The Open Boat Essay

The Open Boat by Stephen Crane Essay
The Open Boat by Stephen Crane
"The Open Boat" Four men drift across a January sea in an open boat, since they lost their ship
some time after dawn. Now, in the clear light of day, the men begin to grasp the full gravity of their
situation. Realizing that their main conflict will be man versus nature, in this case, the raging sea. In
the short story "The Open Boat," Stephen Crane gives an itemized description of the two days spent
on a ten–foot dinghy by four men a cook, a correspondent, which is Crane himself, the injured
Captain and Billy Higgens, the oiler. The men in the open boat show us that compassion for one's
comrade, unfeeling endurance, and courage are the true moral standards in a neutral universe.
Characterization...show more content...
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
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The Open Boat Literary Analysis
Nature is an all powerful force that does not care whether a man lives, or dies. This could not be
more true in "The Open Boat" as we see the plight of a crew of sailors as they struggle to survive
after their boat has sunken. Throughout the story we watch as nature slowly weathers the men. The
setting of the story heavily impacts its theme as it describes nature and its power.
Through the story several examples of nature's raw power are shown through the stories setting.
The first evidence of this is at the very beginning of the story. "The horizon narrowed and
widened, and dipped and rose, and at all times it's edge was jagged with waves that seemed thrust
up in points like rocks" (Crane 246). This first bit of text is almost immediately followed by "These
waves were most wrongfully and barbarously abrupt and tall, and each froth–top was a problem in
small–boat navigation" (Crane 246). Nature is displayed here as being challenging for the crew. The
setting shows this through its description of the surrounding area. The tall and jagged waves that
seemed to thrust up like rock points making it a challenge for small boats to navigate....show more
content...
"The surf's roar here dulled, but its tone was nevertheless thunderous and mighty. As the boat swam
over the great rollers the men sat listening to this roar. 'Well swamp sure,' said everybody" (Crane
252). Here the author even describes the surf's dull roar as both thunderous and mighty. Keep in
mind that this sound is heard from a distance and is still heard as being loud and intimidating.
Highlighting nature's sheer force of

Open Boat Essay
"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...show more content...
This critique "The Dialogic Narrative of `The Open Boat,'" first introduces Henry James and his
idea that "A novel is a living thing." The critique then talks about Mikail Bakhtin and his emphasis
on the importance of "the silenced voice," in literature. This refers to the voices of the characters in
"The Open Boat." Bakhtin states that "the independent and unmerged voices that reach us despite
the narrator's mediation are an intrical part of the dialogic narrative. This means that the reader must
equally listen to the four characters' voices in the story along with the domineering voice of the
narrator. The critique then gives the five types of discourse: Direct authorial literacy artistic
narration, Stylization of the various forms of oral narration, Stylisation of the various forms of
semi–literary everyday narration, Various forms of literary but extra artistic authorial speech and
The stylistic individualized speech of characters. Rath and Shaw use these five types of discourse as
a base to better understand "The Open Boat," along with all narrative fiction.
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

Naturalism in "The Open Boat"
February 24 2012
Essay 1
Word Count: 1515
Olivia Calder
"The Open Boat"
"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...show more content...
The men came to the conclusion that "fate" must be the reason that they are experiencing this
deathly situation. It is the understanding of this fact that brings the men to the edge of their misery.
At this point the men feel like their lives are coming to an end, so much so that they even ask the
captain if they have a chance at survival, to which the captain replies "If this wind holds and the
boat don't swamp, we can't do much else." This quote shows the uselessness that the men feel, but it
also makes apparent there is still a possibility of hope.
Steven Crane really emphasizes the uselessness and the hopelessness they feel against the universe,
"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? Was I brought here merely to have my nose dragged away as I was about to nibble
the sacred cheese of life? It is preposterous." At this point the men actually made sight to land yet
are too far to even make the effort to swim. How could the universe be so unfair that it would let
them have a small taste or "nibble of the sacred cheese of life" at surviving? They had been through
a drastic environment to get to where they are. If the universe cared about them at all, it would find
a way for the men to make it to land, although when it comes

The Open Boat Essay
1.Please define Naturalism and list at least two of its traits. Using one of the texts assigned, show
how the text illustrates the traits listed. Naturalism was a literary movement taking place from
roughly 1880 to 1940, which considered human and human's life in the community, trying to show it
as realistic as possible and paying special attention to the interaction between human and the
environment in which he exists. Naturalism is "extreme realism". It is the application of
determinism to fiction and drama. Humans are animals in a natural world responding to
environmental forces and internal drives, none of which they have control over or fully understand.
In naturalism author sometimes uses nameless characters because he approaches to stay as object as
...show more content...
To show how the text can illustrated the traits of naturalism I want to use "The open boat" whose
author is Stephen Crane. "The open boat" is written in naturalistic style, which illustrates how
humans are affected by nature and social or natural conditions. This short story is basically
showing the men, who are coming face to face and trying to survive in an indifferent and heartless
nature (sea) condition against which they are helpless. The men don't have names, they are just
determined by the job they do at the boat. And, as I mention before, that's what author do to make
readers focus not just on characters of the story, but on the main plot and the characters. The men
are in such situation where there might be no way out, but careless and cruel nature continues in
its ways regardless of what might happen to them. The only way for them to survive is through
cooperation and persistence. Crane writes: "In his struggle to reach the captain and the boat, he
reflected that when one gets properly wearied drowning must really be a comfortable
arrangement..." There is a real struggle of survival and lack of choice. The death of the oiler is an
example of that men don't affect the

Analysis of The Open Boat by Stephen Crane
Story: "The Open Boat," 1897
Author: Stephen Crane (1871–1900)
Central Character: There is no real central character in this story. All the men on the boat are spoken
about more or less equally and no prominent character jumps out at the reader as being the central
character. Although more emphasis is put onto the correspondent, and Billie the oiler.
Other Character: The cook: bails water from boat. Billie the oiler: steers and rows boat, is the only
of the men that does not make it alive to land. The correspondent: Also helps steer and row boat.
Injured captain: gives commands to the crew as he lies against the water–jar speaking with a low
and calm voice. Unnamed people on land: Coat...show more content...
After swearing into the sea the correspondent remembers a rhyme from his childhood that he once
did not care about but now does. The captain awakes and the oiler and the correspondent switch
spots. (7) The crew notices a village on the shore with a windmill. The men prepare to jump from
the ship and swim ashore. The captain holds onto the boat afraid he will drown. A man appears on
the beach naked and helps the men onto the shore. Everyone makes it except for Billie the oiler
who is found face down in the sand dead.
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.
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 Open Boat Essay
"When it came night, the white waves passed 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 they could then be
interpreters" (Crane 370). "The Open Boat," written by Stephen Crane, describes the journey of
four men stranded in a dinghy in the middle of the ocean and the hardships that had to be faced in
order to survive. This story is not only a riveting story, keeping readers on the edge of their seat,
but the story also makes the reader realize how precious life truly is. Sometimes people have a
tendency to take life as a grain of salt and do not think about the realization that life can be taken
away within the blink of an eye. As in "The Open Boat," the crew...show more content...
The Correspondent's role is to row the boat. Throughout the entire story, he constantly revaluated
his previous beliefs and started to wonder whether or not there was a higher power controlling his
fate. For example, he questions his belief of "the gods" and quotes, "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 this far, and contemplate sand and trees"( 365). He
wondered that if he was going to die, why he would be kept alive just for a short time frame. He
could not understand why he worked so hard to survive and then would be killed near the end of his
journey. As he re–questioned his previous beliefs, his use of descriptive detail of the harsh waves
began to lessen. For example, in the beginning, the waves are described as "jagged with waves
that seemed thrust up in points like rocks," but by the end of the story they are described as
"pacing to and fro" (370). The Oiler, who actual name is Billie, was also in charge of rowing the
boat along beside the correspondent. The Oiler had a positive attitude and did not believe in giving
up in hope that they would not survive. Even though, in the end, he did end up dying, while trying
to swim to shore, he never faltered from his positive attitude. For example, in one scene of the story
the correspondent accidentally splashed water in the Oiler's face while he

The Open Boat
American naturalism is a writing technique that was popular along with another major movement,
realism, after the Civil War period until around 1910 or 1920. It was an extreme form of realism
that moved away from the middle class focus of the realists and pertained more to the dregs of
society. Naturalism's largest difference from realism was the deterministic nature and view of the
works written with naturalistic modes. One of the better–known naturalists, Stephen Crane,
practiced this technique, and in his story, "The Open Boat," Stephen Crane portrays the men on the
boat as representatives of human endurance in an indifferent universe against which they are
helpless. Crane's short story seems to have a hopeless theme that also contributes to its cynical and
morbid view of life. Throughout the story, the tone is very somber and dull from beginning to the
end. Whether it be struggling against waves, sharks, their muscles, or their psyche, they seem to
always be struggling. The thing that lead to Crane's pessimistic view was the belittling of the central
characters. This tone is very naturalistic because it has a feeling of cut–throat life and little control.
The characters are always hopeless because they are not agents of free will, as the realists believed,
but they are puppets to the ocean and the winds and their dingy....show more content...
As a story of naturalism, whether that is fate, nature, or a force beyond those two, Crane's characters
are left to the randomness of external forces. In the case of "The Open Boat," the forces affecting the
character are largely ones of nature and fate. What the men don't understand is that fate is not the
reason for all of their shortcomings; it is merely random and uncontrollable. Fate was not playing
with them; it ultimately had nothing to do with

The Open Boat by Stephen Crane Essay
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...show more content...
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

The Open Boat Essay
Open Boat 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...show more content...
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

The Open Boat Point Of View Analysis
Crane chooses a mixture of third person objective and limited–omniscient narration to detail the
events of "The Open Boat." In the beginning of the story the narrator uses an objective point of view
to detail the setting. Also, the men's conversations are told as if there is an outside observer
communicating the predicament as it transpires. The story later transforms into limited–omniscient
as the reader sees into the thoughts of the correspondent as he is solitarily rowing while the others
sleep. Crane's story primarily surrounds the four sentient inhabitants of the dinghy and the antagonist
nature. One might imagine that the correspondent may be a representative of Crane because of an
intimate moment describe while the correspondent is rowing. During this moment and throughout
the story the correspondent says, "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 tress?" (Crane 190).
Of all of the characters, the correspondent has the greatest depth. He is coming to terms with the
realization that their survival is ultimately nature's ruling and bargaining for his life. The captain's
strong watchful demeanor is evident by his control of an uncontrollable situation. He commands the
small dinghy...show more content...
Crane opens the story by immediately submerging the reader between sharp towering waves, which
the dinghy is struggling against. The crests that are exerting their flood upon the boat continually
plague the occupants. The boat is a great distance from land with the sky and sea being the only
view bestowed upon the boat's occupants. His description of the horizon details the nauseating sway
of the unrelenting swells. Crane is able to capture the elements of this setting with impeccable detail
because he had first–hand experience as a survivor of a

The Open Boat
It is clearly visible that nature has the advantage in both "The Open Boat" and "To Build a Fire."
All the young men within the stories fight with great effort against her, but only select ones
survive. Another similar incident as this is seen in the bible. "As evening came, Jesus said to his
disciples, 'Let's cross to the other side of the lake.' So they took Jesus in the boat and started out,
leaving the crowds behind (although other boats followed). But soon a fierce storm came up. High
waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water. Jesus was sleeping at the back of
the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, 'Teacher, don't you care
that we're going to drown?' When Jesus woke up, he rebuked...show more content...
Within this short passage, nature has full control over the disciples. Just as the men fear her in
the two stories, the disciples do as well. The ultimate fear seen in all three stories is death. In the
passage, the only thing that saves the disciples is Jesus. He is the only one who can "calm the
storm," physically, mentally, and emotionally. If the men in the stories would have called upon
him, and have faith in him and not their own selves, there is a possibility death would not have
beat them down. Yes, they still would have been in war against nature, but just as it is seen
above, Jesus can conquer any storm, if it is part of his will for ones' life. With this being said,
sometimes death will happen, it is part of life and flows with nature as well. Also seen within the
two stories, there are a few survivors. Three of the four men survived the stranded boat in the sea,
and the dog survived out in the snowy Yukon. Both the men and the dog use their inner instincts to
survive, sometimes working along with nature and other times against her. Their efforts do indeed
result in life. For the dog, one will notice its' instincts from the

The Open Boat
After surviving a shipwreck and being stuck on a ten–foot dingy in the cold January waters with
three other men as they endure two days on the open sea. The short story by Stephen Crane The
Open Boat tells the journey through the narrative's point of view of man vs nature and the potent
relations, he retains with the three other passengers as they are forced to work together to survive.
The narrative's survival shows the compassion he gains of his comrades and new life that is
embraced through a mighty recovery after his life is saved. Unknown as what might be ahead all
four men embrace the hearty sea at full force working hard to break through the endless waves.
The correspondent and the oiler rowed together as the cook bailed out water and the captain laid
in the bow of the boat injured but able to give orders. All four men working fiercely, but
questioning their fate as they embrace the open ocean in a dinghy described to be as big as a
bathtub. "The mind of the master of a vessel is rooted deep in the timbers of her, though he
command for a day or a decade; and this caption had on him the stern impression of a scene in the
grays of dawn of seven turned faces, and later a stump of a topmast with a white ball on it, that
slashed to a fro at the waves, went low and lower, and down." This expression told from the
narrative portrays the caption who is "the mind of the master of the vessel" to be hopeless which
has everyone in the dinghy questioning their survival. As dawn breaks through and the sun begins
to rise all four men are still hard at work trying to keep the dinghy afloat and in steer still with
doubt in their minds as they rowed deeper into the sea. Time passes and the cook tries to ease the
situation by being optimistic "Bully good thing it's an on–shore wind." he says and then following
with "If not, where would we be? Wouldn't have a show." the oiler and correspondent both agreeing
and the captain snickering at the remark and replying "Do you think we've got much of show now,
boys?" Retorting that it was childish of them to show optimism at this time "but they all doubtless
possessed this sense of the situation in their minds" and fell silent. The captain could see the little bit
of the

The Open Boat Essay
"The Open Boat," by Stephen Crane, tells of four men that are battling the sea to reach land.
Throughout the short story, Crane uses the literary device of theme to express an important
message to the reader. Crane reveals the theme through the thoughts of one of the main characters.
The theme that is clearly represented by the character's thoughts is brotherhood. Therefore, the
correspondent's awareness of the brotherhood between the men, the idea of universal brotherhood,
and the idea of human brotherhood are all major examples of this theme. One example of the
theme is the correspondent's awareness of the brotherhood between the men on the dingey. The
correspondent if the first of the men to recognize the unspoken bond the men develop while
stranded at sea. Crane writes, "IT would be difficult to describe the subtle brotherhood of men that
was here established on the seas. No one said that it was so. No one mentioned it. But it dwelt in
the boat, and each man felt it warm him. They were a captain, an oiler, a cook, and a correspondent,
and they were friends, friends in a more curiously iron–bound degree than may be common" (6). The
men on the dingey...show more content...
As man approach land, man comes to the moral conclusion that the men in the dingey need help.
The author writes, "Then he saw the man who had been running and undressing, and undressing
and running, come bounding into the water. [ . . . ] He was naked, naked as a tree in winter, but a
halo was about his head, and he shone like a saint" (20). The man represents the moral obligation
that all men should actively exercise in their daily lives. Thus, the man on land, without hesitation,
is willing to risk his life against the dangerous sea to save the men on the dingey. The natural world
might be powerful, but man should not let it stop his moral world. As a result, an example of the
them is the idea of universal

The Open Boat Analysis
"The Open Boat" – Final Assessment
Analytical Writing Prompt: Identify the theme of the story and explain how the relationship among
the four men connects to this theme. Be sure to include evidence from the text to support your
response. Formatting:
Only use the Arial – font size 11 OR Times New Roman– font size 12
Response needs to be written in black
Five (5) space bars = an indent
Your short answer–response will be scored using this RUBRIC
Times of struggle have a way of bringing people together. This is the theme ofStephen Crane's The
Open Boat in which adversity causes an unlikely, bond between a captain, an oiler, a cook, and a
correspondent in the given excerpt. After their boat wrecks, the four men are forced to survive on
limited supplies in a dinghy. The author is able to portray the group coming together in the midst of
their hardships through the characters' realization that everyone in the group is important, their
ability to come up with better ideas with more people, and so that they can stay hopeful, for the sake
of each other. At the beginning of the passage, the author highlights the fact that their circumstances
were what bonded the men and therefore fostered the comradeship between them. One of the reasons
for this was the realization that amid the circumstances, all four had something important to offer.
For example, the excerpt reads, "'We must be opposite New Smyrna,' said the cook, who had coasted
this shore often in schooners.

The Open Boat Essay
MAN VS. NATURE
"None of them knew the color of the sky." This first sentence in Stephen Crane's "The Open Boat"
implies the overall relationship between the individual and nature. This sentence also implies the
limitations of anyone's perspective. The men in the boat concentrate so much on the danger they are
in, that they are oblivious and unaware to everything else; in other words, maybe lacking experience.
"The Open Boat" begins with a description of four men aboard a small boat on a rough sea. The
central theme of this story is about confronting Nature itself. "The Open Boat" is Stephen Crane's
account from an outsider's point of view of the two days spent in a small boat. The correspondent is
autobiographical in...show more content...
This statement may suggest the meaningless or irrelevance of an individual's sense of
self–importance against the power of nature. The human voyage into life is basically
uncontrollable and unpredictable. In the beginning, the men in the boat view nature as evil and
unjust; nature's own personal vendetta. Since the crew on a dangerous sea without hope are
depicted as "the babes of the sea," we can assume that we are likely to be unknowing strangers in
the universe. In addition to the danger we face, we have to also overcome the new challenges of
the "waves" in daily life. These waves are "most wrongfully and barbarously abrupt and tall,"
requiring "a new leap, and a leap." Are we powerless against nature? Can we control our own
fate? Although the men struggle to survive and make it to shore, we never really know until the
end, if they are going to drown. Their fate seems to fall into the hands of forces beyond their
control. A perfect example is when the correspondent gets caught in a current while trying to swim
to shore. He is trapped by an invisible force, a current, which he can not understand or escape.
Suddenly, the current frees him, and he is washed ashore by a huge wave. This is an unexpected
turn of events being that the strongest rower, the oiler, does not survive yet he seemed the most
physically able and the most determined to survive. The correspondent, troubled by his impressions
and realities, learns that nature is

The Open Boat Essay
Insignificance in The Open Boat The Open Boat is a short story written by Stephen Crane. This is a
story about a group of men who survived sinking in a ship and were using a small boat to reach the
dry land. While on the boat, the four men experienced bad weather and they have to work together in
order to survive the storm. Cranes narrates a story of naturalism whereby, the men had no control of
the situation at hand, since no matter what they could have done, the boat could still sink. The life
of the four men was dangling precariously on a tiny boat, but the persistence of the storm shows how
insignificant the human soul is, in relations to the happenings in the universe. The men were
struggling with nature to save their fate, but unfortunately, the forces from nature remained
persistent in their apathy. The insignificance of man is evident in Crane's short story, The Open Boat.
The theme of insignificance is evident in The Open Boat whereby, the men were still alive in the
boat, despite the storm and the strong waves. In real situation, they could have all died in the storm
while in the waters after their ship sank, but here is a situation where nature was messing with them
because, the storm was strong, the waves were persistent and they had no control over...show more
content...
It is not normal to have birds fly around when there is a storm because they risk dying, but in The
Open Boat, it is irrelevant to see the birds fly happily as if the sun is shining for them. The oiler says
to the bird, "Ugly brute, you look as if you were made with a jack–knife" (SparkNotes.com). While
the crew is struggling in the tiny boat for their survival being bombarded by the power of the
ocean a well as being ignored by the monsters of the sea, the birds are flying happily as if there is
nothing wrong; very

Essay On The Open Boat
There are many aspects that go into making a piece of work an enjoyable story. Stephen Crane used
elements like narration, setting, and character to make "The Open Boat" a classic piece of literature.
These key elements help to create symbols and a common theme that makes the short story the
classic that it is today. The first element that assist the plot development is thenarrative style. The
type of narration is third person limited omniscient. The narrator is not actually part of the story,
which allows the reader to see the events of the story unfold. This also lets the reader see the
thoughts and attitudes of all of the characters through a less bias lenses. If the narration would have
been in first person, the readers would only see...show more content...
In the beginning the men see a lighthouse that is supposed to be where the rescue team awaits. "It
took an anxious eye to find a lighthouse so tiny" (Crane 249). The men were anxious to be
rescued and to have hope of being on land again. As they drifted along, they realized that the life
station have appeared to be abandoned (crane 251). Just before then Crane describes the land and
the lighthouse as a "...upright shadow on the sky, this land seemed but a long black shadow on
the sea" (Crane 250). This gives the reader the impression that the men are not match for the large
sea, causing then to lose hope of being rescued. The symbol is carried on throughout the story
when the vegetation on page 252 is being described as dark because it is lifeless. In contrast, the
light symbolizes hope. Crane describes the light as "the furniture of the world" (Crane 257). This
light is just the right amount of hope the men need to stay afloat. In the final stages of the story
the men were helped ashore by a naked islander. The correspondent sees this kind helper as a saint
that was lit up by a halo above his head (Crane 265). The islander represents light and survival. On
the other hand "In the shadows, facedown, lay the oiler" (Crane 265) who had lost his life in the
fight of the waves to get ashore. The shadow that was cast about him represented death and loss of
hope

Analysis Of The Poem ' The Open Boat '
The Unidentified Tone in "The Open Boat" The tone most readers find in "The Open Boat" by
Stephen Crane is a person alone in the universe. That particular tone is the easiest to see when; a
group of four men are in a ten foot dinghy with nothing to their north, south, east, and west except
water around their position. "The men seem to recognize that they are helpless in the face of nature.
Their lives could be lost at any moment by the most common of natural phenomena: a wave, a
current, the wind, a shark, or even simple starvation and exposure. The men are at the mercy of mere
chance." (The Open) With that specific thought out in the open, there is an adventure of finding the
other tones of the story. Luck, chance, and hints of despair are a few of the other tones in this short
story. The tone to be on the lookout for in "The Open Boat" is one of concern, hope and will to
survive. One feeling a person could feel by reading the story is being alone. The only characters
for most of the story are isolated in the middle of the ocean looking for rescuers, they believe will
come from the mainland. Throughout the years since Stephen Crane published "The Open Boat",
people have implied that the story was based on his experience of, the Commodore sinking off the
coast of Florida. In his article he purposely left out certain details of their thirty hours in an open
boat because he "prefer to tell the story at once, because from it would shine the splendid manhood
of Captain

Analysis Of The Story 'The Open Boat'
In the story "The Open Boat", there are four men who is a captain, a cook, an oiler and a
correspondent. They were in a small boat after their ship sank off the coast of Florida. The crew
headed to the lighthouse happily after the cook says there was a house for refuge nearby. But the
fact is that no one is there, so they have to row back to sea. Then they saw some people showing
up on the beach, so they believed to be rescued this time, but those people thought they were
fishing. Then the captain decided that no one was coming to save them, therefore, they had to swim
to shore when they still had strength. The oiler swims strongly, but he is the only man who is dead
at the end of the story. "To Build a Fire" is a story that happened in theYukonduring the Klondike
Gold Rush. A man tried to travel across the white snow of the Yukon to join his companions in
extremely cold temperature just with a native dog, even after an old timer advised him not to do
this. After the man broke through the ice and wet himself to the knees, he built a fire under the
spruce tree, but pulling the twigs off the tree caused the snow to fall down and put off his fire. Then
he tried to build another one, but he was not capable of doing that and ended up dying....show more
content...
But nature is harsh and unpredictable, so they have to keep working hard and catch each single
chance to save themselves. In "To Build a Fire", the nature always create difficulties for the men,
so he has to figure out many ways to solve the problems. In a summary, the man and the crew's
struggle to survive against a hostile nature is similar, for example, they all work hard, they all have
to cope with the different situations, they all feel helpless and depressed, and the man in "To Build
a Fire" and the oiler in "The Open Boat" both die in the

The Open Boat Essay

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