fighting nature

A detailed Summary of fighting nature

In Stephen Crane's The Open Boat, Crane uses a personal experience that happened to him to pattern this short story after. Crane's writing style consists of a very prominent use of naturalism. Naturalism is simply the struggle between nature and man, with nature being the most powerful force. In The Open Boat, Crane writes about a sinking boat, therefore placing his characters at nature's mercy. The story line for The Open Boat is based on a true experience Crane had while smuggling guns to Cuba, where he found himself in a dinghy with three other men. Crane uses naturalism to personify nature and to reveal his personal feelings of overwhelming insignificance in the face of nature, and effectively uses color to symbolize their journey.

One characteristic of naturalism is the use of personification of nature. Crane humanizes nature many times throughout his story. One example of this is description of the horizon in the opening paragraph (page 859). Crane describes the horizon as almost a living breathing being by stating that it narrowed and widened, dipping and rising. This view of the horizon can be seen as a threat to the passengers. The four men envision the horizon as human-like because it has

The last topic of naturalism produced by Crane is the overwhelming power of nature over man. This can be seen in the theme of The Open Boat, where four characters are faced with all nature's fury. Crane writes that after successfully surmounting one wave the crew had to face another (page 859). This alludes to the fact that when one overcomes an obstacle, nature has put another one in the way to cause a stumble. Crane saw nature as a very powerful thing, not to be overcome. Another example would be the fact that the passengers felt childish and stupid (page 860). The rough sea had toyed with their emotions. Upon seeing the lighthouse, the men had to remind themselves that they were indeed men, and had certain duties and responsibilities. The all-powerful sea had previously taken this train of thought away from them. Crane also uses seagulls to remind the men how much they are under the power of nature (page 861). The men envied the seagulls freedom of flight and their seemingly mastery of the environment.

Another quality of naturalism is the use of colors as symbolism. Crane used colors from the beginning to the end, serving as a timeline where each color represents a different phase of the journey. Crane begins the short story by stating that none of them knew the color of the sky but they all knew the color of the sea (page 858). Here Crane places emphasis on the men not paying attention to the sky, only to the sea. The boat is sinking and the men could only try to salvage their lives. Another example of color as a literary tool comes when Crane writes that the faces of the men must have been gray (page 860). T

Some common words found in the essay are:
Boat Crane, crane writes, power nature, page 859, crane describes, sea page, page 860, nature powerful, short story, hope rescue, crane nature,

Approximate Word count = 1107
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English