In the short story “The Open Boat” by Stephen Crane, the theme of survival is illustrated in many ways. In the story, four sailors are stranded at sea after their boat capsized off of the coast of Florida. The crew must find many ways to survive, and their nerves and lives are put to the test. The author uses many techniques such as setting in time and place, imagery, and the character’s dialogue and actions to illustrate the theme of survival in the short story “The Open Boat”.
Stephen Crane uses the setting of the story to portray the theme of survival. Throughout the entire story, the four sailors are constantly trying to survive lost in the vast, deep, dark, unknown ocean. The ocean is dangerous to the sailors, where the waves “were jagged.. and seemed to thrust up in points like rocks”(195). The sailors see the ocean as jagged rocks, and everywhere they go is dangerous, and they risk wrecking their boat everywhere they go. The author uses this analogy to show that the characters must be alert at all times, making sure that every step they take is the right one, so that they don’t risk capsizing their boat and dying. The setting of this story also shows that the character’s willingness to survive must be endless and demanding. The ocean is relentless too everyone, the ocean toys with the sailors, because after “successfully surmounting one wave you discover that there is another behind it” (196). The ocean doesn’t give up and there are constantly waves coming and it makes it seem like they are never going to get out of the ocean and get saved. This toys with the character’s minds, proving that they must have a strong will, knowing that they will get saved eventually. The theme of survival is conveyed consistently in this story through the setting.
Crane also conveys survival through imagery. There are many symbols in this story that Crane uses to transmit the theme. One symbol is the boat that the men are...