s use of characterization helps the reader form ideas or hypotheses about the way a character will act throughout the story. In Chapter One, as Pete is approaching the brawl on the street, he is given the following description:

Symbolism allows writers to suggest their ideas within a piece of literature. This is found in most types of writing. Stephen Crane expresses this in his short story, The Open Boat. Through symbolism and allegory, it is demonstrated that humans live in a universe that is unconcerned with them. The characters in the story come face to face with this indifference and are nearly overcome by Nature’s lack of concern. This is established in the opening scenes, the “seven mad gods” and in the realization of the dying soldier. The descriptions that Crane uses in the opening scenes illustrate nature’s lack of concern for their tragedy. He discusses the waves in the ocean that continually roll and crest. The waves are problems or

Style: One thing that Crane has been known for is his use of imagery and similes in his writing. His use of Imagery and detail bring a repeating setting like the ocean, more to life. The reader is able to form a vivid picture in their mind with the Crane’s use of adjectives and

The short story “The Boat” by Alistair MacLeod is narrated by a man who comes from a fishing family. His mother’s side of the family has forever lived and worked by the sea and continues this tradition. The narrator’s father always wanted to be an academic, but worked on the boat to support his family. Through this passage it is evident that the parents’ characters clash in many aspects of their lives and are in constant conflict. MacLeod demonstrates this through the use of repetition, the contrast in other unrelated ideas, and through information that is withheld.

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

This paper is about the story “The Open Boat” written by Stephen Crane. In this paper, I will try to provide the similarities of the original story with the newspaper account. The differences in each article will also be discussed. Lastly, I will provide a conclusion based on the facts of both articles.