Themes in The Open Boat

The sea is personified as having a voice, one the men from the open boat could “interpret” or understand. Their understanding of the sea is more profound, having survived its implacable power for several days and nights in a small dinghy. The sea is also a symbol of nature. Nature’s indifference to humankind is a universal truth they now understand from their struggles to survive.

In developing themes of naturalism in the story, the correspondent’s “true miracle of the sea” is an example of the random forces in nature that determine one’s fate. Because a wave happens to fling him over and beyond the boat, he lives.

The water-jar’s “bouncing gayly over the seas” is a discordant element in the life-or-death scene playing out as the men struggle to reach the shore, another indication that nature is indifferent to their living or dying.

The passage reflects themes of naturalism in the story: the idea that there is no relationship between the universe and humankind. Nature is indifferent to human beings; humans struggle alone to survive in the natural world, and their fate is only a matter of chance and circumstance.

The “pathos” or pitiful sadness of his situation results from knowing that nature and the universe itself are indifferent to him; his prayers will not be answered, and only he loves himself and values his own life. This recognition, the major theme in the story, is an expression of naturalism in fiction.

The shark, like the menacing seagulls and the crashing waves, symbolizes the danger inherent in confronting the forces of nature. The symbolism develops the primary conflict in the story, person vs. nature. With the others asleep in the boat, the correspondent is essentially alone in confronting the danger of the shark; human companionship would make him feel less alone in the natural world that threatens him.