THE OPEN BOAT
BY
STEPHEN CRANE
The Open Boat by Stephen Crane
Biography
• Born in New Jersey in 1871
• Moved to New York as a freelance newspaper writer in 1891
• Starts writing short stories,
poetry
• Travels widely, also as a war
correspondent
• The Red Badge of Courage
(1895) becomes his most famous
novel
• Dies of tuberculosis in 1900
The Open Boat by Stephen Crane
2
The Open Boat
Background
• SS Commodore was an American
steamboat that shipwrecked off the
coast of Florida on 2 January 1897
• Crane and three other men, including
the ship's captain, were stranded in a
10-foot (3.0 m) dinghy for nearly thirty
hours
• All but one of the men survived
The Open Boat by Stephen Crane
3
Character Map
Captain
Correspondent
Oiler
Cook
• No details known about the characters
• Story divided into 7 chapters
The Open Boat by Stephen Crane
4
Summary
•
•
•
•
Captain
Injured
Treat his fellow survivors as his kids
Convinced that they will survive
Survives clinging to overturned boat
Cook
• Fat
• Does not row
• Wears a life-jacket
Oiler
Correspondent
•
• Autobiographical character
•
• Only character the reader
•
has access to
•
• Turns melancholical
The Open Boat by Stephen Crane
Named Billy
Strongest rower
Always kind
Only person
to die
5
Protagonist versus Antagonist
mankind
4 humans
impartiality of nature
the sea
nature
The Open Boat by Stephen Crane
6
Extract
Chapter 4
They then briefly exchanged some addresses and admonitions. As for the
reflections of the men, there was a great deal of rage in them. Perchance
they might be formulated thus: "If I am going to be drowned -- if I am going
to be drowned -- if I am going to be drowned, why, in the name of the seven
mad gods who rule the sea, was I allowed to come thus far and contemplate
sand and trees? Was I brought here merely to have my nose dragged away as I
was about to nibble the sacred cheese of life? It is preposterous. If this
old ninny-woman, Fate, cannot do better than this, she should be deprived of
the management of men's fortunes. She is an old hen who knows not her
intention. If she has decided to drown me, why did she not do it in the
beginning and save me all this trouble. The whole affair is absurd. . . .
But, no, she cannot mean to drown me. She dare not drown me. She cannot
drown me. Not after all this work."
The Open Boat by Stephen Crane
7
Extract
They then briefly exchanged some addresses and admonitions. As for the
reflections of the men, there was a great deal of rage in them. Perchance
they might be formulated thus: "If I am going to be drowned -- if I am going
to be drowned -- if I am going to be drowned, why, in the name of the seven
mad gods who rule the sea, was I allowed to come thus far and contemplate
sand and trees? Was I brought here merely to have my nose dragged away as I
was about to nibble the sacred cheese of life? It is preposterous. If this
old ninny-woman, Fate, cannot do better than this, she should be deprived of
the management of men's fortunes. She is an old hen who knows not her
intention. If she has decided to drown me, why did she not do it in the
beginning and save me all this trouble. The whole affair is absurd. . . .
But, no, she cannot mean to drown me. She dare not drown me. She cannot
drown me. Not after all this work."
The Open Boat by Stephen Crane
8
Extract
They then briefly exchanged some addresses and admonitions. As for the
reflections of the men, there was a great deal of rage in them. Perchance
they might be formulated thus: "If I am going to be drowned -- if I am going
to be drowned -- if I am going to be drowned,
Repetition
Stresses four men’s fight for survival
Intensifies their struggle
The Open Boat by Stephen Crane
9
Extract
They then briefly exchanged some addresses and admonitions. As for the
reflections of the men, there was a great deal of rage in them. Perchance
they might be formulated thus: "If I am going to be drowned -- if I am going
to be drowned -- if I am going to be drowned, why, in the name of the seven
mad gods who rule the sea, was I allowed to come thus far and contemplate
sand and trees? Was I brought here merely to have my nose dragged away as I
was about to nibble the sacred cheese of life? It is preposterous. If this
old ninny-woman, Fate, cannot do better than this, she should be deprived of
the management of men's fortunes. She is an old hen who knows not her
intention. If she has decided to drown me, why did she not do it in the
beginning and save me all this trouble. The whole affair is absurd. . . .
But, no, she cannot mean to drown me. She dare not drown me. She cannot
drown me. Not after all this work."
The Open Boat by Stephen Crane
10
Extract
They then briefly exchanged some addresses and admonitions. As for the
reflections of the men, there was a great deal of rage in them. Perchance
they might be formulated thus: "If I am going to be drowned -- if I am going
to be drowned -- if I am going to be drowned, why, in the name of the seven
mad gods who rule the sea, was I allowed to come thus far and contemplate
sand and trees? Was I brought here merely to have my nose dragged away as I
was about to nibble the sacred cheese of life?
Metaphor
Hopelessness of four men
Mice?
The Open Boat by Stephen Crane
11
Extract
They then briefly exchanged some addresses and admonitions. As for the
reflections of the men, there was a great deal of rage in them. Perchance
they might be formulated thus: "If I am going to be drowned -- if I am going
to be drowned -- if I am going to be drowned, why, in the name of the seven
mad gods who rule the sea, was I allowed to come thus far and contemplate
sand and trees? Was I brought here merely to have my nose dragged away as I
was about to nibble the sacred cheese of life? It is preposterous. If this
old ninny-woman, Fate, cannot do better than this, she should be deprived of
the management of men's fortunes. She is an old hen who knows not her
intention. If she has decided to drown me, why did she not do it in the
beginning and save me all this trouble. The whole affair is absurd. . . .
But, no, she cannot mean to drown me. She dare not drown me. She cannot
drown me. Not after all this work."
The Open Boat by Stephen Crane
12
Extract
They then briefly exchanged some addresses and admonitions. As for the
reflections of the men, there was a great deal of rage in them. Perchance
they might be formulated thus: "If I am going to be drowned -- if I am going
to be drowned -- if I am going to be drowned, why, in the name of the seven
mad gods who rule the sea, was I allowed to come thus far and contemplate
sand and trees? Was I brought here merely to have my nose dragged away as I
was about to nibble the sacred cheese of life? It is preposterous. If this
old ninny-woman, Fate, cannot do better than this, she should be deprived of
the management of men's fortunes. She is an old hen who knows not her
intention.
Personification
The Open Boat by Stephen Crane
13
Extract
Last sentence
When it came night, the white waves paced to and fro
in the moonlight, and the wind brought the sound of the
great sea's voice to the men on shore, and they felt that they
could then be interpreters.
The Open Boat by Stephen Crane
14
Recommendation
• Challenging
• Use of imagery, colourful language
• Philosophical
The Open Boat by Stephen Crane
15