The Open Boat Naturalism

Humans tend to rationalize the meaning of life as having prolific and grand scheme, in concern to the workings of the universe. The “Open Boat”, a short story, written by Stephen Crane recounts a riveting tale of four men stranded at sea, who come to the realization that they are at the mercy of nature. The four men experience numerous internal and external conflicts with natural world. The use of naturalism throughout the short story not only creates a captivating plot, but also supports the theme humans are at the mercy of not only nature, but also the universe. Throughout the short story the four men make a startling discovery about nature. The men start off with a sense of hopefulness and it starts to dissipate as they slowly realize that nature is indifferent towards them. In the beginning the men depict nature as having a malicious manner, and the story states “These waves were most wrongfully and barbarously abrupt and tall, and each froth-top was a problem in small boat navigation.”(Crane 1.2).
When the correspondent and the other men are swimming towards shore to safety he thinks “ ‘I am going to drown? Can it be possible? Can it be possible? Can it be possible?’ Perhaps an individual must consider his own death to be the final phenomenon of nature.” (Crane 7.28). The correspondent acknowledges that he has no control over the situation at hand and he is a subjected to mother natures power just like all humans. He comes to the startling conclusion that although people like to think they have a grand purpose in the universe, the universe will continue on without them. This is a startling reality because it creates a sense of vulnerability, especially for the correspondent, because he realizes that human life is fragile, and that human beings have little power in the workings of the