The Open Boat: Where Are These Characters From?

In Stephen Crane's short story, 'The Open Boat', four men—a correspondent, a captain, a cook, and an oiler named Billie—are stranded at sea after their ship sinks. The story is based on Crane's own experience of surviving a shipwreck off the coast of Florida in 1896. The correspondent is presumed to be Crane himself, as he was working as a war correspondent at the time of the shipwreck. The men come from different backgrounds and have different personalities, but they must put aside their differences and work together to survive. The captain, though injured, leads the men and provides navigational guidance. The oiler, Billie, is the strongest and most capable, but tragically, he is the only one who does not survive. The cook is optimistic and provides comfort to the others, while the correspondent, who is not a crew member, takes on an equal share of the rowing and reflects on the indifference of nature.

The correspondent, based on Crane himself

The character of the correspondent in "The Open Boat" is autobiographical, based on Crane himself. Crane was a journalist and writer who boarded the Commodore in 1896 to cover the brewing war between Cuba and its colonizer, Spain. The ship sank, and Crane and three other men endured 30 hours stranded at sea in a small lifeboat. Crane's personal account of the shipwreck, titled "Stephen Crane's Own Story", was published a few days after his rescue.

The correspondent is the protagonist and central character of the story. He is presumed to be young and able-bodied, sharing rowing duties with the oiler. He is also, by virtue of his profession, cynical of men, but his heart is warmed by the brotherhood formed in the boat. The correspondent is prone to philosophical speculation about the camaraderie in the boat and the indifference of nature. He is pleasantly surprised by the sense of togetherness that develops between the men, who are referred to collectively as "the men", creating a silent understanding of their unity.

The correspondent's thoughts are directly shared with the reader, and he is the only character whose thoughts are revealed in this way. He is affected by the absurdity of his situation and the realisation that nature is indifferent to his fate. He is saddened by the idea that nature does not regard him as important, and he is unable to blame God for his misfortunes. He muses: "When it occurs to a man that nature does not regard him as important, and that she feels she would not maim the universe by disposing of him, he at first wishes to throw bricks at the temple, and he hates deeply that there are no bricks and no temples."

The correspondent regularly refers to the sea with feminine pronouns, pitting the four men against an intangible, yet effeminate, threat. He also questions the role of Fate, pondering why it let the men survive instead of killing them immediately. He is trapped by a local current but eventually swims to shore. He is exhausted and thinks that drowning might be pleasant. He is saved by a large wave that carries him to shallow water.

The captain, injured and unable to row

In Stephen Crane's short story "The Open Boat", the captain is injured when his ship floods. He is physically hurt during the shipwreck and incapacitated in the rowboat, sitting in the bow of the boat. The captain's hand injury means he is unable to assist with rowing the lifeboat and can only provide navigational guidance and other directives. Despite his injury, he remains dedicated to his companions and does whatever he can to help them. He stays awake all day and night, and his vigilance and care persist throughout.

The captain is calm and quiet, only speaking to give directions and lead the crew to shore. He commands complete authority and bears the full responsibility of getting everyone to safety. He is always alert and cool-headed, even when it looks like he might be sleeping. He is a quick and innovative thinker, making a sail out of his coat and a flag out of a bath towel and a branch. He is also emotionally strong, visibly grieving the loss of his ship and the crew who died, yet he remains strong for the sake of his companions.

The captain embraces uncertainty, acting as a model for the other men and a counterpoint to the cook's self-assuredness. He is a paternal figure, and his role is the most demanding. He must chart a course, make safety decisions, and determine how to best utilize the men's efforts. His leadership is evident when he remains silent during the oiler's outbursts, understanding that responding to trivial matters gives them undue importance. He recognizes that a leader's duty is to stay focused on the real challenges.

Despite his grief, the captain believes it is his responsibility to lead the men to safety. He makes decisions for the crew and offers encouraging words, telling them, "we'll get ashore all right". However, there are moments when he appears to be the least hopeful of their chances of survival. When the men first spot land, the captain's positive tone turns gloomy as he says: "if we don't all get ashore, I suppose you fellows know where to send news of my finish?". This question leads the narrator to reflect on the cruelty of nature, fate, and the torment of drowning.

Ultimately, the captain survives by clinging to the overturned boat as it is carried into shallow water by the surf. He even insists that the other men be rescued first.

The cook, optimistic and unfit

The cook is a cheerful, chubby man who, despite not being fit enough to help with rowing, keeps himself busy by bailing water out of the boat. He is optimistic about their chances of rescue, frequently voicing his certainty that they will be saved. However, he is always wrong.

The cook is the first to suggest the presence of a lifesaving station and cannot help but fantasise about the simple pleasures of life on land, such as his favourite pies and meats. His focus on food stirs up despair within the group, and he is reprimanded by the oiler for not doing his fair share of rowing. Despite this, the cook remains unwaveringly confident that they will be rescued. When they finally spot the shore, he repeatedly expresses his surprise that the "crew" of what he imagines is a life-saving station has not noticed them and sent out a rescue boat. He continues this even after it becomes clear that the building is abandoned.

The cook is pulled from the water by the life-saving man, but he survives in the sea thanks to the captain, who instructs him to float on his back and use an oar to row himself to shore. The cook is one of the three survivors, despite being unfit and unable to help with the rowing.

The cook is a foil to the captain's more practical acceptance of uncertainty. While the captain remains silent during the cook's outbursts of optimism, understanding that responding to trivial matters gives them undue importance, the cook serves as a source of comfort and hope for the group, even if his fantasies are detrimental to the common good.

The oiler, Billie, the only character with a name

The oiler, Billie, is the only character in "The Open Boat" with a name. This fact alone sets him apart from the others. While we don't learn much about Billie's background, we know that he works as an oiler, responsible for oiling the machinery in a ship's engine room. He is a quiet, tired, and hard-working man who rides a lifeboat with three other survivors: the captain, the correspondent, and the cook.

Before the shipwreck, Billie had worked a double shift in the engine room of the ship, the Commodore, which makes him the most exhausted of the four men. Despite his fatigue, he remains strong, empathetic, and always willing to relieve the correspondent from rowing. He is also the most realistic of the group, never losing sight of their slim chance of survival. He takes pleasure in having some control over the dinghy's direction, steering with a short stick as a rudder.

Throughout the story, Billie takes turns rowing with the correspondent and speaks very little, except to echo the captain's instructions or make occasional short comments. He is the lynchpin of the crew, holding everyone together through his staunch heroism. He never gives in to hopelessness, maintaining an image of strength, warmth, and integrity.

When the captain gives the order to row to shore, Billie is the one at the oars. He starts swimming hard towards the shore when the men are tossed from the boat, setting himself apart once again. Sadly, Billie is the only one of the four who drowns. He is found face-down in shallow waters, within sight of land and rescue. Nature, in the form of physical laws, defeats him.

The fact that Crane gives Billie a name, possibly inspired by Billy Higgins, who drowned in real life, makes his death all the more poignant and personal. We collectively turn our heads away for a moment, and when we look back, Billie is gone.

The shipwreck and their time at sea

The shipwreck and subsequent time at sea that inspired Stephen Crane's short story "The Open Boat" took place in January 1897. Crane, a journalist, was travelling to Cuba via Jacksonville, Florida, on the steamship SS Commodore. The ship was carrying 27 or 28 men, as well as supplies and ammunition, to support the Cuban insurrection against Spain.

On the St. Johns River, less than two miles from Jacksonville, the Commodore struck a sandbar in a dense fog and damaged its hull. After being towed off the sandbar, it was beached again in Mayport, Florida, and suffered further damage. A leak began in the boiler room, and due to malfunctioning water pumps, the ship came to a standstill about 16 miles from Mosquito Inlet (now Ponce de León Inlet). As the ship took on more water, Crane described the engine room as resembling "a scene at this time taken from the middle kitchen of Hades."

The Commodore's lifeboats were lowered in the early hours of January 2, 1897, and the ship sank at 7 a.m. Crane was one of the last to leave the ship, in a 10-foot dinghy. He and three other men—the captain, Edward Murphy; the oiler, Billie Higgins; and the cook—floundered off the coast of Florida for a day and a half before attempting to land their craft at Daytona Beach.

The small boat, however, overturned in the surf, forcing the exhausted men to swim to shore. The oiler, Billie Higgins, drowned. The three surviving men eventually made it to shore, where they were met by rescuers.

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