Indifference to Anxiety in Cranes The Open Boat Essay

Indifference to Anxiety in Cranes The Open Boat In recent years, critical response to Stephen Cranes The Open Boat has shifted dramatically, focusing less on the tales philosophical agendas than on its epistemological implications. The story no longer stands as merely a naturalistic depiction of natures monumental indifference or as simply an existential affirmation of fifes absurdity. Instead, we have slowly come to realize a new level of the text, one that, according to Donna Gerstenberger, explores mans limited capacities for knowing reality (557). Gerstenbergers conclusion that the tale may be best viewed as a story with an epistemological emphasis, one which constantly reminds its reader of the impossibility of†¦show more content†¦For our purposes, what is important is that the story begins by focusing on the crews lack of knowledge. Certainly the crew knows other things: the color, the size, and the frequency of the waves for instance. Yet with this famous first sentence the narrator chooses to foreground the absen ce of knowledge, thus establishing an epistemological void, a looming unknown. Though the crews remaining struggle at sea is as much a struggle for knowledge as it is for survival, the members of the crew do not here desire to fill the void created by the opening sentence: not only do they not know the color of the sky, they do not care. In fact, it does not matter whether they know the color of the sky, for they knew it was broad day because the color of the sea changed from slate to emerald-green streaked with amber lights, and the foam was like tumbling snow (70). We should note as well that nowhere in Section l of The Open Boat does the reader discover the color of the sky. In this sense, the reader is like the crew --- neither of them knows about the sky. Arid, inShow MoreRelatedThe Open Boat by Stephen Crane Essay1882 Words   |  8 Pages â€Å"The Open Boat† is short tale of endurance, suffering, and redemption. The story focuses on four interesting sailors on a journey towards survival. They try their best to overcome the adversities of the water and raging storm. Crane focuses on the constant struggle of man’s immobility to control his own life. â€Å"The Open Boat† is a nonfictional fiction some call it. It typically is argued as only fiction, but many lean toward its nonfictional quality. Crane wrote the story based off his real life