The Open Boat by Stephen Crane

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“The Open Boat””
“From the first moment [sentence referencing “the sky”], … The Open Boat proceeds as a traditional sea journey to knowledge, and the knowledge it attains is equally as mysterious or religious as that envisioned in other great American sea journeys ---…”

The “Open Boat” is a short story written by Stephen Crane (1871-1900). This story develops the tragic fate of the SS Commodore. This ship had for mission to transport ammunition for the Cuban rebels from Jacksonville, Florida to Cuba with his 28 Souls On Board. Unfortunately the ship sank after hitting a sandbar because of the fog. This story relates how the crew was fighting with the sea for his life and how they survived in the life raft during two long nights. In this paper we will argue the fact that despite some aspects, the “Open Boat” is still considered as a traditional sea journey.
So what makes it traditional? There is nothing more traditional than a Sea story with a shipwreck. Numerous stories related with the sea are narrating how ships were destroyed or were sinking in the sea. In the “Open Boat”, the story starts right after the shipwreck so the narrator does not tell any specific detail about it. Nevertheless the “shipwreck” is the starting point of the story. From “A Descent Into the Maelstrom”, to “Titanic”, the destruction of the ship is the most important part of the story because it either way starts or ends the story. The way that the shipwreck will take place will promote the story. In Titanic, when the boat hit the Iceberg, the sinking of the gigantic boat killed around a thousand and five hundred people. It happened more than a hundred years ago and we are still talking about it. This tragic story is an unforgettable part of the history...

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...er”. This is probably why the power of God is not present in this story.Unfortunately in the “Open Boat”, the crew had to surfer of the Sea’s behavior and nothing could help them. As Vincent Van Gogh said, “ every fishermen know that the sea is dangerous and the storm terrible, but they have never found these dangers sufficient reason for remaining ashore”.

Works Cited

Emeritius, Educator. "What Are the Main Themes of Stephen Crane's Short Story "The Open Boat"? - Homework Help - ENotes.com." Enotes.com. Enotes.com, 14 Aug. 2012. Web. 23 Nov. 2013.
"Life of Pi Quotes." By Yann Martel. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Nov. 2013.
Raymond, William. "A Vocabulary of Culture and Society." N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Nov. 2013.
The Billion Dollar Film Club." The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, 01 Aug. 2011. Web. 23 Nov. 2013
Van Gogh, Vincent. BrainyQuote. Xplore, n.d. Web. 23 Nov. 2013.

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