 Hello and welcome to a summary of what you need to know about the open boat by Stephen Crane. I'll explain the meaning of this story as it appears in stories of ourselves, the University of Cambridge International Examination's anthology of short stories in English. I'll begin with some context about the author of this story, Stephen Crane, before explaining the plot in a nutshell. I'll explain the characters that you should be aware of in the story and then I'll highlight important themes that you should consider when studying this text. Bear in mind that we do have a stories of ourselves course that goes into depth on these stories in the collection, so make sure you also sign up for our course. Now let's get started. Now contextually speaking, when it comes to Stephen Crane, bear in mind that this story, the open boat, is a dramatic short story actually based on his own real life experience when a ship that he was sailing onto towards Cuba sunk in high seas off the coast of Florida. Stephen Crane was a correspondent for an American newspaper and he was in his way to write about problems that led up to the Spanish-American War in 1898 and the ship that he was on sank in the high seas. Therefore, we can perhaps also see his characteristics perhaps reflected in the correspondence, one of the characters within the story. Now let's have a look at the open boat itself. Now the plot in the story opens with four men, a cook, a correspondent, an oiler and a captain and they're in a lifeboat in stormy seas. So you could also interpret as I've mentioned the correspondent as representing Stephen Crane himself. Now in the story, they're essentially off the coast of Florida just after the ship has sunk. Soon they spot the light of a lighthouse somewhere in the distance so they know that they're near land. Although they can eventually see the shore, the waves are so large that it's too dangerous to try and take the boat in to land. The waves will destroy the lifeboat and possibly crash hard on the men in the surf, maybe killing them. Now as they're out at sea, people on shore do see their lifeboat and they try to signal to the men to come in but the sea is just too rough. The four men in the boat hope that the people on land will send for a bigger boat out to rescue them but that doesn't happen. Instead the men are forced to take the boat further out to sea where the waves are not quite as large and dangerous. They spend a total of two nights on the lifeboat and take turns rowing and then resting. They're not sure if they'll survive and they have exchange addresses in case any of them should die. Now on the morning after the second night, the men are weak and no fishing boat has come to rescue them. The captain therefore decides that they must try to take the lifeboat as close to the shore as possible and then be ready to swim when the surf inevitably turns the boat over and throws the men into the cold sea and this is exactly what happens. As they get close to the land, the waves get bigger and bigger and just as they expect, a big wave comes and all the men are thrown into the sea. The lifeboat then turns over and the four men must swim into the shore and there are rescuers waiting on shore who help the men out of the water. Now strangely, as the cook, captain and correspondent reach the shore safely and are helped out of the water, they discover that somehow the oiler, the strongest man of them all and the best swimmer actually drowned after being smashed in the surf by a huge wave and as night comes, the men still hear the pounding of the waves in the shore and the voice of the sea. Now they understand the power of the sea and how easily it can claim even the strongest man's life. Now in terms of characters, the first is the captain. So the captain plays a really important role in giving directions to the men in the boat. He has an injury that prevents him from rowing. Depending on the mood in the boat, the captain's attitude is alternately despairing but also calm, sarcastic and hopeful. The other important character is the cook, so he's optimistic and somewhat feckless. However, he's not fit enough to row and so he spends most of the story bailing out the water that collects at the bottom of the boat. He provides warmth and comfort to the correspondent and believe when they sleep next to him. The correspondent is the other character. So he's essentially the story's protagonist and he's based on Crane himself, so the correspondent is not a crew member but is actually on board the ship that sank. Nevertheless, he takes on an equal share of the rowing. His parental philosophical speculations about the camaraderie in the boat and the indifference that nature has towards them as humans. The other important character is the oiler. Now the oiler is the only person who gets a name, he's called Billy. And he shares rowing duties with the correspondent but because of his superior strength and experience he actually doesn't suffer that much fatigue as easily as other men. Despite his abilities, however, Billy is the only character of the four that sadly drowns at the end of the story. Now when it comes to themes, the first is man versus nature. Now this is the story's central theme. Isolated from society, the shipwrecked men are alone in on the deep and open ocean. In a tiny boat on turbulent seas, they are especially vulnerable to natural elements. They must remain vigilant and united against the violent waves that threaten to sink the dinghy and drown them. From this adversarial position, the correspondent characterises the sea as a malevolent angel of a cruel nature. However, as the narrative progresses, the correspondent's perspective on the conflict changes. He struggles with his beliefs, wanting to trust that the universe has a plan for him. Ultimately, the correspondent overcomes his uncertainty by accepting man's insignificant. Nature is not with him or against him as he comes to see it. Nature is simply flatly indifferent to man's fate. The other theme is that of survival. Now a desire for survival undergirds the entire story and from the outset the men focus solely on surviving the harsh raves and cold to return to safety offshore. And the desire to survive gives rise to solidarity within the boat and to the correspondent's reflections on the fate of humans in an essentially indifferent universe. Yet as exhaustion sets in, the correspondent considers the appeal of drowning. In contrast to strain, fatigue and existential uncertainty inherent to survival, the cessation of life to that cold ocean often resembles a soft bed. Nevertheless, the correspondent's desire to survive makes him fight against the law of giving up. The other theme is solidarity, which is another important theme. Pitted against an indifferent nature, the men develop a sense of community on the boat. The correspondent is grateful for the subtle brotherhood of men that was here established on the sea to quote from the passage. The men never speak of the solidarity they mutually feel, but it's what enables them to maintain a sanity and a sense of order in this very difficult and trying situation. The stories suggest that in a universe indifferent to humanity's fate, shed in understanding and mutual respect among people is vital to survival. So that's all. If you found this summary video useful, do make sure you sign up for our stories of ourselves course and also check out our website which is www.frestretreatures.com where you can find plenty of other English revision worksheets, model answers and online courses covering all the major English syllabuses including edXL, AQA and IGCSE. Thank you so much for watching.