Need help with my writing homework on Thematic Concerns in the Open Boat. Write a 1250 word paper answering; Crane’s story provides the readers with a perfect blend of human suffering, their various behaviors and natures as well as the desolation that surrounds human beings. Although the dialect is simple and smooth flowing yet he captures essence of meaning and gives a close observation of the brutalities of the Mother Nature and human suffering. As Turchi and Baxter also states, ““The Open Boat” insists on moral truths. They are confounding moral truths and many readers will be frustrated that the wisdom of the work cannot be distilled, the themes stated plainly”. Some of the major thematic concerns that Stephen Crane incorporates in the story includeshuman bonding and relations,Man vs. Nature, unavailability of God and communication gaps.

A common theme that recurs in most of Crane’s works is human bonding or relationships. It appears that the writer believes that in this world an individual cannot survive on his own as this world is an unfriendly place and human beings require some sort of weapon against the brutalities of nature and that weapon is an individual’s bonding with his fellow beings. This theme is excessively apparent from not only the setting of the story but also from the gradual plot progression. Crane creates a microcosm of mankind on the dinghy. Although initially the four survivors had nothing in common and there is a certain awkwardness that is observed amongst their behaviors yet it is observed that when they realize the unpredictability and the helplessness of their dire situation they form an unannounced brotherhood to survive the brutalities of Mother Nature. As it is also stated in the text as well, It would be difficult to describe the subtle brotherhood of men that was here established on the seas.