The Open Boat Essay, Research Paper

The Open Boat by Stephen Crane

? The Open Boat? Four work forces float across a January sea in an unfastened boat, since they lost their ship some clip after morning. Now, in the clear visible radiation of twenty-four hours, the work forces begin to hold on the full gravitation of their state of affairs. Recognizing that their chief struggle will be adult male versus nature, in this instance, the ramping sea. In the short narrative? The Open Boat, ? Stephen Crane gives an itemized description of the two yearss spent on a ten-foot dory by four work forces a cook, a letter writer, which is Crane himself, the injured Captain and Billy Higgens, the oiler. The work forces in the unfastened boat show us that compassion for one? s companion, unfeeling endurance, and bravery are the true moral criterions in a impersonal existence. Word picture creates the scene in this narrative. It is said in the book that the supporter? s personality sets the action or the scene in a narrative. The four work forces in this narrative make up the full dramatis personae ; there is no 1 supporter. An omniscient storyteller writes this narrative, which is Crane. This narrative besides enforces that this is a corporate experience. The emotional support and the cognition of the sea semen from the injured captain. The strength and endurance comes from the letter writer and the oiler, which keeps them all, headed in the right way. The cook is an illustration of the three that are nescient about the ramping sea. Characterization is a premier illustration of scene of this narrative since the characters make up the bulk of the scene. The scene in? The Open Boat? creates the narrative. ? A place in this boat was non unlike a place upon a bucking broncho, and by the same token a broncho is non much smaller. The trade pranced and reared and plunged like an animal. ? These few lines help the reader to conceive of the drive of the work forces? s lives. The slate colour of the H2O explains the downcast temper of the riders in this ten-foot dory. It is explained in the narrative that many work forces should hold a bathing tub bigger than the boat they were siting in. This is astonishing at the beginning of the narrative, when Crane references that they were the lone 1s to last how thankless these characters are to be alive in this large hateful universe. During the narrative the letter writer 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 allowed to come thus far and contemplate sand and trees?? All four men were found to be arguing this at some point in the story. While the men are at war with nature they are also at war with themselves, trying to ponder nature. Another example, is when the cook starts thinking and talking about pies and ham sandwiches because he is so hungry, and the oiler gets mad and tells him to hush up. Also, the captain fighting with his inner self wonders how in the world his ship could sink. Wondering why he did not go down with his ship to save another crew member. Meanwhile, the oiler fights with himself wondering why he is going through so much pain and suffering of rowing the boat when they are all going to die anyway. Man versus self is can sometimes be more of a killer than man versus nature because of the mental anguish a person can go through to find reasons why nature would do this to him. The men in ?The Open Boat? has shown us that no one person or a group can out smart or out think nature. Nature has shown us that it does not play favorites. As a result, four men land on an island and only three live to tell about their war against nature. In conclusion, nature does things for a reason, we might not always be able to know why but there is a reason