English 3318 students:
For our Week 7 blog, please publish a comment of about 500 words before Friday, October 7, at midnight, about Stephen Crane's depiction of nature vs. humankind in "The Open Boat." Before you compose your comment, please be sure to watch Paul Auster's interview about his recent biography of Crane (the one that is also linked in Saturday's class announcement on Blackboard):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HoSfBpGhEE&t=1s
After you publish your comment, please reply to one of the other students' comments.
Thank you,
Dr. K
Stephen Crane's short story, "The Open Boat," illustrates a universe without much concern for human affairs; it is an indifferent universe in which men struggle to survive. In the story, characters encounter this indifference and are nearly overwhelmed by it. In order to survive, they must persevere and work together. Despite our constant struggle for survival, Crane contends, we only have stubborn pride and each other.In a small boat, the story opens with the captain, the oiler, the correspondent, and the cook stranded on the ocean. In the opening scenes, Crane's descriptions show that there is animosity between the men and the sea and nature's indifference to their tragedy right away, "The birds sat comfortably in groups, and many in the dingey envied them, as the wrath of the sea had no impact on them any more than it did on prairie chickens a thousand miles inland."(Crane 1030). In spite of the men's desperate situation, nature continues on its path, and throughout the day, the sun continues to rise and set. There is a shark observing them, who appears to have no use for them, on the shore, which is "lonely and indifferent." The men, notwithstanding, look removed from the clockwork of their surroundings; separate, but in a way in the midst of everything happening around them. This indifference causes the men to feel a positive alienation from nature. They even go as far as to feel of the Universe as being hostile. This is, notwithstanding just the usual activity of nature, not a thing of aggression against Man. Although the men are pitted against an uncaring sea, they still at this point give the impression to feel their destinies are controlled by several external forces. Their collective ideas are delivered thus: "If I will go to be drowned--if I will go to be drowned--if I will go to be drowned, why, in the designation of the seven mad gods who rule the sea, was I permitted to come over here consequently far and think about sand and trees?...If this old ninny-woman, Fate, cannot do greater than this, she should be deprived of the management of men's fortunes." (Crane 1034). It soon dawns on them, though, that there's no "fate," no objective for their being where they are. It's the realization of this fact that carries the men to the brink of despair: "When it occurs to a man that nature does not regard him as important, he initially wishes to toss bricks at the temple, and he hates heavily the fact that there's a lot of no bricks and no temples."(Crane 1039). It appears to them that their situation is hopeless. At one point, part of the men asks the captain if he is thinking on they'll make it, to which the captain answers "If this wind holds and the sampan do not swamp, we can't do much else."(Crane 1031). Statements like these, besides Crane's journalistic prose, note the futility that the men feel in the comfort of indifference, yet it additionally makes apparent the fact that there still exists hope.
ReplyDeleteI loved how in depth you got with the conversation regarding men vs nature. I liked how you said the universe has no concern for human affairs, I believe this is very comparable to the real world personally. I really enjoyed reading your submission, I do every time, you go into amazing detail.
DeleteAbbie, as always, your comments hit the nail on the head. The amount of detail you use in your comments paired with the quotes you pull brings everything together so nicely you could tie a bow around it. I like that you talked about the indifference that occurs within the story. The way you describe it shows that man is not entitled to the Universe, nor can they even attempt to control it. Nature will do whatever nature wants to do and no one will ever know when, why or sometimes even how it does it. I'd like to pose the question: how did they get there? When the story opens, we just know they are in a dinghy more than likely because their ship went down. Why and how did it go down? Was nature even worse to them beforehand? How has nature prolonged their suffering before they were able to reach the shore? Many questions could be asked here and your comment helped me develop those questions. Great job as always.
DeleteStephen Crane's story, "The Open Boat" follows four men who had survived a horrific shipwreck. The men fight against the sea to survive, nature is against the men in many ways. Not only did the powerful sea cause their boat to sink, but it also claimed the lives of many crew members. The four men have no time to rest in the sea, the correspondent and the oiler paddle the boat, the cook has to constantly scoop water out from the boat, and the injured captain has to keep the group under control. As the men make it closer to shore, they spot a herd of seagulls who ironically don't seem to be afraid of the ocean as the men are. One of the seagulls even lands in the boat, on the captain's head. The captain is insulted by this due to the fact that nature as a whole is essentially working against the men. These men are starving and sleep deprived and now they are accompanied by a seagull that cannot be swatted away because one sudden movement has the power to flip the boat over. The men come across an abandoned lighthouse yet they see a man on the shore, then two men, then potentially a whole crowd, as the men think they're about to be saved as the sky and ocean darkens. The men grow tired and eventually decide to try to make it to shore in the surf, the boat capsizes and the correspondent is pulled out of the water, one man isn't saved however, the oiler who drowned. These men fought for their lives in what I personally think is the most terrifying place on Earth, the ocean. It’s interesting to think that Crane wrote this story based on his own experience. In 1896 Crane found himself stranded in the Atlantic ocean along with three of his crewmates. The men were stranded for 30 hours and eventually made it to shore on Daytona Beach. Crane wrote about how difficult it was surviving in a setting where survival is not considered. The ocean lacks sympathy for humans, it’s filled with treacherous waves,and beasts that can swallow a man whole. The ocean is no place for a coward, the nights are pitch black, the sound of the waves can drive a man crazy it really does represent nature vs man. It’s also vital to mention that Crane died at the young age of 28, his experience at sea left him vulnerable to diseases for the remainder of his life. It’s interesting to think that one experience in a violent nature can affect someone for the rest of their lives. There is almost a rose gold tint in many stories regarding nature, nature is often perceived as human’s friend, when in reality nature is humans biggest enemy.
ReplyDeleteI love that you chose to talk about Crane's real life and the fact that he died on the Atlantic ocean at such a young age! It is crazy that nature can be a beautiful thing to some and deadly to others.
DeleteI think you did really well with providing a brief description of the story and outlining the parts of the story that circle around Crane's objective for writing it. I also love how you mentioned Crane at the end and letting us knos nature is not always our friend and there are challenges to it.
DeleteStephen Crane's story, "The Open Boat" follows an oiler, a cook, an injured captain, and a correspondant. These four men experienced a horrific shipwreck that turned their worlds upside down. The men woke up in a gaze, "none of them knew the color of the sky" (Crane 1030). The men want to find land and they think they are on the right track as they spot a 'small', in-the-distance light house. "Think we'll make it Captain? 'If this wind holds and the boat don't swamp, we can't do much else', said the Captain" (Crane 1033). The men have absolutely no time to rest or to even think clearly as the correspondent and the oiler paddle the boat, the cook continuously scoops water out of the small boat to try and stay afloat, and the injured captain taking on his leadership role as he tries to save them all. As the days go on, the men notice "The birds sat comfortably in groups, and they were envied by some in the dingey, for the wrath of the sea was no more than to them than it was to a covey of prairie chickens a thousand miles inland" (Crane 1032). This quote from the story depicts a scene where animals in nature are used to this environment and are quite comfortable, unlike the four men stranded in the middle of the ocean. I'm sure seeing the nature around them homely and sound was not easy to watch as they were just simply trying to survive. The men responded to the birds by "hooting angrily at them, telling them to be gone" (Crane 1032). Despite their long journey, unfortunately, not all of the men made it out alive. All but the oiler survived because he drowned. Nature can be a beautiful thing. However, it can also be very dangerous- and even deadly.
ReplyDeleteInteresting, to focus on the birds. I wonder if that is a metaphor in some way. The birds are adapted to survive in these conditions, but the men are not. What does that say about them? Are they right to be angry at the birds? If the men are not built to survive, yet do so, are they superior?
DeleteIt is very apparent that Stephen Crane’s The Open Boat, is a short story of survival. While based on the author’s experiences in a real-life shipwreck, the account is fictionalized, and the principal characters are only known by their roles in life. Here, the main conflict is man vs. Nature- the sea versus the struggling men in their little lifeboat.
ReplyDeleteNature is- as presented in the waves of the ocean- omnipresent, and powerful. She is indifferent to the men’s survival. All focus is on their surroundings, “as each slaty wall of water approached, it shut all else from the view of the men in the boat”. Even the horizon is gone. This sets up the scene for the characters’ main antagonist: the ocean itself. It is presented as an all-powerful, all-consuming enemy. There is, literally and metaphorically, nothing else on the men’s minds. The men can do no more than focus on outwitting it. It is a gargantuan challenge.
Even their minds are only focused on that, especially as seen in the case of the oilman and the correspondent. They are the main oarsmen who steer the little lifeboat safely wave over wave, and power it occasionally, when needed. Thier's, is the physical, raw, struggle in this conflict. They do not think, for they are “dominated at this time by the muscles, and the muscles said they did not care.” The only thing that they can comprehend is that fear of drowning. It is what keeps them going.
On the other end of the scale, is the captain. He does little to no physical work, focusing only on directing the crew. It is with his solid direction, that they can scale the waves. In this essence, he is the embodiment of a leader, but also of the direction and mental capacity needed for survival. “Keep cool now”, he tells his men, and refrains from any show of emotion, being instead stoic. He is purely logical, for while instinct can be useful for survival, it is sometimes best to stay calm and not let emotions sway the mind. The captain thus can represent another important aspect for survival.
While these two main forces are strong on their own, they could not survive without each other. The captain is injured, and unable to row but retains the mental energy and rationality needed to think up solutions to problems. The oarsmen are physically capable, but must keep all of their mental faculties focused toward their task. They cannot think for themselves, nor have the energy to think rationally and ahead. By working together as the crew of a tiny, lifeboat, constantly filling up with water, they are able to cover each other's strengths and weaknesses. They are able to survive and win against a seemingly indomitable foe.
Perhaps, in the way that Crane presents this conflict of Man versus Nature, one may see that even if Nature can seem all powerful and uncaring, with teamwork one may be able to beat it and survive.
When reading Steven Crane’s story, “The Open Boat”, there is a strong description to outline the differences between humankind versus nature. The story includes personification when talking about the ocean comparing it to on land situations such as, “she seemed like a horse making at a fence outrageously high” (Crane, C-1030). This shows the aggression of nature and what the men who are surviving must deal with. The men introduced in the story, are viewed as having to work tirelessly to survive and stay above the waves. This shows the fight between nature and humankind because while the men are doing all they can, the waves seem to fight back just as hard. It appears in every situation the men were facing at sea; nature was trying to strike back three times harder. For instance, in the situation with the gulls and one landing on the captain’s head, they knew if they tried to be aggressive with them, that the boat would begin to sink even more. In the beginning of Crane’s story, it shows that nature is fully against them. The story greatly outlines that nature is on its own time and does not care about humankind. It does not bow to humankind, and it merely continues. Humankind sometimes relies on nature, however in this story, it shows how nature can also be challenging in times when it is not needed. The men were losing hope in the story and felt that they were being defeated wondering why they were going through all the trouble of fighting, when thinking they could easily drown. We learn that nature is the enemy in this story, and its challenges overpowers the men and making them question their actions. Towards the end of the story, the men have finally been rescued and even though they were so close to shore, the waves still wanted to defeat them by pulling them back. The turn of the story was they were recued by men on the shore who went in the water to save them. This shows the side of humankind, and how in tough situations we can be helpful. This outlines how humans should react in these types of situations. The moral of the story is of course humankind versus nature, and although nature can be beautiful, we often ignore the downside of it, and its effects on humankind. This story is Crane’s view and his own personal experience with nature and how it greatly affected him. When reading this story, we are put into Crane’s shoes and how he felt in this experience, and he used those details and descriptions of the sea as his way of telling the story, so us as readers can understand why he would have been affected by the situation. This story was described, and it helped build the emotions of what it would be like being alone in a nature and losing hope. There was fear, and destruction, and this story was well balanced with trying to depict the true meaning of nature and how it is not always what people make it out to be.
ReplyDeleteThe relationship between humankind and nature in Stephen Crane’s “The Open Boat” is extremely obvious. The entire story talks about the struggles these men went through while being on the open ocean in something as small as a dinghy; there are multiple instances of man vs nature in the story; the one that is most clear to the audience is the case between the men vs the ocean. The ocean is rough and men to the men and all 4 of them are braving the angry ocean waves in an unclosed, unstable dingey. “Then, after scornfully bumping a crest, she would slide, and race, and splash down a long incline and arrive bobbing and nodding in front of the next menace,” (Crane, C-1029). The next line following the above one puts the physicality of the situation into perspective to the readers: there are no breaks, and the ocean doesn’t just stop what it’s doing because you’re struggling or tired; it goes and continues going until the end of time. “A singular disadvantage of the sea lies in the fact that after successfully surmounting one wave you discover that there is another behind it just as important and just as nervously anxious to do something effective in the way of swamping boats,” (Crane, C-1029). A different way to look at man vs nature in this story is in the form of the toll nature takes on man; as we read, we notice that only two men are rowing the dinghy to try and find civilization: the correspondent and the oiler, Billie. “The plan of the oiler and the correspondent was for one to row until he lost the ability, and then arouse the other from his sea-water couch in the bottom of the boat,” (Crane, C-1038). Nature began constantly taking its toll on these men as they had to relieve each other of the muscle-draining task to row the dinghy for many hours at a time. When one man traded places with the other, they settled into their uncomfortable bed where cold water would join them anytime there was a rough wave. “Later he must have grown stupid at his work, for suddenly there was a growling of water, and a crest came with a roar and a swash into the boat, and it was a wonder that it did not set the cook afloat in his life-belt,” (Crane, C-1038). A third instance can be found as it seems like the men are having to fight nature herself in the form of Fate. She is directly referenced as someone who cannot possibly drown the men; “If she has decided to drown me, why did she not do it in the beginning and save me all this trouble,” (Crane, C-1034). It is mentioned many times throughout the story: the question of why. Why put the men through all the trouble they’ve been through just to drown them when they’re so close to survival? The most dramatic part of the story is a huge example of humankind vs nature and Crane gives details about this ending that really sends it home; when the men had to jump from the boat, they didn’t fully comprehend what would happen to them when they entered the water. “The January water was icy, and he reflected immediately that it was colder than he had expected to find it off the coast of Florida,” (Crane, C-1043). As the men were fighting the ocean to get to the shore, the correspondent became trapped in the current; it was so strong that he couldn’t proceed to reach the shore. It was at this moment he began thinking to himself that he was going to drown; it wasn’t until another wave pushed him out of the fatal trap that he could finally swim toward the shore. All the men eventually made it to the shore safely after a long and tragic battle with the uncontrollable and unpredictable ways of nature.
ReplyDeleteHi, Baily, I enjoyed reading your comment on nature vs humankind and I agree. While nature is heartless, capricious and a formidable foe, humankind is optimistic even when the outcome seems dismal, there is always a desire to continue to fight for survival and be able to outsmart nature. The odds area always better when humankind works as a team and uses a combination of strengths, as the saying says, ‘together we are stronger.’
Delete“The Open Boat” by Stephen Crane’s depicts the struggle between nature and humankind. The short story depicts the real-life tale of the author’s dangerous journey when, on assignment, his boat capsized. The story centers around four men from different paths of life, the captain, an oiler, a cook, and a correspondent. The captain with his experience in navigation is able to advise and command the crew on navigating their small boat in the open sea. The oiler (Billie) and the correspondent take turns rowing, since the injured captain is unable to row, and the cook is in charge of bailing the boat. Throughout the ordeal the men vacillate between hope and despair, they continue to hope that someone will come to their rescue while at the same time believe that they might end up drowning before they get someone to help them. When they finally make it to shore, people ran to help them and the only one that does not survive the ordeal is Billie. Billie is also the only character that the narrator deems to name.The men are in constant struggle against nature, the author says, “These waves were most wrongly and barbarously abrupt and tall and each froth-top was a problem in small boat navigation” (p 1048). In these way they continue to fight against an unwavering and indifferent nature, a nature that seemed to give preferential treatment to birds, since the author says, “The birds sat comfortably in groups, and they were envied by some in the dingy, for the wrath of the sea was no more to them than it was to a convey of prairie chickens a thousand miles inland” (p 1050).
ReplyDeleteThe men would hold on to hope when ever they got close enough to shore and were able to see people such as, “They’ve seen us now and it won’t be long before they’ll come chasing out after us” (p 1057). They were hopeful that someone would rescue them, but no one would help because the people on land believed that they were fishermen. Thus, their hope would turn into anger against the inlanders, as one says, “I feel kike socking him one, just for luck…he seemed so damned cheerful” (p 1057). They continue to struggle against nature (the waves) that even when they are silent, they seemed sinister and when they are not, they growl monstrously, the wind raged like a mountain cat and a shark surrounded them like a vulture. Although, humankind may see their situation as unjust, since they were good hard working men who love themselves and cling to any hope of life; the men in the boat felt that what they were going through was a crime executed by nature, they were also aware that nature perceived them as insignificant, and irrelevant to earth’s survival, as one realized and said, “..nature does not regard him as important, and that she feels she would not maim the universe” (p 1059).
Crane’s depiction of nature is that is heartless, capricious, and formidable while humankind is resilient and able to come together in tough times to ensure humanities survival, thus humankind is forever hopeful even when the outcome may seem dismal.
Your blog and the depiction of nature vs. humankind are almost the same as the ones that I was able to gather in this story. Nature vs. humankind in this short story is evident in almost every aspect of the story. From the cruel nature of the sea and its waves to the mocking gestures of the seagulls floating upon the sea, and the waiting shark that circles the small boat. vs. the men and their ability to work together continuously to row the boat, bail the water, and give directions. The man's ability to keep pushing forward even after every barrier that does not allow them to make it to shore continues to work together in hopes of survival.
DeleteIn Stephen Crane’s, “Open Boat” the tribulations of four men, stuck on a small boat at sea after the sinking of their ship, fight against the vicious nature of the sea with only their will to survive. Crane’s depiction of nature vs. humankind can be distinguished first by the seemingly disobedient waves that on numerous accounts seem to be a constant force of troubling hardships the men face. Although, tormented by the audacious waves that are described as being that of a “bucking broncho” (p.1049, para.2) the men do their best to work cooperatively with one another to survive. For instance, the “Oiler” and the “Correspondent” work tirelessly to row the boat with the direction of the captain, by taking turns and switching off when one became too tired to continue. While being tormented by the treacherous waves, they are confronted by what could be described as mocking seagulls, who would sit down on the waves as if the sea was no enemy at all. The depiction of a “brotherhood of men” was being “established on the seas” (p.1051, para.8) between the men, when the likely hood of quarrels would have been more expected. After laying eyes on what appears to be a lighthouse the men grow hopeful that they would soon be spotted and rescued from the grasp of the unruly sea. Although, not spotted by anyone at the “House of refuge” the men are spotted by a group on the shore. However, the unmannerly sea and waves take another mournful blow at the men, forcing them to turn the boat around and head back out to sea to calmer water. Expressed by the words, “When it occurs to a man that nature does not regard him as important” (p.1059, para. 3 of Ch. VI), when the men must endure another night on the small boat, tormented by the continuous waves and the overwhelming sense of exhaustion, even then, the men continue to put up a fight against the nature of the sea. Even more when the presence of a shark appears for a while during the night. The next morning after the decision to attempt and make it to shore was determined, even with the fear of drowning, the men made the venture in the small boat for the shore. Still teased by the power of the sea and the waves in the men’s attempt to make it to shore, their boat is tossed around, flipping over, and discarding the men into the sea. Fighting with the powerfulness that comes with the sea the men fight to stay above water and survive their last battle against nature. Ultimately, in the end, the men’s debilitating battle with nature on their venture to survive in a small boat comes to an end when help from a single man comes into the water to help them to shore. While it is evident that nature won the fight against the oiler when he is found “face downward” (p.1064, para.4) in the sea, nature does not win against the fight of the other men.
ReplyDeleteThe Open Boat talks about a story of four men that end up surviving a shipwreck and now have to survive out in the ocean. The survivors are the oiler, the captain, the cook, and the correspondent from the shipwreck and had to work together to keep their only dingy afloat for them to find land. The men each had a role to on the dingy as they each had something to contribute to the boat. The captain was the rational one who would think to solve their problems while the cook and oiler would work together to take turns on the rowing of the boat while the correspondent was just their lookout for them in case they missed something. It was like nature was playing a cruel game with the survivors by teasing them with waves, seagulls, and the shark. “Did you see the shark playing around?” (Stephen Crane 1040) The ocean was showing them no sympathy and almost tried to take out their dingy. “A singular disadvantage of the sea lies in the fact that after successfully surmounting one wave you discover that there is another behind it just as important and just as nervously anxious to do something effective in the way of swamping boats.” (Stephen Crane 1029) They came across an island that seem to have life on it and the people saw them and the survivors thought they were going to be rescued. The men’s mentality does take a toll as one of them even says this “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?” The men are not used to the environment unlike the seagulls are where they are not afraid of approaching the humans as the seagulls do not have fear. The one seagull that land on the captain’s head made him mad but he knew if he tried to shoo away the seagull the dingy would capsize on all of them. They come across an island with people on it that had a light house and they thought they finally reached civilization. It is amazing that Stephen Crane lived through this experience to tell others about it and how much the men endure while out at sea. The ocean is a scary place as there is no ground to touch and we still do not know what lies out in the ocean. The men finally make it to shore and as they got out of the dingy it had capsized and all, but one man was left behind. The oiler was the one man left behind as the boat capsized and this was after all four of the men fought hard and long to stay alive. This was such an interesting true story of Stephen Crane when he was young, and this must have been terrifying to have witness and live through it.
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