The Social Value of the Oceanic Environment in Stephen Crane's The Open Boat
Stephen Crane's short story The Open Boat,a typical American naturalist writing based on Crane's personal experience in the shipwreck of the Commodore,narrates the sea journey of four men who fight against the ocean in a small boat for survival,reflecting the conflicting relations between man and the nature/ocean.The story contrasts the hazard,limitation and absurdity of the oceanic living world with the security and stability of the terrestrial life,so as to reveal the significance of the oceanic environmental experiences to the terrestrial life.As the four men's aesthetic psychology is affected by their auditory,visual,tactile and palate sensations of the oceanic environment,the poetic meaning of the oceanic environmental perception is conveyed in their paradoxical life experience on the sea:they are aware of their attachment to life and the value of life in the extreme challenge of the oceanic"living world".The composition of the oceanic environmental experiences and perceptions plays a role in arousing the four men's oceanic environmental emotions.Against the antagonistic sentiments between human self and the oceanic environment felt in the particular space of the open boat where the ocean/nature/cosmos merges into oneness,it is shown that the interpersonal relationship established on the basis of loyalty and friendship is burdened with the instinctive nature of human love.The story,illustrating the four men's perception and reflection on the oceanic environment,speaks for Crane,from aspects of the ocean's natural and social attributes,his new understanding of the order of the"survival sea"of the terrestrial life:the true meaning of human's order of life in the cosmos lies in conquering the antagonistic forces and developing the gist of love.This is the social value that the oceanic environment brings to Crane and his readers.
Stephen CraneThe Open Boatoceanic environmentman-ocean relation
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