The open Boat

 6.2                                        “The Open Boat”                                                 

    The Open Boat was a story about four men and their emotions, and, struggles as they try to survive against the forces of nature.  I really enjoyed this story after I really got into it.  At first I didn’t put it all together.  This was an inspiring story that these men would do anything to stay alive and fight for their lives in the middle of the sea.  The four main characters are the captain, Billie, oiler and the cook, whom survived the SS Commodore a major ship wreck. The captain was already injured and would only get weaker in the struggle to survive.  They didn’t have any food, which didn’t help matters any.  These men were very different but worked together in order to survive. They are now in the middle of the sea in a small boat fighting for their life.  I liked how Crane used the example of the bath tub to capture the size of the small boat they were in.  They have grown to know one another and only have each other to get back to shore.   When they see the lighthouse they’re optimism changes.  They know it is almost impossible to reach land that they have finally found.  This would be heart breaking knowing you can see land but unable to get there.  The men decide that they have no other choice than to swim to shore.  Three of the men decide to swim while holding on to the boat.  Billie being the strongest of all the men thought he could make it to shore, and swims a head of the others.  When the others get to shore they find Billie dead he had drowned.  This was very disappointing to me.  I just knew they were all going to live after all they went through.