Symbolism In The Open Boat

Stephen Crane: The Open Boat
In his short story, 'The Open Boat,' Stephen Crane displays to us a universe completely indifferent to the affairs of humankind; we live in an apathetic world, in which man has to fight and struggle to live. The characters illustrated in the story come face-to-face with this indifference and all are nearly overcome by nature's lack of concern with humanity. The survivors are alive primarily through determination and cooperation. We as human are alive because our constant struggles to co-exist in this universe. Crane illustrates to readers how we are all in an endless battle for our life in a world that doesn’t seem to care for us, as much as we care for ourselves. We as humans tend to think of ourselves as the
The oiler, the strongest of the group, drowns, but the sea leaves unclaimed the correspondent, the wounded captain and the cowardly cook”(Fiorelli and Edward 1).
Another main theme of ‘The Open Boat’ is the overwhelming sense that if society groups together, it can potentially be strong enough to fight off nature’s indifference for life. In grouping the men together in the lifeboat and creating a society on the micro level, Crane establishes one of man’s greatest inventions, society in itself, pitting it against a harsh, merciless nature. When faced with the rough, murky sea. This allows the men in the lifeboat to start grouping together because they begin to understand that society is the greatest resistance against the indifference of nature. This heartfelt and meaningful event that the men were put through made them realize that we need to society, in a world full chaos, to potentially fight whatever may come our way. This may have been a religious experience for them. It allowed the men to gain an undying respect for their fellow man. They finally understood that it takes determination and cooperation to fight a battle. That is exactly what these guys did. For the most part, they won the battle against nature and it’s indifference to