Introduction
The story of the Open Boat is about four men trying to survive against various natural occurrences. The four men include the correspondent, the oiler, the cook, and the oiler. After surviving a shipwreck, the men sails on a lifeboat, day and night, while waiting to be rescued. Nature, sending hope and sinister messages to them, wavers their belief in surviving. Naturalism entails studying characters through their relationship with their surrounding environment. It is about how nature controls human activities, influencing their characters and fate. Stephen Crane applied naturalism in telling the story of the Open Boat to show the inescapable aspect of nature. He reveals that humans have little to no control over nature and that all they can do is wait for their luck. Therefore, in the story of the Open Boat, Crane shows naturalism through uncontrollable forces at sea and their ruthlessness.
Nature as Uncontrollable Forces
Crane illustrates the uncontrollability of nature through various happenings at sea. He reveals how a man has no control over nature through the following incidences. The four men survive the wrecking ship and start surfing on the lifeboat. Through natural happenings, the ship in which the men were traveling sinks. Crane shows how men could not control or prevent the ship from sinking because were it up to them, the ship would have successfully arrived at its destination (Campbell 409). Out of all the people on the ship, nature selects only four men to survive. This is an apparent sign that nature does what it wants (Campbell 409). In the lifeboat, the four travelers fight one wave after another. They are determined to survive and hopeful that help would come as soon as possible. The oiler, correspondent, and cook take turns in Rowling the boat through the angry waves.
Crane shows nature as an uncontrollable force when the lifeboat capsizes, and the four sailors swim to survive. When all hope of being rescued was lost, the four men were exhausted and frustrated. They were still rowling their tiny boat when it suddenly started capsizing. All of them, including the injured captain, try to evacuate the water, making it sink. Overwhelmed by the speed of the water, the four decide to jump into the icy water to avoid sinking with the boat. Crane shows water as a form of uncontrollable force which, in the form of sea waves, beats the lifeboat to capsizing (Campbell 409). By the time of this scene, the four travelers had given up and lived at the mercy of nature. Indeed, they had exchanged addresses so that whoever came out alive would reach other people’s families. By experiencing various uncontrollable forces of nature, the story’s characters are made powerless and dependent. At this point, Crane illustrates how nature can make humans unlucky by setting a cruel fate.
Nature as a Ruthless Aspect
Crane reveals nature to be ruthless towards humans by giving false hopes and signs of back luck. In the story’s beginning, the four men are optimistic that they will soon be saved. Indeed, the injured captain encourages the three men to stay favorable for survival. However, the conditions set by nature make him and the other three less confident of surviving. The captain says, “we’ll get ashore all right” (Crane 5). He says these words in a low tone, indicating his fear. The other sailors also doubt coming out alive after the situation at sea. The oiler asserts, “Yes, if the wind holds” (Crane 5). “Yes! if we don’t catch hell in the surf,” the cook was already bailing (Crane 5). The sailors are in the deep waters with a small lifeboat, and as long as the sea through them heavy tides, their chances of survival are minimal. The natural environment at sea and the absence of rescue indicate that men have little time to stay alive.
Nature is shown to be ruthless and uncaring when the four men get rescue hope for the first time. As they roll the boat, the captain, while lying on the boat, sees a structure from which they could receive help. The whole team is alive again and surfing toward the structure. As they near it, they realize it is an abandoned lighthouse, and their hopes die all over again. Nature gives the travelers false hope as if saying, “I would help you, but I will not!” Ironically, nature saves them four cigars which could put their health at risk while at sea. The correspondent finds dry cigars in his jacket pocket, which he shares with the rest. From this perspective, nature made it possible for precisely four cigars to remain dry as the rest soaked (Fluck 8). Furthermore, instead of availing a rescue, nature provides a way for the men to risk their health.
Naturalism is also revealed in the unconcerned state of nature when the sailors see resort tourists. After feeling disappointed about the abandoned lighthouse, the correspondent and the oiler take turns rowling the boat in search of dry land. Nature sends ridicule or an ominous sign through a bunch of gulls. The seagulls suddenly surround the boat as one of them sits on the captain. The team of sailors interprets the presence of the gull as a sinister symbol and that they are going to die ((Fluck 4). The captain cannot move to send the gulls away to avoid capsizing the small boat, so he shoos it to fly away. The four men then see a figure approaching the waters and then sees another follow. Their hopes to find rescue arise again, and they are all smiling. The men wave their towels as a sign of asking for help. From a distance, they see two figures; in this case, tourists enter a boat and fade away. The tourists in a far resort assume that they are fishermen waving at them for greetings.
The aggressiveness of nature changes the character of humans to be angry and depressed. As the travelers lay on the boat waiting to die, they started questioning the nature and presence of God. They interpreted the unconcerned state of the universe as God abandoning them. Naturalism provides that humans can only turn to one another when they cannot depend on nature or any existing spiritual force (Pizer 39). At this point in the plot, all the characters have is themselves, and they must rely on one another to make it through. As the night falls, the captain asks the sailors to rest and save their energy for a possible swim. As each one of them rested, they questioned the presence of God. The correspondent is angered upon realizing that he is no longer essential to nature. He wishes to punish it, but since it is impossible, he loves himself even more.
The unconcerned state of nature also forces a man to self-reflect on their life choices. Crane, through naturalism, shows how nature can push a man to the corner and regret life choices (Fluck 6). In other words, nature can make humans desperate to self-reflect. As the oiler, cook, and captain slept at night; the correspondent took this time to reflect. He remembers reading a poem about a French soldier dying in Algiers. The correspondent compares his desperation to the dying soldier and how desperately he waits to die in the boat. He wonders why nature would dictate such a sad fate for him. When morning came, the four men were hopeless and exhausted. Their boat capsizes, and although they find rescue, the oiler dies while swimming. Therefore, Crane, through this story, indicates that a man has an uncontrollable relationship with nature, and even though it can be ruthless, there is little a man can do to survive its fate.
Conclusion
Crane, in his story, shows naturalism by showing that the uncontrollable forces and uncaring state of nature can torment a man. Telling a story of four desperate men in deep waters, Crane reveals that nature, through forces such as waves and tides, can make a man hopeless. These forces posing false hope make the four sailors angry and depressed. Crane reveals the unconcern state of nature by showing many chances that a man could have been saved. Indeed, by ruthlessly allowing the men to go through such hardships, nature is for sure uncaring.
Works Cited
Campbell, Donna. “Naturalism.” A Companion to American Literature vol. 2, 2020, pp. 402-425. Web.
Crane, Stephen. The Open Boat: And Other Tales of Adventure. Lulu Press, 1897.
Fluck, Winfried. “3 Realism and Naturalism.” Handbook of the American Novel of the Nineteenth Century vol. 7, no. 58, 2018, pp. 1-10. Web.
Pizer, Donald. American Literary Naturalism. Anthem Press, 2020.