In this story, a small crew of men, including an oiler, battle against a tumultuous sea. Just as land appears, and with it the crew's hope for survival, the oiler drowns in the sea.
There are two types of irony here. The first type is situational irony, which is when what happens contradicts what the readers and the characters are expecting to happen. The fact that the oiler, after hours of struggling, finally sees land and anticipates his rescue but then dies unaided is a good example of situational irony. The fact that he dies so close to the land makes his death all the more ironic. Indeed, he dies, face down, in the shallow water close to the shore, so that "His forehead touche(s) sand that (is) sometimes, between each wave, above the sea."
The second type of irony is dramatic irony, which is when the reader or audience knows something that the characters do not. In this instance, the reader knows that, despite the house that the crew see on the land, there is "not a lifesaving station within twenty miles in either direction." Thus the oiler dies thinking that there are people on the land who are simply refusing to rescue the crew. Sadly, this thought makes the oiler's death ironic and also rather tragic.
Thursday, December 8, 2016
In "The Open Boat," what is the irony in the oiler's death? What message might Crane be conveying here about fate?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
What is the theme of the chapter Lead?
Primo Levi's complex probing of the Holocaust, including his survival of Auschwitz and pre- and post-war life, is organized around indiv...
-
The statement "Development policy needs to be about poor people, not just poor countries," carries a lot of baggage. Let's dis...
-
James is very unhappy on a number of occasions throughout the story, but he's especially unhappy with his life situation as the story be...
-
Primo Levi's complex probing of the Holocaust, including his survival of Auschwitz and pre- and post-war life, is organized around indiv...
-
Bacteria are single-celled microorganisms that thrive in diverse environments (such as the ocean, the soil, and the human body). Various bac...
-
Note that these events are not in chronological order. The story is told by the narrator, looking back upon her life. The first notable even...
-
One of the plot lines in Pride and Prejudice is Mrs. Bennet’s plan to marry off her daughters, preferably to rich men. Throughout the novel...
-
Under common law, any hotel, inn, or other hospitality establishment has a duty to exercise "reasonable care" for the safety an...
No comments:
Post a Comment