SparkNotes: The Open Boat: Plot Overview.
See also, Stephen Crane Criticism. “The Open Boat” is considered to be one of the great sea tales of world literature. The story is based upon Crane's experience as a correspondent shipwrecked while on a filibustering expedition to supply Cuban revolutionaries in 1896.Crane uses a theme of cosmic irony. Cosmic irony is the belief that the universe is so large and man is so small that the universe is indifferent to the plight of man. In “The Open Boat,” Crane’s theme, cosmic irony, is illustrated through the use of symbols for isolation, insignificance, and indifference.In “The Open Boat” Stephen Crane uses the sea and four men adrift in a dinghy as a framework for communicating his ideas about life. The story, in my opinion, is a metaphor for life. The four men are helpless against the indifferent, yet overwhelming forces of nature.
As such, Stephen Crane’s short story, The Open Boat, is a true depiction of the tag of war between the unpredictable cosmic universe and man exposing the themes of determination for survival, mortality, friendship, with an exquisite touch of other devices such as poetry, symbolism or imagery, and tone.The Open Boat by Stephen Crane Stephen Crane’s Open Boat is based on his own experience when he was shipwrecked off the coast of Florida.
Analysis The story is prefaced by a note that states that the following story is based on the real-life sinking of a steamer called the Commodore. On January 2, 1897, the Commodore sank, just off the coast of Florida and only one day after its departure.
