In “The Open Boat” by Stephen Crane, four survivors of a tragic shipwreck are forced to live in a lifeboat and fight for survival. The four men are the cook, the oiler, the correspondent, and the captain. The captain assures the men that they are getting very close to a manned lighthouse that he is familiar with, although day by day the men see no lighthouse. The men start to lose hope when finally, land comes into sight. In their great efforts to make landfall, the oiler drowns, despite being the most physically sound person aboard the lifeboat. There are many perspectives in which one could view the short story. Some would see a rigorous battle between mankind and mother nature, while others focus more on the triangular relationship of the three “Cranes” in the story: Crane the Correspondent, Crane the Sailor, and Crane the Author/Narrator.
Sura Rath and Mary Shaw have a very interesting way of analyzing this short story. The two writers bring light to the multiple prospectives in …show more content…
Considering as the four sailors, bound together by misfortune and camaraderie, they form a community among themselves just as each of them is defined and limited by our understanding of their joint predicament. Rath and Shaw’s dialogic perspective helps us explain the plot beyond the story's irony, which is the focal point of most traditional interpretations. “The little boat, lifted by each towering sea, and splashed viciously by the crests, made progress that in the absence of sea-weed was not apparent to those in her. She seemed just a wee thing wallowing, miraculously, top-up, at the mercy of five oceans. Occasionally, a great spread of water, like white flames, swarmed into her,” Crane says in the story. Both of these interpretations are valid based on the facts of the
Sura Rath and Mary Shaw have a very interesting way of analyzing this short story. The two writers bring light to the multiple prospectives in …show more content…
Considering as the four sailors, bound together by misfortune and camaraderie, they form a community among themselves just as each of them is defined and limited by our understanding of their joint predicament. Rath and Shaw’s dialogic perspective helps us explain the plot beyond the story's irony, which is the focal point of most traditional interpretations. “The little boat, lifted by each towering sea, and splashed viciously by the crests, made progress that in the absence of sea-weed was not apparent to those in her. She seemed just a wee thing wallowing, miraculously, top-up, at the mercy of five oceans. Occasionally, a great spread of water, like white flames, swarmed into her,” Crane says in the story. Both of these interpretations are valid based on the facts of the