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Stephen Crane's The Open Boat

880 Words4 Pages

The Open Boat’s thematic goal is to show us that people are insignificant bugs in this vast universe, that we are all of utter unimportance in the grand scheme of things. He conveys this theme through his characters’ point of views, which change as the story goes.
“There was a terrible grace in the movements of the waves, and they came in silence, save for the snarling of the crests.” At the beginning of the short story these waves are personified. These waves are described as some five-year-old girl learning ballet for the first time. Their “terrible grace” is just a description by the narrator that shows us how these men view nature as a creature with sentience. The narrator is presumably the correspondent, telling from a third person perspective. …show more content…

An ocean that doesn't care if we live or die. Whether the men of the story survive is inconsequential to the world surrounding them. The only actual important drama in their plights comes from their points of views. In the beginning of the story they dramatize their lives, screaming out to the heavens for answers. To them, Fate is some, “old hen who knows not her intention.” At the start of the story the men shake their fists at Fate. “If this old ninny-woman, Fate, cannot do better than this, she should be deprived of the management of men’s fortunes.” Just like the waves, Fate is not a person. Fate is something that is realized to be nonexistent, but to the freshly-minted survivors cruel destiny manages their fortunes. They don't understand why everything has happened to them. They hope that somehow they will get an answer as to why they exist here? They want to know why they should live and why it matters if they do. Fear asks these questions because they are scared that there might not be any response. Even worse the men are scared that the answer to why everything is happening happens to be that there is no reason. The theme of this story is that nature, the universe, and all that is and will be flows on without pause to care about one particular man’s plight. The cruel truth is that it doesn't matter whether you are a correspondent, oiler, captain, or a cook, no matter what you have done in your life won’t matter to the universe. The universe flows unchanged no matter what you do. The boat is just the society these men hold so dear in the great big ocean of the universe. Their little boat ripples the sea just as much as any person can ripple the fabric of the

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1363 Words | 6 Pages

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The Open Boat This story makes clear one more times the idea that nature is ultimately indifferent to the human condition, possessing no consciousness that we can understand. The reality of nature’s lack of concern for human beings is becoming increasingly clear in The Open Boat, by Stephen Crane. The oiler’s death and lack of explanation surrounding it reinforce the randomness of nature’s tricks and symbolize the indifference of nature toward man.

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