The Open Boat Analysis

We actually know exactly when and where this story is intended to have taken place, because Crane based the story on his own experience in a lifeboat off the coast of Florida. The area was former...

The narration is certainly the strangest and most controversial aspect of "The Open Boat." The big question: is the correspondent the narrator? The easy answer would be "yes." Stephen Crane...

Adventure, Philosophical Literature, Creative Non-Fiction Crane managed to kill several birds with one stone in "The Open Boat." This story is one part thrilling tale of courage, danger, and her...

We might call them Stephen Crane's three S's. We'll take them in order.1. Serious: This is no joking matter. These men are seriously in danger of losing their lives. Crane doesn't sensationaliz...

On its surface, "The Open Boat" is a dutifully objective retelling of the experience of four men on a lifeboat. It's the kind of disaster story that we are familiar with reading about in the ne...

Let's come up with some other possible titles Stephen Crane could have gone with for this story. We're thinking stuff like "The Boat," or, "The Life Boat," or how about "The Boat That Wasn't Much B...

A Tale Intended to be After the Fact. Being the Experience of Four Men Sunk from the Steamer Commodore Okay, this isn't exactly an epigraph; it's really like a subtitle, in characteristically nine...

The big question about the ending surrounds the death of Billie the oiler. Why does he die? In his final moments, he tries to defeat nature by strength while the others use logic and reason. He als...

This short story is pretty straightforward. The prose is clear and concise, and it's easy to follow the action. So plot-wise, we've got nothing to worry about. You might want to put it into low...

Initial Situation Four guys are in a lifeboat off the coast of Florida. Their ship sank, and they're pretty bummed about the whole ordeal. As you might imagine, the sea is really violent, and th...

Crane played baseball at Syracuse University, and claimed he was good enough to play professionally. Uh-huh, sure you were. (Source)Apparently, Crane was a real scrapper. He attended Lafayette...

Is there a rating for zero steaminess? No, not just zero steaminess, but a world in which sex and steaminess simply don't exist? "The Open Boat" exists in a world without romantic love. We have n...

Lady Caroline Norton: "Bingen on the Rhine" (5.7)