Journal #25 Stephen Crane: Determination, Not Determinism!

QUOTE:

“When it came night, the white waves paced to and fro in the moonlight, and the wind brought the sound of the great sea’s voice to the men on shore, and they felt that they could then be interpreters” (Crane 1016).


SUMMARY:

After the surviving men are welcomed back to land, they watch the oiler’s body being carried up the beach. Although the land is welcoming them, they seem to have a deeper connection to the sea now.


RESPONSE:

The men actually seem to have a deeper understanding of life after this experience. They not only appear more connected to the sea, they also now “know” the color of the sky. The first sentence of The Open Boat starts out, “None of them knew the color of the sky” (Crane 1000), which can have many interpretations. However, by section VII, “The morning appeared finally, in its splendor, with a sky of pure blue, and the sunlight flamed on the tips of the waves” (Crane 1013). I think the men learn much more about themselves, the sky, and the sea, and can now become “interpreters” because they have a learning experience about this aspect of nature that they can share.

I know that some people who read this story don’t understand the ending, but I think the ending makes sense when the sentences I mentioned are really analyzed and broken down. The physical journey from the ocean to land is accompanied by a psychological journey (the mental stages that we went over in class). Although it may seem like there isn’t a solid conclusion to the story or plot, the men certainly seem to have an epiphany. That’s where I think the story is open to interpretation. Readers may understand the story to be about love and friendship, determination, or even about what I see as a more pessimistic view: determinism, different than determination because there is no free will.