Interpreting the Uninterpretable: Unreasoning Nature and Heroic Endurance in Crane's The Open Boat

Ever since it was first published in 1897, ''The Open Boat'' has widely been considered a masterpiece of literary realism. All of the most recognizable elements of Realism are present within the story. In its graphic probing of events and in its objective description of the characters' psychological state, the story successfully presents a realistic sensation of the characters' experience without any of the false heroism or romantic plots that characterized other contemporary fiction. ''The Open …

…life. Under adverse circumstances, the men experience a rare connection as fellow beings united in their helplessness before the power of nature, and in their silent recognition of its indifference to their struggles. This moment of heroic transcendence is fleeting, however, as the men return to the false security of human society in the end. A triumph of short fiction, Crane's ''The Open Boat'' explores the mysteries of nature and human life on many levels.