The Open Water

Nothing is more terrifying than the idea of slowly dying at sea. Whether the boat capsizes or you have no water, death by dehydration, drowning, or being consumed by sharks is not a pleasant way to go. Even the thought of it scares me. Stephen Crane’s story, The Open Boat, is an excellent illustration of how scary and insignificance life can be.

Alone in a tiny boat, helpless and at the mercy of the vast sea, the characters face the realization that they are completely alone. I cannot comprehend the idea of seeing land and people but never being able to get there. Being so close, yet you might as well be a million miles away. It would be like life playing a cruel joke. "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? Was I brought here merely to have my nose dragged away as I was about to nibble the sacred cheese of life? The characters question Fate’s evil sense of humor. People see them, but do not realize their plight. It soon dawns on them that there is no "fate," no purpose for their current situation. This is the fact that brings the men to the brink of despair. It seems to them that their situation is hopeless. “Perhaps an individual must consider his own death to be the final phenomenon of nature.” The ways of nature are never fully contemplated or appreciated until a person faces death. Through this consciousness, you see that the only way through adversity in life is help from yourself and the help of those around you. This is a bitter dose of reality. Things cannot always be left to chance. People need other people to live. Finally, the characters see this truth and are able to work together and get to shore.