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

In Crane’s “A Mystery of Heroism” he uses literary elements to create Naturalist themes. One main belief of Naturalists is that someone’s life is determined by environment, chance, and heredity. Crane uses the setting and characters to create this theme. In the story it says, “Too, he wondered why he did not feel some keen agony of fear cutting his sense like a knife.” This quote shows that the main character is not afraid. The setting of the war is one of the reasons he does not feel fear. He has probably been in a more fearful situation since he has been in the war. If he had not been a soldier and been in this setting he would be more fearful. Crane uses characters to create this main idea by showing the other characters who argue with Collins until he goes to the well. In “A Mystery of Heroism” it says, “ ‘Of course, yeh will! Yeh’ll run through that there

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

In the story "The Open Boat," by Stephen Crane, Crane uses many literary techniques to convey the stories overall theme. The story is centered on four men: a cook, a correspondent, Billie, an oiler who is the only character named in the story, and a captain. They are stranded in a lifeboat in stormy seas just off the coast of Florida, just after their ship has sunk. Although they can eventually see the shore, the waves are so big that it is too dangerous to try to take the boat in to land. Instead, the men are forced to take the boat further out to sea, where the waves are not quite as big and dangerous. They spend the night in the lifeboat and take turns rowing and then resting. In the morning, the men are weak and exhausted. The captain

4. From Crane’s passage, we learn of the fear and confusion of battle. We also learn about the horrors of death.

​Throughout time, many literature works of art have shown the common theme of man with the mindset that he is the superior being in control. Around the 1830s, literature took a turn from the romantic view of the world to a more natural take of the universe. One of the better portrayals of this naturalistic view is Stephen Crane’s “The Open Boat” in which the short story exhibits the lives of four men cast out at sea after their steamer, the Commodore, sank and they were then forced to take refuge in a life boat. This story follows the men through the focalizing viewpoint of the correspondent and descriptively as well as effectively portrays his psychologically changing viewpoints of the ocean and their take on nature as a whole. This short story is a classic representation of naturalism with the extensive use of literary tools such as personification, metaphors, and similes to convey the message that nature is indifferent to mankind and exhibits the steady-changing viewpoint of the correspondent as the story progresses.

Three other main themes exist with in Cranes “The Red Badge of Courage.” These themes are manhood, self-preservation, and how the universe

“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 Correspondent is considered the most important character of the men, because he portrays the author of the story, Stephen Crane. Crane is the narrator of the story, and showed himself as a character who is hard working, and yet sometimes melancholy towards his situation. The Open Boat vocalizes, “The correspondent, pulling at the other oar, watched the waves and wondered why he was there” (Crane 6). The correspondent struggled with

“Survival is the ability to swim in strange water” (Herbert). Due to the length and complexity of the story written by Stephen Crane, many themes are present. However, the most prevalent theme throughout the story happens to be survival in the brawl between nature and humanity. In order to understand the four characters from “The Open Boat,” one must examine the motivations, strengths, limitations, and conflicts. Each character from the story has their own personality, ideas, and struggles to conquer while battling ferocious waves and obstacles as they attempt to get from dinghy to shore.

Naturalism is a theory in writing that focuses on the indifferent characteristics of nature. Naturalism was an extension of the outgrowth of literary realism in the mid 19th century. Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution influenced the thinking of these naturalistic writers. Two authors depict naturalism in their stories heavily. Stephen Crane tells a story about a lifeboat lost at sea in “The Open Boat” and Jack London depicts a man’s trials in the wilderness through “To Build a Fire”.

Crane had a new reputation as a war writer, but his curiosity led him to become a war correspondent. In 1897 he set sail for Cuba to report on Cuban revolutionaries; the boat that he was aboard ended up sinking. His firsthand experience led him to write The Open Boat. In this novel, he used vivid imaginary to explain what happened to a handful of men against the power of the indifferent but destructive sea (“Stephen Crane”). He was unable to get to Cuba so he set out for the Greco-Turkish War. He wanted to be a firsthand writer, to make his writings realistic. While trying to accomplish his goal for writing, Crane ended up getting sick. He kept getting sick while he was a war correspondent because he was around filth so much and he could not really get away from it. Although he was not physically harmed by the war, he was physically harmed by his environment at the age of twenty-eight. He contracted malaria and tuberculosis and soon passed away. He passed away in Badenweiler, Germany on June 5, 1900 (“Stephen Crane Biography”). He passed away at a young age, but it was because of all the diseases he contracted while trying to write his stories for the public.

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