The Open Boat Theme of Philosophical Viewpoints: Proto-Existentialism

Although the term "existentialism" would not be widely used until the mid-twentieth century (you can check out Shmoop's take on Mr. Existentialist, Jean-Paul Sartre, here), the philosophy was foreshadowed by a number of thinkers in the late nineteenth-century. We might think of these nineteenth-century works as "proto-existentialist" (like Dostoyevsky's Notes from the Underground).

"The Open Boat" is definitely one of those stories that's right up Existentialist Alley—just take a right off Nihilist Boulevard, a left on Determinist Drive, and you're there. Let's tick off some points:

• The alienated self: We can't thinkof a better symbol of than a tiny lifeboat bobbing in the Atlantic.
• Anxiety: Umm, did we mention thelost lifeboat thing? How about the circling sharks?
• The absurd: There's a scene in thestory where a man appears on the beach, presumably to rescue our heroes, but then he just stands there, swinging his jacket wildly in the air.

Geez, you'd almost think Crane and Becket were like, BFFs. If after reading this story you find yourself asking where there's a point to anything, don't worry—that's kind of the point. 

1. How does the fact that this story takes place on the ocean add to the existential undertones of the story?
2. The narrator claims that all four men share similar doubts and ask similar questions about God and the universe while out on the boat. Do you think this is true, or is it really just the correspondent who is thinking about this stuff?
3. If the correspondent really thinks this event is "the best experience of his life," then why does he (and the other men) feel so much anxiety and despair (3.1)?
4. Early on in the story, the men are described as "hatless" (2.1). Do you think this might suggest something about their relationship with God? What would that be?

There is no point to anything. Nature doesn't care whether these guys live or die, and the fact that they're rescued in the end is only a matter of chance. There is no such thing as destiny, or fate. Life just happens and we have to roll with the punches.

Things might get pretty tough sometimes, but fate (and destiny) have ways of intervening right when we need it the most.