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Naturalisn In The Open Boat Essay example

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In most traditional happy ending stories, there always appears to be evidence of supernaturalism. However, Stephen Crane leaves out all fairy tale elements and mystical creatures in his “The Open Boat”. Throughout the whole story, there are constant examples of the raw, realistic and indifferent parts of life. In Stephen Crane’s “The Open Boat” naturalism is apparent through the use of language, literary techniques, and thematic elements.
First of all, Crane’s use of language played a large part in the naturalistic feel of the story. Crane makes sure to use specific phrases and words that describe things exactly the way that they actually appear. He does not ‘butter up’ or ‘candy coat’ their descriptions in order to prevent the reader …show more content…

It served as a reminder for the men on board- that their lives could be taken from them at any moment, and it was a mystery as to when they will die or if they will stay alive. It was the idea that fate was chewing at them at the mercy of the giant powerful ocean. “When it occurs to a man that nature does not regard him as important, and that she feels she would not maim the universe by disposing of him, he at first wishes to throw bricks at the temple, and he hates deeply the fact that there are no bricks and no temples.” Similarly to what Crane said- nature could care less if these men die, and it will not change its course just to fulfill the wants of theses abandoned men. It stops for no one.
The dialogue played out by these men as also an important literary technique. They continue to banter back and forth, displaying hope and loss of hope. There are plenty of examples throughout the story that show the men trying and trying again to regain this hope. They know in the back of their minds that there is a slim chance that they will survive this situation. Crane uses this realistic dialogue to show these men’s emotions, and decline of confidence. Realistically, anyone who is caught in a situation like this tries to look for any of the positives because they are trying to maintain that glimpse of hope. For example, the cook says “‘There’s a house of refuge

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