The Open Boat by Stephen Crane - Book Report/Review Example

?The Open Boat by Stephen Crane “Nature’s indifference and man’s uncertainty” The Open Boat by Stephen Crane is about four men who are stranded in the sea and are facing the uncertainties of life and death. The story displays the physical and emotional actions and stresses of the men. As the men struggle to remain alive in the dinghy, they find false hopes of rescue. In the middle of the sea it was not possible for the men to know the truth and to know the definite ways of rescue. Billie, the oiler who worked the hardest to keep them afloat, did not survive in the end. It symbolizes the indifference of nature towards man’s actions and desires. The men in the story concentrate only on keeping themselves alive against the unknown fate. The story’s opening sentence “none of them knew the color of the sky” (Crane, 57) establishes the limited capacity of men to comprehend the unknown. Although it can be accepted that the men knew about the nature and frequency of waves, it is the lack of knowledge of ultimate survival that is making them struggle towards safety. The color of the sky remains unknown as the men do not make attempt to acknowledge it as “they knew it was broad day because the color of the sea changed from slate to emerald-green, streaked with amber lights, and the foam was like tumbling snow” (Crane, 58). With the progress of the story it seemed that for the men it was difficult to ignore the uncertainties. As they grow desperate to reach the shore, they are confronted with confusions and misinterpretations. At the end of Section I an argument takes place between the cook and the correspondent. As the cook hopes for a rescue team from the house of refuge near Mosquito Inlet Light, the correspondent stresses that “Houses of refuge don’t have crews” (Crane, 59). Although the oiler stops further argument by saying they have not reached the place yet, the matter could not be dismissed further in Section IV when they arrive there. It was now important for their survival to know whether the house on the shore is a house of refuge or a life-saving station and whether it can be their source of help. It was not possible for the men to know what the house represents, but it was obvious that they were anxious to find out the status of the house. The nature of unknown that was represented by the color of the sky is not similar to the nature of unknown represented by the mystery of the house. The knowledge of the color of the sky is not vital for their survival whereas it was imperative that the men knew whether the small house and its inhabitants are capable of saving them. It is during this course of confusion the narrator makes the statement “it is fair to say here that there was not a life-saving station within twenty miles in either direction, but the men did not know this fact” (Crane, 64). The incapability of humanity to acknowledge facts and fiction is a common phenomenon, especially when they are struggling to stay alive in difficult situations. Another example of the men’s uncertainty is when the captain claims to see a man on shore. The men believe that the man can see them and as an effort to communicate with them he is waving his black coat. As they try to be optimistic and look for means of rescue from the man’s gestures, they believe that they can see a crowd gathering to help them with a boat. Their initial belief that the crowd can help manifests in the statement “it’s an omnibus, sure as fate. What do you suppose they are doing with an omnibus? Maybe they are going around collecting the life-crew” (Crane, 67). The four men become frustrated as they fail to decipher whatever messages the man or the crowd is trying to convey to them - “If he'd just signal us to try the surf again, or to go to sea and wait, or go north, or go south, or go to hell -- there would be some reason in it. But look at him. He just stands there and keeps his coat revolving like a wheel” (Crane, 67). Chapter VII depicts the most obvious symbolism of the indifference of nature towards mankind. In this phase, the captain decides to run towards the shore as the men lose hope of any outside help – “if no help is coming, we might better try a run through the surf right away. If we stay out here much longer, we will be too weak to do anything for ourselves at all” (Crane, 74). At this moment, through the eyes of the correspondent, the author takes a philosophical view of the wind-tower on the beach near them – “This tower was a giant, standing with its back to the plight of the ants. It represented in a degree, the serenity of nature amid the struggles of the individual. She did not seem cruel to him, nor beneficent, nor treacherous, nor wise. But she was indifferent, flatly indifferent” (Crane, 74). It was clear to the correspondent that it was futile for mankind to expect any kind of organized cooperation or assistance from nature for their existence and his getting stranded in open sea is a minor and negligible event. He gets a moral understanding of life and its end. As he is confronted with the close possibility of reaching the end of his life, he learns the value of living. At the end of the story when the men are rescued, only Billie the oiler fails to survive. It was irony of fate since the oiler was the most hardworking man on the dinghy. Although both the oiler and the correspondent did maximum rowing, it was the oiler who was more technically aware of rowing as was mentioned in Chapter III – “the oiler steered, and the little boat made good way with her new rig. Sometimes the oiler had to scull sharply to keep a sea from breaking into the boat” (Crane, 62). If nature had the capability to make fair judgements, then the oiler would have been the first man to survive, but as it is humanity has to value experience to understand life although experience cannot guarantee security of life. The tragedy in the story enforces the fact that the combined efforts of the four men could not overcome death in the face of uncertainty. The death of the most capable member emphasizes the limitation of human capacity and the indifferent nature. Works Cited Crane, Stephen. The Open Boat and Other Stories. USA: Courier Dover Publications, 1993. Print. Read More