Stephen Cranes The Open Boat Essay -- Stephen Crane Open Boat Essays

Stephen Cranes The control surface ride Humanity often tends to see itself as being somehow master(prenominal) in the grand scheme of the macrocosm. We speak of fate as if we were put hither for some reason, or purpose. We have our religions, which often serve as an locomotive engine to drive our lives and as a means to give meaning to them. nevertheless why do we think of ourselves in such a ranking(a) fashion? Do we really matter at all? Would the Universe stop if we were suddenly taken away? In his short theme, The Open Boat, Stephen Crane shows us a Universe totally unconcerned with the personal business of humankind it is an indifferent Universe in which Man has to struggle to survive. The characters in the story come face to face with this indifference and are intimately overcome by Natures lack of concern. They survive only through intentness and cooperation. All we have, Crane asserts, in our constant struggle for survival, is stubborn pride--and each other. The st ory opens with four men, known simply as the captain, the oiler, the correspondent, and the cook, stranded in the marine in a small boat. Cranes descriptions in these opening scenes show just away the antagonism of the men and the sea and constitutions lack of concern for their cataclysm The birds sat comfortably in groups, and they were envied by some in the dingey, for the anger of the sea was no more to them than it was to a covey of prairie chickens a pace miles inland.(2) The men are in a desperate situation, but nature continues in its way...