The Open Boat Vs Interlopers Essay

In life, you probably call some people your friends. However, are they your friends because they want to be, or friends out of necessity? Sometimes, people suddenly become companionable for a selfish reason and not because they want to get to know you. Both “The Open Boat” and “The Interlopers” explore these ulterior motives in companionship. In “The Open Boat,” the crew becomes familial because they’re trapped on a boat together. Similarly, in “The Interlopers,” Ulrich and Georg become allies while trapped under a tree together. Both stories have people who must become companionable towards each other in order to survive, which makes one question how much they may actually be a true friend. In “The Open Boat,” the crew becomes like a sort

No one said that it was so. No one mentioned it. But it dwelt in the boat, and each man felt it warm him.” The crew is in a situation in which they must work together in a life or death scenario. Therefore, they must form bonds with each other in order to stay alive. It is interesting to note that never in “The Open Boat” does any of the crew bicker or even disagree to an extent that reaches more than a sentence. The crew is making an active effort to be friendly towards each other Similarly, in “The Interlopers,” Ulrich and Georg become brotherly while trapped under a tree together.

“Both men spoke with the bitterness of possible defeat before them, for each knew that it might be long before his men would seek him out or find him; it was a bare matter of chance which party would arrive first on the

In “The Open Boat,” In “The Open Boat,” they are forced to be friends because they must work together to reach shore:

“They were a captain, an oiler, a cook, and a correspondent, and they were friends -- friends in a more curiously ironbound degree than may be common.”

In “The Interlopers,” the stakes are equally dire; the options are either reconciliation or playing roulette with their own lives and own men to see whose men come first:

“For a space both men were silent, turning over in their minds the wonderful changes that this dramatic reconciliation would bring about… they lay and waited for the help that would now bring release and succour to both parties.” Both stories hint at the fact that they were friends in a way that would benefit the parties in a way that any innocent relationship might not. Thus, the characters in both stories saw a need to become allies if not for friendship’s sake but for