Andrew Deitrick: The Open Boat

Stephen Crane explores the value of nature throughout “The Open Boat”. The narrator takes us aboard a dingey at a sea, where four men, including the anonymous narrator, are caught in a struggle for survival. In their attempts at landing ashore, the crew witnesses the power and indifference of nature. Through this, the correspondent evolves to view himself as a part of nature, rather than an enemy of the sea.

The story opens giving us very little information about the background to the crew’s story. Instead, the reader is brought through the present moment at sea, where each member of the crew is briefly narrated. Here, the correspondent is narrated to be focused more on his thoughts in comparison to how the rest of the crew is described. Crane writes, “The correspondent, pulling at the other oar, watched the waves and wondered why he was there”(778).

As the crew prepares for shipwreck, the overlying tone of the correspondent changes. Before, the correspondent was fully committed to survival, giving every bit of his energy to benefit the crews chance of survival. Later, we find the correspondent to be more open, mentally and physically, to the idea of death. Crane writes, “It seemed also very attractive, but the correspondent knew that it was a long journey, and he paddled leisurely.” In previous chapters, the paddling was backed with an intense and anxious tone. Here, the tone is relaxed, giving us a better opportunity to contemplate the inner world of the correspondent. Crane leads this opportunity, describing the correspondent’s thoughts. ““Am I going to drown? Can it be possible? Can it be possible? Can it be possible?” Perhaps an individual must consider his own death to be the final phenomenon of nature.”
If the the final phenomenon of nature is our own death, then indeed we are apart of nature, rather than separate from it. The correspondent seems to recognize this, and ultimately is ready to return to nature.

“In the wan light, the faces of the men must have been grey. Their eyes must have glinted in strange ways as they gazed steadily astern...the whole thing would doubtlessly have been weirdly picturesque.”
The narrator noticeably gives the reader what he thinks things “must” have, or “would” have, looked like. This tone, almost indifferent and ambiguous, is felt throughout the story, especially in the final section.