The Theme of Community in the Open Boat Essay

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.

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.

“Two roads diverged in a wood and I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” At some point in life one is faced with a decision which will define the future, but only time will tell whether or not the choice was right or wrong. The Boat by Alistair MacLeod demonstrates that an individual should make their own decisions in life, be open to new experiences and changes, and that there is no way to obtain something, without sacrificing something else.

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

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

“The Boat” written by Alistair MacLeod tells a story about a father’s life and how he lived as a fisherman. The narrator is an adult man who looks back on his life of when his father was still living because even though he got a university education, he now wants the life his father had. He expresses how his father always wanted him to become something bigger and better then what he became. The author, Alistair MacLeod, used many different writing techniques within this short story. The symbolism of “The Boat” expresses inevitability through the little hobbies the father/husband does through his boring routine life, obligation through the father/husband’s commitment as a fisherman to provide for his family, and imprisonment through his

“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

“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.”

It is explained in the story that many men should have a bathtub bigger than the boat they were riding in. This is amazing at the beginning of the story, when Crane mentions that they were the only ones to survive how ungrateful these characters are to be alive in this big hateful world. During the story the correspondent realizes how lucky he is to be alive and how this was the best experience of his life. He learns how not to be cynical of men because we are all in the war against nature together. While the men are afloat they learn a highly momentous lesson about man versus nature. The natural world does not play favorites among men. The captain realizes this when all of his crew goes down with the ship except him and three other men. The correspondent found this to be true when the shark was hunting him while he rowed. The war with nature raged on in the story showing no signs of letting go. With nature playing tricks on them as they go. For example, The people on the beach, waving at them. Also, the man swinging his coat continuously. Then when the thought it could not get worse the boat capsizes. When the exhausted passengers eventually drifted to shore the oiler finds himself a victim of man versus nature. Another conflict in this story was with man versus self. An example of this conflict is, “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

“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.

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

Tone: Crane has the ability to create multiple tones all in one passage. The tone seems to be a tad dreary and tragic do to the fact that at any moment the men could all be drowned. Although, when there is dialogue there is more of a straight forward and comic tone that demonstrates the increasing friendship that is apparent to the reader, although the men refuse to mention it. This tone is important because, Crane makes his characters out to be helpless against the element of nature and it’s over bearing on them. Thus, this bond between the men is the only thing they have to overcome the environment.

The critique then goes on to discuss the use of first person-actor to third person spectator-narrator. This refers to Crane's narrative strategy of switching between the two through out "The Open Boat." As Rath and Shaw state, this is important because of Crane's first person experiences with shipwrecks and empathy