The following story is about the cohesion of strangers stuck in the same emergency situation. Written by Stephen Crane, it offers different aspects to analyze and think back on.

Author
Stephen Crane was born on November 1st 1871 in Newark, New Jersey. As a child of Jonathan Townley Crane and Mary Helen Peck, he was born as the fourteenth and ninth surviving infant. Since he was four years old he was able to read and started writing very early. In 1879, at the young age of 8, Crane wrote his first poem “I’d Rather Have –“about his wishes for Christmas. By the age of sixteen, Crane had multiple articles already published. After disliking school and university, he left Syracuse University for good in 1891 to work as a reporter and writer. Stephen Crane’s first novel was published in 1893, named “Maggie: A Girl of the Streets”.

Summary
The story is about four men sitting in a small boat. The ship that they were on, off the coast of Florida, sank overnight and the captain, the correspondent, the oiler and the cook were the only survivors. They are working together day and night, in an attempt to stop the boat from capsizing. After some time they see a lighthouse in the distance and while thinking that it might have been abandoned, they keep approaching it. Then, they see a man on the shore, then two and then a boat in the water. Rowing through the night and in dangerous proximity to a shark, they get more exhausted as time goes on. The next morning, the boat capsizes and the passengers start swimming in the ice-cold water towards shore. With the help of a lifebuoy, the correspondent follows the group until he is caught in a current and forced back out into the ocean. Another wave hits him and brings him to shallow water where he finally gets rescued. After regaining his consciousness he learns that the captain and cook made it to shore but that the oiler has died.
For the original story, click here! https://public.wsu.edu/~campbelld/crane/open.htm

Nature’s indifference to humans
Throughout the story, the author makes it clear how insignificant humans actually are when it comes to the power of nature. On the one hand, the men experience the sinking of the ship on the open ocean and on the other hand they benefit from a helpful wind towards shore or the calm sea. The correspondent is finally rescued by a wave hitting him after he was forced out onto the ocean by that same power of the water. That saving wave might have also been what killed the oiler in the end. This shows how less nature cares about the consequences for humans and how random it is overall.

The Oiler’s death
The Oiler’s death connects to the previously mentioned point about nature’s indifference. He doesn’t deserve death any more than the other crew members and can even be seen as ‘unfair’ since he worked the hardest to keep the boat afloat. On the other hand, it also symbolizes how everyone is alone in the end and that working together has its limits. All of the crew members have to fight for themselves to reach the shore and even the generous Oiler leaves the others behind.

I hope that the story of the captain, the correspondent, the oiler and the cook has offered you some interesting insight into Stephen Crane’s work. If you are interested, you should definitely check out his other stories and articles!