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The Open Boat | Introduction

Published in 1897, "The Open Boat" is based on an actual incident from Stephen Crane's life in January of that year. While traveling to Cuba to work as a newspaper correspondent during the Cuban insurrection against Spain, Crane was stranded at sea for thirty hours after his ship, the Commodore, sank off the coast of Florida. Crane and three other men were forced to navigate their way to shore in a small boat. One of the men, an oiler named Billy Higgins, drowned while trying to swim to shore. Crane wrote the story "The Open Boat" soon afterward. The story tells of the travails of four men shipwrecked at sea who must make their way to shore in a dinghy. Crane's grippingly realistic depiction of their life-threatening ordeal captures the sensations and emotions of struggle for survival against the forces of nature. Because of the work's philosophical speculations, it is often classified as a work of Naturalism, a literary offshoot of the Realist movement. "The Open Boat" has proved an enduring classic that speaks to the timeless experience of suffering a close call with death.

The Open Boat Summary

"The Open Boat'' begins with a description of men aboard a small boat on a rough sea. Details begin to emerge. They are four survivors of a shipwreck: the cook, overweight and sloppily dressed, who is bailing water out of the bottom of the boat; the oiler, a physically powerful man named Billie who is rowing with one oar; the unnamed correspondent, who is rowing with the other oar; and the captain, who lies injured in the bottom of the boat. Each man stares intently at the waves which threaten to swamp the boat. A few characteristics become evident about each man: the cook is the most talkative of the four; the oiler, taciturn and an adept seaman. The captain is profoundly sorrowful at the loss of his ship and the potential loss of life along with it. The correspondent remains less well defined. The reader does learn that he engages in rather pointless discussion with the cook about the liklihood of being seen by rescuers or of finding a house of refuge on shore. They debate the points until the oiler has twice repeated that they are ''not there yet.’’

This section features further character development and superb descriptive passages depicting the tiny boat's course across the rough waves. The captain briefly expresses doubt about their chances of survival, but then reassures the men that ‘‘we'll get ashore all right.'' The captain is the first to spot a barely visible lighthouse and they know they are approaching shore.

The captain improvises a sail using his overcoat and an oar to give the oiler and correspondent a chance to rest, but when the wind dies they resume rowing. The exhausted correspondent thinks of the absurdity—from his current point of view—of people chosing to row a boat for pleasure. He shares this thought with the other men, and the oiler smiles in sympathy. Unwilling to risk running... » Complete The Open Boat Summary