The sea rats came closer and closer by the second. My heart was pounding really hard and I had butterflies in my stomach! I was running out of ideas to get out of the lantern room and looked around helplessly and my eyes grew wide when I saw the one opportunity and hope in our lives.
“Ship ahoy?!” cried out Le Gleo and Itchoua when they saw it.
There it was; a large shining blue ship carrying loads and loads of cargo and supplies full with smiling sailors whose smiles turned into frowns as they saw our situation. I jumped up and down with delight but I realized that first our lighthouse men had to get out of this sea rat mess before getting on the boat. Le Gleo suddenly came up with an idea.
He said, “Why don’t we poison the rats? I think I might have some bottles of rat killer poison in this old rusty belt of mine.”
I was stunned and every muscle in my body loosened at the thought of escape. Well, not until I noticed what he Le Gleo really had.
“Seriously? Why, why, why, God? What did I do wrong in life?” I asked aloud.
Le Gleo actually found a candy package labeled: Poison ...
The Commander of the division to which I belonged, as soon as soon as we were on board the ship, appointed me to boatswain, and ordered me to go to the captain and demand of him the keys to the hatches and a dozen candles. I made the demand accordingly, and the captain promptly replied, and delivered the articles; but requested me at the same time to do no damage to the ship or the rigging. We then were ordered to ...
But nearly as soon as Marion's dreams of sailing became reality, the reality became a nightmare. On the voyage home, a whale rammed the schooner, ripping the seams and sending water into the hold. Before the schooner went down, the captain, al...
In Stephen Crane's "The Open Boat," the four men underwent an experience in which they endured the forces of the sea that caused them to change their perception of nature and ultimately brought them to see the conflict between humanity and the natural world. In the beginning, faced with the restless sea, the four men felt that outside help existed somewhere. The cook was the most certain that they would be rescued. In his argument with the correspondent, the cook told him, "There is a house of refuge...and as soon as they see us they'll come off in their boat and pick us up" (NA, 358). Soon after they saw the lighthouse, the four men were optimistic that their destiny was not to die, and that somehow another power, in the form of rescuers, would help them combat the forces of nature and bring them to safety. They viewed the sea as an obstacle that they could eventually overcome. The thought that luck was on their side uplifted the spirits of the men, and as they were heading towards the shore, "doubt and direful apprehension were leaving the minds of the men" (NA, 361).
I am writing my first entry aboard this incredible vessel today, primarily because I have been spending the last three days exploring the sections open to my fellow third-class passengers and I. What I have seen is extraordinary, especially when first boarding the ship. The halls and staircases of the first class section were like nothing I had ever seen before in my life. They were blanketed in luxury from end to end. The first class passengers I had managed to see wore their best garments boarding the ship and were conversing with each other about their rich lives back home. I believe I even saw Mr. John Jacob Astor, a man I had heard much about for his contributions to the American fur trade. I had heard that he would be aboard for the maiden voyage of ...
“The Open Boat” uses vivid metaphors to enhance both the magnificent, yet overwhelming nature of the sea. Crane successfully illustrated a situation that isolated the four men, encouraging them to use the elements of the sea that they do not understand. The four men are stranded and isolated, with no help except what they are
“Sinking or not, we have to get on one of these boats. It looks like they’re letting first-class on first, so we’re in luck.” I said to Joe. On the deck below us, I could see masses of people that looked like herds of sheep being rushed in one direction. I noticed myself a little more seasick than I was before, and that the deck seemed slanted. It was obvious the ship was sinking now. A guard nearby was calling for first-class passengers so we went there and climbed aboard.
The struggle for survival by mankind can be found in many different settings. It can be seen on a battlefield, a hospital room or at sea as related in “The Open Boat”, written in 1897 by Stephen Crane. The story is based on his actual experiences when he survived the sinking of the SS Commodore off the coast of Florida in early 1897. “The Open Boat” is Stephen Crane’s account of life and death at sea told through the use of themes and devices to emphasize the indifference of nature to man’s struggles and the development of mankind’s compassion.
The Seafarer highlites the transience of wordly joys which are so little important and the fact thet we have no power in comparison to God.
...held him in the sea that swirled him out and safely over the boat to water in which he could touch. The surviving men were thankful to have survived, but learned that they really had no control over their lives. One of the most important lessons the correspondent took from the experience was, “… that “in the ignorance of the grave-edge” every man is in the same boat, which is not much more substantial than the ten-foot open dinghy on a rough sea” (Buitenhuis, web). Having survived the experience the cook, the correspondent, and the captain each believed that they could be interpreters for the sea. Crane gave each man a voice in “The Open Boat” that is uniquely theirs, but at the same time shared a common bond and struggle with nature for survival. It is up to each man (mankind) to find our own place in the universe and be open to the lessons that life can teach us.
- - -. "Slave Ships." 1996. Blessing the Boats: New and Selected Poems, 1998-2000. Comp. Clifton. Rochester: BOA Editions, 2000. 121. Print.
...ure itself. Things began to turned back to as they were and the mariner was rescued, “But soon I heard the dash of oars, I heard the Pilot's cheer; my head was turned perforce away and I saw a boat appear” (135-137). He was very happy and fearful at the same time when they appeared, as he feared it may have been another sin coming upon him.
The human voyage into life is basically feeble, vulnerable, uncontrollable. Since the crew on a dangerous sea without hope are depicted as "the babes of the sea", it can be inferred that we are likely to be ignorant strangers in the universe. In addition to the danger we face, we have to also overcome the new challenges of the waves in the daily life. These waves are "most wrongfully and barbarously abrupt and tall", requiring "a new leap, and a leap." Therefore, the incessant troubles arising from human conditions often bring about unpredictable crises as "shipwrecks are apropos of nothing." The tiny "open boat", which characters desperately cling to, signifies the weak, helpless, and vulnerable conditions of human life since it is deprived of other protection due to the shipwreck. The "open boat" also accentuates the "open suggestion of hopelessness" amid the wild waves of life. The crew of the boat perceive their precarious fate as "preposterous" and "absurd" so much so that they can feel the "tragic" aspect and "coldness of the water." At this point, the question of why they are forced to be "dragged away" and to "nibble the sacred cheese of life" raises a meaningful issue over life itself. This pessimistic view of life reflects the helpless human condition as well as the limitation of human life.
The dull light of the sun somehow manages to kindle my senses in a way I had never seen or felt before. Everything felt like it came to a standstill and the effect of the light made the scene look like one in a painting. The waves break gently into white foam on the black beach. The small crystals in the sand glimmer and twinkle brilliantly against the sunrays. The seagulls ride with the wind and the soft sand cushions my toes.
I spend the first few days, exploring the island all alone. It was beautiful, but also gave me goosebumps. That night, I thought, "I needed to leave this island as fast as possible. I need a plan. But how? The prisoners!" I decided that I would be departing this island along with the prisoners within the next two month.
Rolling waves gently brushed upon the sand and nipped softly at my toes. I gazed out into the oblivion of blue hue that lay before me. I stared hopefully at sun-filled sky, but I couldn’t help but wonder how I was going to get through the day. Honestly, I never thought in a million years that my daughter and I would be homeless. Oh, how I yearned for our house in the suburbs. A pain wrenched at my heart when I was once reminded again of my beloved husband, Peter. I missed him so much and couldn’t help but ask God why he was taken from us. Living underneath Pier 14 was no life for Emily and me. I had to get us out of here and back on our feet. My stomach moaned angrily. I needed to somehow find food for us, but how? Suddenly, something slimy brushed up against my leg and pierced my thoughts. I jumped back and brushed the residue of sand of my legs. What was that? As my eyes skimmed the water in front of me, I noticed something spinning in the foam of the waves. Curiosity got the best of me and I went over to take a closer look. The object danced in the waves and eventually was coughed out onto the beach. “Emily!” I called to my eight-year-old daughter who was, at that time, infatuated with a seashell that she found earlier that day. “Come here and see this! Mommy found something.” Although I had no idea what that something was and I definitely didn’t know it would change my life forever.