The Open Boat 'And A Sound Of Thunder'

Man vs Nature Mankind’s relationship with nature can be a rocky relationship. “The Open Boat” by Stephen Crane and “A Sound of Thunder” by Ray Bradbury are two short stories that provide examples of negative interactions between humans and nature. Both use nature as a common obstacle, but come about the situations in different ways. The situations in “The Open Boat” were unavoidable, but the difficulties faced in “A Sound of Thunder” were very much avoidable. There are many things that cannot be avoided when it comes to nature, but some outcomes are dependent on the actions of humans. Both stories use nature as a threat towards humans, but do it in a very different way. In “The Open Boat” four men are in a dinghy because the ship on which they were sailing sank overnight. The ocean was very rough and one wrong move would have capsized the dinghy. The rough waters and weather conditions made the chance of survival much lower for the men. It was even mentioned that “the sea snarls, hisses, and bucks like a bronco.” Nature made the journey such a struggle that the oiler died during his fight for survival. The four main characters seem to be average middle class citizens with their jobs being a cook and oiler.

Crane also presents the idea that nature is indifferent to man by showing that it is as randomly helpful as it is hurtful. A main symbol in “The Open Boat” is the little boat itself. The boat, to which the men must cling to survive the sea and the uneasy weather conditions that nature is providing them. The title of the story says it all, they are out in the pen and have very little control on whether they survive or