Reading Log Maddie McKinney The Open Boat by Stephen Crane consists of a group of men: the captain, the correspondent, the oiler (whose name is Billie), and the cook. The men had been involved in a shipwreck, off the coast of Florida, on a January night. They came upon the shore after two nights being tossed about in a ten foot dinghy, by the icy cold water that would splash in. When the dinghy capsized while the crew was attempting to make landfall, a man helped them on shore and stripped bare naked to give them his clothes. When the correspondent came to, he realized they had all made it except the oiler. The theme of this story is man cannot change the circumstances life gives. These men obviously could not help being shipwrecked,