Stephen Crane's The Open Boat
Stories of survival at sea have captured people’s curiosity and imagination throughout history. The struggles that some seafarers have faced while drifting on the open sea are remarkable. “The Open Boat” by Stephen Crane is the story of four crew members trying to survive on the open sea while in a dinghy after their ship sank. Throughout the story, Crane describes how man and nature react with one another. By his description of their reactions, Crane makes it clear that nature does not care about man’s well being. The story starts out with the main characters- an oiler, a correspondent, the captain, and the cook-on a lifeboat after their ship sank off the coast of Florida. Only having two oars, the correspondent and the oiler each take one
…show more content…
The narrator shows this development by changing the way he describes the sea. Early in the story, the sea “seemed like a horse leaping over a high fence,” and the men thought that nature was intentionally against them. But later on in the story, the men realize that nature is indifferent. It “paces to and fro,” and is no longer a factor to the survival of the men. The men almost seem to think nature is beautiful by saying, “the shine of the light, lifting from the sea in the south, changed to full gold.” The sea does not change itself but the way the men view the sea changes. The gulls, clouds, and tides illustrate that nature does not behave any differently when men need it to survive. No matter the situation, the tide rises and the tide falls. Crane shows that nature is equally hurtful and helpful to man’s situations. For every tough break that the men face like the rough seas and the wind suddenly calming down, they catch an equal amount of breaks such as a favorable wind or calm night. The fact that the men almost seem to get assistance from nature proves that nature is not always hurtful. The correspondent’s final rescue is the best example in the story. The correspondent was saved by a freak wave, which may also be responsible for killing of the oiler, and he must accept the fact that even though nature put him into harm’s way it also saved his life in the end. But the
The narrator shows this development by changing the way he describes the sea. Early in the story, the sea “seemed like a horse leaping over a high fence,” and the men thought that nature was intentionally against them. But later on in the story, the men realize that nature is indifferent. It “paces to and fro,” and is no longer a factor to the survival of the men. The men almost seem to think nature is beautiful by saying, “the shine of the light, lifting from the sea in the south, changed to full gold.” The sea does not change itself but the way the men view the sea changes. The gulls, clouds, and tides illustrate that nature does not behave any differently when men need it to survive. No matter the situation, the tide rises and the tide falls. Crane shows that nature is equally hurtful and helpful to man’s situations. For every tough break that the men face like the rough seas and the wind suddenly calming down, they catch an equal amount of breaks such as a favorable wind or calm night. The fact that the men almost seem to get assistance from nature proves that nature is not always hurtful. The correspondent’s final rescue is the best example in the story. The correspondent was saved by a freak wave, which may also be responsible for killing of the oiler, and he must accept the fact that even though nature put him into harm’s way it also saved his life in the end. But the