The Art of Life essays

The Art of Life essays , The Open Boat, is a tale of heroic proportion following the story of four castaways on a lifeboat in the ocean. As we saw in Cranes previous works, the characters are merely atypical, run-of-the-mill, working-class men. To emphasize the plainness of his characters, Crane fails to even name all but one of his crew. The anecdote traces the travel of four men, the oiler, the cook, the corespondent, and the captain of the sunken vessel. The story captivates readers and takes them on a trip of crashing waves, deadly sharks, hardships at sea and grueling pain through which the four men go through. Defying death many times over, the castaways battle past hunger and fight for sanity on the trip to land. Cranes naturalistic writing takes flight as our four friends struggle against nature and all she has to throw at them, as the sea carelessly tosses their boat around. Yet amongst all the hardships they endeavor, their heroism takes charge. We see this in their constant chant to boost morale : If I am going to be drowned if I am going to be drowned if I am going to be drowned, why, in the name of the seven mad gods, who rule the sea, was I allowed to come thus far and contemplate sand and trees? Cranes point is yet again taken into consideration. When the ship goes down, four average, non-heroic characters are saved. Yet, when ordinary people are put upon to perform extraordinary feats, heroes are produced. Stephen Crane was a magnificent author with determination and morals in his heart. He wrote these stories in hope that people find heroes within their average selves. All of his characters were intruders in the land of heroism, yet all were considered literary heroes. He emphasized that you do not have to be Hercules to have super-human strength. You do not have to be a fighter to win a fight. You do not have to defy death to be classified a hero. You do not have to be a hero, to be a hero. Heroism comes fro...