The Open Boat by Stephen Crane“The Open Boat” Four men drift across the January sea in an open boat, having lost the ship some time after sunrise . Now, in the clear light of day, men are beginning to understand the full gravity of their situation. Realizing that their main conflict will be man versus nature, in this case, the stormy sea. In the story "The Open Boat", Stephen Crane gives a detailed description of two days spent in a ten-foot dinghy by four men: a cook, a correspondent, that is, Crane himself, the wounded captain, and Billy Higgens, the oiler. . The Men in the Open Boat show us that compassion for one's partner, callous resistance, and courage are the true moral standards in a neutral universe. Characterization creates the setting in this story. In the book it is said that the protagonist's personality determines the action or setting of a story. The four men in this story make up the entire cast; there is no protagonist. An omniscient narrator writes this story, who is Crane. This story also reinforces the fact that this is a collective experience. Emotional support and knowledge of the sea come from the injured captain. The strength and resistance comes from the correspondent and the oiler, which keeps them all headed in the right direction. The cook is an example of the three who ignore the stormy sea. Characterization is a great example of setting this story as the characters make up the majority of the setting. The setting of “The Open Boat” creates the story. “A seat on this boat was no different from a seat on a wild horse, and by the same token a wild horse is not much smaller. The craft reared and reared and dived like an animal. These few lines help the reader to imagine the... middle of paper....... Furthermore, the captain struggling with his inner self wonders how his ship can sink. Wondering why he didn't go down with his ship to save another crew member. Meanwhile, the oiler battles with himself wondering why he is going through so much pain and suffering rowing the boat when they are all going to die anyway. Man against himself can sometimes be more killer than man against nature because of the mental anguish a person may go through to find the reasons why nature would do this to him. The men of “The Open Boat” showed us that no person or group can be intelligent or think outside of nature. Nature has shown us that it does not show favoritism. As a result, four men land on an island and only three survive to tell the tale of their war against nature. In conclusion, nature does things for a reason, we may not always be able to know why, but there is a reason.