The Open Boat Philosophical Viewpoints: Proto-Existentialism Quotes

A big part of existentialist philosophy is the idea of alienation: that we are isolated from ourselves and from the world around us. Crane expresses this idea very cleverly. The "free sea" the men are floating across is really quite beautiful, but due to the nature of their predicament, these guys in the boat can't appreciate it. Amidst a (literal) sea of splendid glory, the men are so caught up in their own problems that they're alienated from the beauty. We've got to admit, though—we'd have a pretty hard time finding beauty in the same waves that threatened to throw us to our doom. 

Here's another existentialist theme: anxiety, the idea that we are vulnerable to all sorts of dangers and hazards just walking around every day so we should be afraid—and that's on dry land. Imagine, again, being in a tiny boat in the…well, you know. It's pretty clear in what the oiler and cook say, that in their minds, they're envisioning all the ways they might meet their doom out here. There's even something in the tone of the captain's courageous reassurances that say he's not too sure either.

Now we're getting into the heavy stuff. The men are still wrapped up in this idea of a grand scheme, a master plan to the universe, governed by God or Fate, or something like that. They're convinced things are supposed to go a certain way, so some message must have gotten lost, or wires got crossed, because what's happening now just isn't the way things were supposed to go. It's just not fair. They'd like to speak with the manager, please.

Sartre argued that by acknowledging death and embracing nothingness, one eliminates anxiety and finds freedom. This scene here is powerfully reminiscent of a similar scene in another great proto-existential sea-faring story, Moby-Dick. After a terrifying near-death experience, Ishmael, the narrator, starts to feel like life is just a big practical joke. So he takes a moment to write his last will and testament, and immediately feels a thousand pounds lighter. These men don't immediately feel that much better, but it's their first step toward that goal.

Did you notice in the quote above, that word "absurd" sort of snuck in at the end? Well here's the real absurd moment in "The Open Boat." For real, it's more like something out of Becket than Crane. We're particularly struck by how mesmerized the men in the boat are by the swinging coat. You can just picture them staring at the coat as it spins around the guy's head. But then in the second line, the hammer really comes down: "It don't mean anything," one of them says, and it's true; the guy really isn't trying to communicate anything by swinging his coat like that. The bigger question is: What in this world does have meaning?

Here's another characteristically existentialist theme: despair. Sure, it's only natural, after the disappointment of not being rescued as they thought they would, and the fear and loneliness that often creeps up when night falls. But once again, Crane is really stressing how betrayed the men feel they would be if they were to be killed after all they'd been through. That they believe in a universe where effort and virtue are rewarded, rather than punished. We'll see how that belief holds up by the end.

Ah, the humanity! This is, for our money, the most important line in the story—a crucial turning point in the way the men understand their connection to the universe. The fact that "nature does not regard him as important" sounds like a pretty harsh realization to come to, but it's one of the biggest takeaways we can get from this story. Don't worry, Mr. Correspondent, at least we think you're pretty important.

The next line continues the re-arrangement of things. Facing a big gaping hole where a Loving Universe once was, the men step forward to fill it themselves, saying, "No one up there loves me? Well, fine, I don't care, because I love myself! I'm important because I say I am!" It re-establishes man's place in the universe, as he stands up and proclaims, "I exist!"

This is a really nice metaphor for the new perspective the men have on the universe. They no longer look to a higher power in the heavens ("the light in the north"), which has either abandoned them ("mysteriously vanished"), or never existed in the first place. Instead, they look to each other, and to the captain, who is directly in front of them, who is "wide-awake," and whom they know they can rely on.

One more time: they are through waiting for God to send a miracle down to save them. They know they have no choice but to take personal responsibility and do whatever they can to save themselves from the chaos and absurdity that surrounds them. It's a dog-eat-dog world out there.