Literature
The Open Boat" Sections 1-3
The story opens in the month of January with the oft-quoted line: “None of them knew the color of the sky” (Crane 57). “Them” means four individuals who are aboard a dinghy, having been shipwrecked: the captain with an injured arm, the correspondent, the cook, and Billie, the oiler. Except for Billie, the rest of the characters remain unnamed. The oiler and the correspondent row the dinghy, while the captain provides directions and the cook bails water out of the boat.
The captain instructs the men to keep the boat heading more to the south. The waves are tumultuous, often dunking the boat with water. Understandably, the men are occupied as they contemplate their possibly dire fate. The cook and the correspondent engage in an argument with regard to the difference between a lifesaving station and a house of refuge, from which they could seek aid. The cook believes such an establishment is located at Mosquito Inlet Light, though the oiler points out that they have not yet reached this place.
The men find it difficult to communicate with one another, since they are unwilling to sound foolishly optimistic, but also are unhappy to make dire predictions. The captain assures them that they will reach the shore eventually. Seagulls fly close to the boat, “uncanny and sinister in their unblinking scrutiny, and the men hooted angrily at them, telling them to be gone” (Crane 60). One bird lurks very closely, and the captain must be careful to wave it away gently for fear of disturbing the dinghy’s precarious position. In the far distance, the men finally glimpse the lighthouse.
Though the men do not communicate openly, they share a “subtle brotherhood” (Crane 61). The captain uses his overcoat as a sail so that the correspondent and the oiler can rest. The lighthouse becomes more easily visible, and the cook surmises that they are opposite New Smyrna. He also thinks that the lighthouse has been abandoned. The correspondent and Billie are
The story opens in the month of January with the oft-quoted line: “None of them knew the color of the sky” (Crane 57). “Them” means four individuals who are aboard a dinghy, having been shipwrecked: the captain with an injured arm, the correspondent, the cook, and Billie, the oiler. Except for Billie, the rest of the characters remain unnamed. The oiler and the correspondent row the dinghy, while the captain provides directions and the cook bails water out of the boat.
The captain instructs the men to keep the boat heading more to the south. The waves are tumultuous, often dunking the boat with water. Understandably, the men are occupied as they contemplate their possibly dire fate. The cook and the correspondent engage in an argument with regard to the difference between a lifesaving station and a house of refuge, from which they could seek aid. The cook believes such an establishment is located at Mosquito Inlet Light, though the oiler points out that they have not yet reached this place.
The men find it difficult to communicate with one another, since they are unwilling to sound foolishly optimistic, but also are unhappy to make dire predictions. The captain assures them that they will reach the shore eventually. Seagulls fly close to the boat, “uncanny and sinister in their unblinking scrutiny, and the men hooted angrily at them, telling them to be gone” (Crane 60). One bird lurks very closely, and the captain must be careful to wave it away gently for fear of disturbing the dinghy’s precarious position. In the far distance, the men finally glimpse the lighthouse.
Though the men do not communicate openly, they share a “subtle brotherhood” (Crane 61). The captain uses his overcoat as a sail so that the correspondent and the oiler can rest. The lighthouse becomes more easily visible, and the cook surmises that they are opposite New Smyrna. He also thinks that the lighthouse has been abandoned. The correspondent and Billie are