Open boat
Background of the author
Stephen crane (1871-1900) was an American poet and novelist who is well known for his works depicting Realist tradition as well as exhibiting features of American Naturalism and Impressionism. In 1896 Stephen crane was assigned to travel to Cuba as a war correspondent and while en route to Cuba the vessel of the ship he was travelling on (The Commodore) sank off the coast of Florida leaving him and some of the other passengers adrift on the sea for 30 hours or more in a small boat. In the open boat, crane describes this ordeal using language which is characterised by its vivid intensity, distinctive use of dialectical patterns and subtle irony. The prominent themes which develop in this short story is the conflict between man and nature, overwhelming fear, spiritual crisis and social isolation. The narrative perspective is that of an anonymous correspondent of which Crane himself is the implied author- thus the narrative emerges from a third person limited omniscient narrator.
Themes, narrative perspectives and styles
The Open Boat uses literary naturalism in its narrative voice to emphasise and observe a scientific method by which reality has been portrayed by the author. The prominent characteristics of the style include detachment, which is reflected in an extremely impersonal tone, through a disinterested point of view and the depiction of determinism which is the absolute opposite of free will- hence the reader finds out that the fate of the characters has been decided by the winds of nature- even predetermined by the impersonal forces of nature which transcend human limitations and human control. There is an uncanny sense that the whole wide universe is conspiring against humanity or totally indifferent to the value of human life.
Stephen Crane delves deep into the forces of scientific laws that influence behaviour inclusive of human emotions, heredity and environment. He talks about man’s insignificance in the universe and as such the tone of the story is extremely pessimistic and the mood is dark, gloomy and depressing. It displays ennui which literally translates to despair, isolation and weariness of the human mind when confronted with the menacing forces of nature which cannot be transcended. The Open Boat encompasses a naturalistic view of man with Stephen Crane’s depiction of a group of survivors adrift in a boat. This surviving crew comes to a headlong conflict with the ravages of the sea, the threat of nature and struggle to survive through dark and dangerous days. Stephen can has also articulated the illusion of God’s and their mercy at a time when mere mortals are realising the brutality of the universe’s indifference
Imageries
Stephen Crane portrays the plight the human conditions through an array of human emotions which display unforgiving nature and the struggles of man. The story begins with “colour of the sky” which is juxtaposed with the colour of the waves which are”the hue of slate” topped with “foaming white”- the colours bring immediacy to the situation of gloom, despair and the challenge hurled out by the forces of nature to the men on the sea. “Slate”, indicating grey, displays a colour of ambiguity and despair which the men experience as repeated waves break against their boat and the colour of the sky signifies the troublesome fact that nature will continue its ravages undeterred. The profound dejection and indifference experienced by the injured captain gives voice to the spirit of a man who has already come to terms with the fact that it will be difficult, if not impossible for them to survive the shipwreck. The waves, slashing to and fro, displays the ferocity of the sea through vivid kinaesthetic images as it portrays the challenge of nature. The kinaesthetic image of a “bucking broncho”- an unbroken, untrained horse which is compared with the precarious movement of the boat as it is tossed around in the turbulent waves of the sea. Thus, the men on the dinghy are far from safe as they experience”terrible grace in the move of the waves”, and are awestruck by the beauty and menace in the ”snarling of the crests”. The faces of the men are visualised as”grey”- the chromatic imagery emphasising the look of utter hopelessness, fear and the premonition of impending death. That their faces are revealed through a “wan light “ seems to suggest that there is very limited light in this utter dark ad light, which symbolises hope and optimism is conquered by the darkness of an extremely brutal sea scape.
Characters
Stephen Crane the Open Boat presents the cross section of the society as it talks about a Captain, a Cook, the oiler and the Narrator. The Captain represents the higher classes of society. A man who is habituated to take actions and give out orders to the men who are his followers. Thus by the merit of his profession as all by his social standing, the captain is indeed the leader of the group. The other three people on the boat are people rom the working classes as is represented by the cook, the oiler and the narrator- all of them are followers- they are more inclined to observe things in life rather than take active decisions. Initially, they are extremely confused and threatened by the catastrophic forces of nature. The Captain however, despite being wary of the situation, takes decisions in a calm and collected manner which is followed by the three people around him. Regardless of the effort that they put in, nature is far from merciful and the fate of the characters is not very pleasant- not all of them manage to survive. Through the narrator’s eyes the readers get the perspective of the magnificience of the sea in al its wild beauty. Thus, while the other survivors are threatened by the wild menace of nature, the narrator speculates about its beauty and manages ways in which he can glorify nature.
There is a hidden undercurrent of optimism as the shipwrecked crew fathom a lighthouse at the end of their journey. Yet this fragile optimism is broken by the death of the oiler who does not manage to survive the rigours of the journey. However, each man preserves in himself the ultimate hope of transcending the challenges of nature and it seems possible that Crane is suggesting that despite nature’s unrelenting destruction, the strongest of men do survive if they retain a calm and collected mind to take the right decisions as well as have the physique to confront and overcome the challenges of nature.
prepIGCSE 