The Open Boat Group at eNotes

Why aren't the men identified by name? And why is the oiler the only one...

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 04:32:27 PST

Why aren't the men identified by name? And why is the oiler the only one whose name is given?

Here are some titles of poems:"The Wreck of the Hesperus" by...

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 15:03:14 PST

Here are some titles of poems:"The Wreck of the Hesperus" by Longfellow"The Wreck of the Deutschland" by Hopkins "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" by G. Lightfoot "The Tay Bridge Disaster" by McGonagall"Convergence of the Twain" by Hardy (about the Titanic) "Auto Wreck" by Shapiro"The Wreck of the Admella" by Angas

Stephen Layne's this side of paradise and Neal Shusterman's Shadow Club

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 15:03:14 PST

Stephen Layne's this side of paradise and Neal Shusterman's Shadow Club

Novels, Stories, Etc. About Disasters?

Thu, 6 Nov 2008 20:35:01 PST

What are some titles of stories, novels, plays, or poems that have disasters or accidents (like ship or train wrecks) as their main subject?

I'm thinking of works like Crane's "The Open Boat" that is fiction based upon an event that Crane actually experienced or even songs like "Casey Jones" that relate, in a fictionalized way, a disastrous train wreck.

A hallucination is a possibility. A shared interpretation of events may...

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 08:50:43 PST

A hallucination is a possibility. A shared interpretation of events may also be likely. Your point picks up on Crane's intentional vagueness. The larger point is that the reader feels what the men on the boat do. They feel the universe is turning to the absurd. They are desperate to be noticed and once they feel they are noticed help does not come at all. Crane is playing against the tendency of humanity to interpret their situations...

People on the Beach A Hallucination?

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 08:35:29 PST

In the book Crane states that "... it required a searching glance to discern the little black figure".

If it the man was so small how could they go into such detail or were they just hallucinating him and and convincing the others to see what each man was seeing?

The correspondent does note that although he and the others are facing...

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 10:23:29 PST

The correspondent does note that although he and the others are facing death, he feels closer to them than any others in his life. Crane was a naturalist. Naturalism views humanity in the same terms that scientists viewed other animals; in objective observational fashion. The close bond formed among the men is dependent upon the threat that surrounds them all. They create a symbiotic balance. Like the laborers in anthill are aware that if they...

What does "The Open Boat" say about human beings, male...

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 10:00:30 PST

What does "The Open Boat" say about human beings, male bonding, and survival? How are they related?

Well, first of all, remember that this story was based on actual events...

Mon, 1 Sep 2008 14:14:17 PST

Well, first of all, remember that this story was based on actual events and Crane a Naturalist who sought to evoke the world as it was. Therefore the details you mention need to function first and foremost on the literal level: the sea is first the sea (and only second anything symbolic), etc. Next, remember that the point of view shifts, and so these objects might mean different things to different people. To the news correspondent, for...

The correspondent swims to water up to his waist. The naked man on the...

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 08:46:43 PST

The correspondent swims to water up to his waist. The naked man on the beach drags the cook ashore "and then waded toward the captain, but the captain waved him away, and sent him to the correspondent". Although the man was naked, he appeared to have a halo "about his head, and he shone like a saint." He was not able to save all the men, "In the shallows, face downward, lay the oiler. His forehead touched sand...

After the men see the lighthouse, the correspondent finds eight cigars...

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 08:34:42 PST

After the men see the lighthouse, the correspondent finds eight cigars in the "top pocket of his coat". Four were soaked and "four were perfectly scatheless" someone found three matches and the "with an assurance of an impending rescue shining in their eyes, puffed at the big cigars and judged well and ill of all men. Everybody took a drink of water." When the men smoke the cigars together it is symbolic of...

In the story "The Open Boat" what do the cigars and matches...

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 18:32:00 PST

In the story "The Open Boat" what do the cigars and matches symbolize?

Yes, you're absolutely right! At the end of the story, the three men who...

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 09:56:56 PST

Yes, you're absolutely right! At the end of the story, the three men who have survived stand on the shore, listening to the waves, "and they felt they could then be interpreters." Crane's use of starting and ending his story with the men as a collective group shows what lesson the men have learned as a result of their ordeal. In the beginning, the men see their situation as ridiculous. As they face the possibility of death, the men...

At the beginning, the characters are described collectively. Is the...

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 20:12:50 PST

At the beginning, the characters are described collectively. Is the ending of the story a return to the collective form of the beginning? Example?

Naturalism is a sub-genre of realism. Crane's writing reflects realistic...

Sat, 3 May 2008 14:32:02 PST

Naturalism is a sub-genre of realism. Crane's writing reflects realistic and naturalistic qualities. The Open Boat is an example of realism because it portrays events objectively and realistically. The narrator does not cast judgment but explains events as they happened in order for the reader to experience them without a type of moral bias. This piece is also an example of naturalism because most of the characters choices are beyond their...

How does "The Open Boat" depict realistic writing rather than...

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 11:09:38 PST

How does "The Open Boat" depict realistic writing rather than naturalistic?

What do each of these symbols represent in "The Open Boat":...

Sun, 30 Mar 2008 16:33:22 PST

What do each of these symbols represent in "The Open Boat": the sea, the gulls, and the tower?

“Perhaps an individual must consider his own death to be the final...

Fri, 11 Jan 2008 07:45:46 PST

“Perhaps an individual must consider his own death to be the final phenomenon of nature.” This line sums up the problem of human nature as far as Naturalists are concerned. The correspondent is grappling with his own mortality. He repeats, “If I am going to die….” in his frustrating inability to remedy his own situation. The shore is visible and close enough to row to, but the rollers by the shore prevent it. It seems like a cruel...

The line is repeated for two main reasons. First, there are several men...

Thu, 3 Jan 2008 12:05:17 PST

The line is repeated for two main reasons. First, there are several men talking, and so each is going to be concerned with the end of his own life. This repetition shows that the concerns are universal even if the fears are individual. (No one thinks "If we are going to…") Second and more simply, it hammers home the emotional core of the story. This is a story about facing one's potential death, and the focus/fear it produces.

Ezra Pound invented imagism in 1912 when he helped publish the poetry of...

Sun, 9 Dec 2007 11:12:17 PST

Ezra Pound invented imagism in 1912 when he helped publish the poetry of Hilda Doolittle, calling her HD, Imagiste as a way to call attention to her work.He defined it as "clarity of expression through the use of precise visual images." In this way, it was a movement away from the more elaborate language of the Victorian and Georgian periods that was abstract or flowery or both, and, in Pound’s view, imprecise. For Pound, an image...