Stephen Crane's tale The Open Boat
Stephen Crane's tale The Open Boat was written in 1897 and published in 1898. It was inspired by the real sinking of the Commodore, a ship on which the author was sailing to Cuba, on January 22, 1897, off the coast of Florida (Eye, Stefanie Bate).
The Conflict between Man and Nature
The narrator tells the story of four men, the ship's captain, the cook, the oiler, and the correspondent, as they attempt to sail ashore in a dinghy after surviving the shipwreck in seven pieces. According to their skills, the four each assume separate roles in their attempt to row their dinghy back to shore. The captain, who got injured as the ship sank, gives directions and orders attempting to direct them to land, the cook bails water from the boat while the correspondent and the oiler both row the boat, occasionally together at once and at other times in turns. All this time, they harbor hopes of being rescued, hopes which give them the power to increase their efforts despite harsh conditions and hostile waves in the sea. However, these hopes fade away when they find the lifesaving station abandoned and they do not find help there. Eventually, the men attempt to swim to safety at the suggestion of the captain after a lengthy period at the sea and all but one, the oiler, make it to safety ashore. Many themes are presented in the story, revolving around the relationship between man and nature, the insignificance of man in the universe and the need for man to form society to survive. This essay analyzes these themes as they are presented in the story.
The Indifference of Nature to Man
The most evident and prevalent theme in the story is that of the conflict between man and nature. As the story begins with the sinking of the ship, nature is portrayed as the spiteful antagonist, persistently attempting to harm man and deter him from making progress in his endeavors (Doroholschi, Claudia Ioana). The sea plays this antagonistic role further when the four men have left the sinking ship in a dinghy (Doroholschi, Claudia Ioana). The narrator writes that the sea had all the intentions of swallowing the dinghy and drowning all its inhabitants. The waves were wrongfully and barbarously abrupt and tall with every wave just as nervously anxious do something effective in the way of swamping the dinghy (Crane, Stephen pg361). However, as the story progresses, the narrator seems to gradually settle on the conclusion that nature is indifferent to man altogether. That the waves and tides of the seas were just its nature and in no way increased or reduced on their account, either to drown or save them. Indeed, the sea seemed to deal them good and bad hands in no particular order and with no evident criterion. The waves and tides to would be high and turbulent in some occasions and calm and settled in other times, both which had different effects on their efforts to save themselves. Indeed, the correspondent's own salvation from the sea was occasioned by a wave that washed him ashore. Consequently, it is the same wave that killed the oiler who had swam faster than the rest of the crew. That wave was in no way concerned with the situation that the shipwrecked sailors were in. The fates that befell the correspondent and the oiler had nothing to do with them individually. Rather, it would seem that they met their fates depending on the positions that they were at the sea at the time that the wave caught them.
Man's Insignificance in the Universe
From the experience that the correspondent gains in the entire ordeal, towards the end of the story, he seems to come to terms with man's insignificance in the workings of the universe. He reigns to the fact that a single man, such as himself, can be easily maimed, removed from the world, and the world would still go on uninterrupted. He laments to himself on how his plight is of no significance to the gods and seems to reign that either the gods are non-existent or they are just unconcerned (Eye, Stefanie Bate). This realization increases his despair and a sense of loneliness at the possibility that there might be nothingness beyond this life. He recalls, in part VI of the book a poem about a soldier who dies in Algeria, along distance from home and detached from those that he cares about and all that brings meaning to his life (Eye, Stefanie Bate). He, however, questions why he would be allowed to live this long, allowed to contemplate the trees if he is only going to drown eventually. This is perhaps evidence of the non-existence or lack of concern of the gods; the statement is directed at the seven gods of the sea. Of the despair and hopelessness that comes with the realization of one's insignificance in the universe and the contemplation that there might be no gods, and that one's ultimate end only opens up to nothingness, the corresponded thinks, "When it occurs to a man that nature does not regard him as important, and that she would not maim the universe by disposing of him, first he wishes he could throw bricks at the temple, and hates deeply that there are no bricks and no temples," (Crane, Stephen pg377). This points to correspondent's final resignation that there are no gods or that the gods do not regard him, or any other man for that matter, as significant. That a man could be disposed of and this would have no effects on the universe. This realization at firs angers him, making him wish that he could take out his frustration on the temples. Then he eventually accepts the fact that "there are no bricks and no temple." Rather, it would be pointless because all is vain.
Survival and Solidarity
Throughout the story, the key occupation of the four men is to ensure their survival. Having escaped a fatal shipwreck, they embark on a mission to ensure that they do not drown at sea in their life saving dinghy (Doroholschi, Claudia Ioana). Facing an inconsiderate nature that is vastly indifferent to their plight and with no gods or religion to seek solace in, the four men turn to each other for companionship and comradeship. Human solidarity is the only aspect of their lives that has not been challenged, the only aspect that has remained familiar, and so they hold on to it. They become a homogenous unit, the heterogeneity occasioned by their different dispositions in life rendered insignificant and unnecessary. The narrator writes of this that "It would be difficult to describe the subtle brotherhood that was made of men that was here established at the seas." They became one unit, concerned with one goal, which is to survive the predicament in which they found themselves. They became brothers, friends with a common goal and common purpose that surpassed their differences in importance and urgency. And so the four men struggle in unison, making coordinated efforts, which increases their chance of survival (Eye, Stefanie Bate). Eventually all but one make it to the shore, having achieved the ultimate goal. One might even argue that the oiler's death only occurs at the part of the ordeal where team effort is discarded and each man left to make their own struggle to reach the shore.
Summary
To summarize, the story The Open Boat by Stephen Crane is based on the true events that occurred after the sinking of the ship upon which the author had set sail to Cuba in 1897. The characters in the story are also based to real people with whom the author had been in the dinghy as they sought to reach the shores of Florida and save themselves. It is a story that tests all human believes in human importance and human's special position in nature. It tests the beliefs of deism and attracts one's attention to the scary possibility that the gods may either be non-existent or unconcerned with human struggles. It shows that nature and the gods are all indifferent to humans and all that humans do, and that humans are individually insignificant in the universe. However, it shows that when faced by the uncertainty of turbulent experiences and situations, human solidarity is heightened and differences often rendered insignificant. When survival is the ultimate goal, humans come together and form a society, depending on each other for strength, warmth, guidance, and companionship. All these themes are addressed in the essay as they are presented in the story.
References
Crane, Stephen. The Open Boat. 1st ed., Toronto, Harpercollins Canada, 2014,.
Doroholschi, Claudia Ioana. “The ‘Oceanic Feeling’ In Stephen Crane’S The Open Boat And S.T. Coleridge’S The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner”. Review Of International American Studies, vol 7, no. 1, 2014,.
Eye, Stefanie Bate. “Fact, Not Fiction: Questioning Our Assumptions About Crane’s “The Open Boat””. Studies In Short Fiction, vol 35, no. 1, 1998,.
