"The Open Boat" is a short story by Stephen Crane based upon the shipwreck he was involved in en route to Cuba, an experience which left him stranded in a small lifeboat with three other men off the coast of Florida for thirty hours. The story parallels this event through the narration of the correspondent. The correspondent is a man who is shipwrecked alongside a captain, a cook, and an oiler and forced to survive by floating in open water in a small boat.
In terms of classical conflict structures, "The Open Boat" demonstrates the theme of man versus nature, as the story tosses the protagonist and his companions into an unstable situation in which they are forced to confront the uncontrollable forces of the sea. Part of this struggle involves coming to terms with the indifference that nature seems to have toward their suffering. In that sense, the story could also be viewed as thematically addressing the idea of "man versus boat" in that their small dinghy serves as the container for their struggle. It enables their survival and allows them to "get an idea of the resources of the sea in the line of waves that is not probable to the average experience." It thrusts upon the four men a new perspective, and in doing so, it forces the correspondent to wrestle with his isolation and uncertainty about his fate.
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