“They took the boat farther out to sea”: Seamanship and Agency in “The Open Boat”

Stephen Crane’s “The Open Boat” narrates the 30-hour ordeal of four men at sea on a dinghy after the shipwreck of the steamer Commodore. Three men survive, but the oiler drowns. Unlike many of Crane’s determined fictions, where social or historical factors defeat the characters, the story’s protagonist, the “correspondent” (the author’s fictional persona), is empowered by his experience on the open boat which enables him to acquire essential skills through the discovery of traditional seafaring. This contribution focuses on the oft-neglected vision of the shark and uses the lens of blue humanities to explore the different interactions between human beings, man-made objects, and the sea, hence the concept of “sea-man-ship.” It purports to show that, in this tale of survival, praxis and theoria (contemplation), are essential activities. Theoria enables the protagonist to experience an ethical/aesthetic epiphany, recapture a capacity for wonder, and acquire a decentered, nonanthropocentric vision of the sea.