The Open Boat Essay

     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” offers a sense of vulnerability in its setting beginning with the title. “Open” is a powerful choice of word, synonyms are vacant, unsheltered, and unsecured, all sounding quite negative. Both stories are located far away from Man’s comfort zone. London mentions “man’s general weakness” from the start. Through out the two stories, the reader watches the men who begin with so much hope lose it as time progresses. The men in the boat, reflecting on how unfair it would be for them to die after all his hard work personifies nature as a “she” as if he sees nature as a motherly figure who is obligated to care for him. “She dare not drown me. She cannot drown me. Not after all this work.” In “To Build a Fire”, the author compares the dog’s feelings to be closer to the truth than the man’s judgment. The finishing line of “The Open Boat” reads, “When it came night, the white waves paced to and fro in the moonlight, and the wind brought the sound of the great sea’s voice to the men on the shore, and they felt that they could then be interpreters.” It is peaceful and makes the reader question, what is it that the men now understand? One could jump to the conclusion that the men now know the truth that could have saved the foolish man in “To Build a Fire” and the oiler, the truth that the dog and the animals knew all along, and the rest of the men on the boat have now been enlightened with. The men know

"The Boat" by Alistair MacLeod is the story told from the perspective of university teacher looking back on his life. The narrator relates the first memories of his life until his father's death. The story focuses on the conflicting relation between the mother and the father, and their different perspectives on how their children should lead their lives. MacLeod uses features of setting to present the tension between tradition and freedom.

Suddenly, a man appears on shore stripping his clothes off and running into the water. The rescuer

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.

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

In the short story, “The Boat” by Alistair Macleod, symbolism is used to represent an abstract idea. The boat, being a major symbol of the story was the way of life for the family. As the story goes on, the boat starts to make the family feel confined giving them a choice to leave or stay with the boat. There were symbols that impacted the story that had connection towards the boat. Chain bracelets, the father’s clothes, the books that the father read are all symbols that tied to the boat. The father's chain bracelets and clothes represent the father feeling trapped as a fisherman since he never changes out of them. We find out more about the characters and their personal connection with the boat and the other symbols and what it means to them. The family starts to fall apart due to the kids learning about the father’s books leading to them moving away from home. Symbolism is used when one thing is meant to represent something else adding meaning and emotion to the story which is well represented throughout the story.

Topic:'Terry says to Charley, "I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody instead of a bum. Which is what I am". Does the film support Terry's judgement of himself?

Sexuality and personal growth has and always will be a topic of conversation in real life and even in fiction short stories. The idea of sexuality has just recently not only became an open idea to discuss but one to also write and publish about. Both Alice Munro and John Updike both illustrate the idea of sexuality and personal growth in very different ways. “The Found Boat” by Alice Munro, deals with sexuality in an aggressive manner while “A&P” by John Updike, deals more with the idea of sexuality rather than sexuality itself. They also have very similar elements of fiction that include (but is not limited to) characters, theme and conflict. The characters relate in both

We think that daily spot hire rate will likely decrease next year. There are two reasons. First, there are 63 new vessels scheduled for delivery in 2001 to increase the supply of vessel and only few old vessels need to be retired, while the demand will not increase because imports of iron ore and coal would remain stagnant over next two years. Second, exhibit 5 shows that avg. spot rate of 2000 was higher than the rate of previous years and avg. 3-yr charter rate. In addition, the market will seemingly go up after two years. Therefore, ship owners should hope to sign short-term contract through using lower daily spot hire rate rather than locking low daily high rate for a long period.

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 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.”

“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

The ideas portrayed in the scene are a sense of freedom. The ideas portrayed are that he sees that he is on the boat and there is an opportunity for freedom so he jumps. He starts swimming, going as fast as he can he looks into the sun as it is beating down on the water and suddenly realizes that freedom is farther than he thought. He starts to drown, loses a sense of himself and stops swimming, falling lower and lower into the ocean of water. Once he gets close to the bottom he realizes that he needs to fight to save his life and start swimming towards the top. Once he gets to the top the boat is there to get him and save him, although the boat is really just saving him from the water but not giving him the freedom he thought he was