Man vs Nature - Stephen Crane

In his short story, "The Open Boat", Stephen Crane paints a picture of a bleak and unforgiving world where man can find no help or sympathy. Crane's realistic writing is in direct opposition to the romantics who talked of nature as being almost paradise. They saw nature as they wanted it to be, tame, beautiful and non-threatening. Crane's nature is anything but tame. The sailors in this story struggle to survive as nature seems to oppose all of ther efforts to stay alive. This theme of man vs nature is central to many of Crane's and other contemporary realist writers. This story was inpired by Crane's horrific experience of being the victim in a shipwreck off the coast of Florida. He nearly drowned and was left in a lifeboat for many days before being rescued. This experience gave him a very dark view of nature and it is reflected in this story.