Journal #12 Crane

Liana Laskin


English 48B

"The Open Boat" by Stephen Crane

February 12, 2009

"A scene at this time taken from the middle kitchen of hades." (Crane's description of the SS Commodore engine room as the ship was taking on water, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Crane)

Summary:

This story is based on Crane’s near death experience on the SS Commodore when it sank off the coast of Florida. Four sailors: the Captain (who is injured), the Cook, the Oiler (named Billie), and the Correspondent (most likely Crane in the third person) are lost at sea during a storm and the dinghy they are in is quickly filling with water. They soon see shore, but believe that they are too far out to swim (when in actuality the shore is only twenty miles away). They think a man on shore sees them and is going to get help and save them, but he only turns out to be a tourist. They row back out to see and try to get to another shore the next day; soon they realize the dinghy will not last much longer. They abandon ship and attempt to swim for shore after seeing men on the beach pulling off their clothes to meet them and get them safely back on land. In the end all but the Oiler make it safely to shore and have their own reasons for believing why they managed to get back safely from such a tragedy.

Response:

I like how Crane did not tell “The Open Boat” from a first person perspective, even if it was based on a true story. As a reader, writing the story in the third person makes it easier for me to understand the Correspondent (Crane’s persona) and even relate; when a story that is based on true events is in the first person, not only is it harder to get into the head of the character (since the character is an actual person), but it also makes the source less trustworthy in a way (whether or not the person telling the story is honest). I also liked that the story was not overly pessimistic or optimistic because it made it feel more real. This was much less depressing to read than Maggie: A Girl of the Streets because there was (at least, I felt this way) a small glimmer of hope and I could see that things might turn out okay for the sailors (not counting the Oiler). I think that Crane’s view of the Correspondent wishing he had been different in life was definitely a sarcastic one because most people probably have the same sort of feeling about dying and not having done enough. Many who say they will change either change, live life differently for a while, or go back to how they were living. The Correspondent is probably only having these thoughts because his death seems so imminent. I thought it made more sense for the Correspondent to take notice of the cold water when he jumps in rather than seeing his life flash before his eyes because when he thinks about dying before, he says he would change how he acts at introductions or tea time instead of possibly helping others more.