In the passage from “The open Boat, A Tale of the sea” by Stephen Crane, a group of sailors along side their captain are left with a boat to face the raging forces of the sea on their conquest to find “sand and tree”. Throughout the passage the power of the sea reinforced and emphasized on, in comparison to the distance of land also, in the sheer distress and hopelessness caused by the predicament they are left with nothing but blame those who are in safe land whose duty is to save those who are in distress as themselves. Never the less, with the passage of time and growing of realizations the men are bound to have an internal struggle blazing within them.
The sea is a very powerful and merciless force, which is a trial sails men are fully aware of at all times. This is a relatively convincing characteristic of the sea acting as a direct source of rational thinking in sailormen, preventing them from taking any risky decisions. The power of the sea is given as a “roar” similar to that of the mighty lion, supporting the cause of being frightened by its force. In addition, in spite of giving out a “dulled” roar, “its tone was””thunderous” reinforcing and emphasizing on the infinite power that the sea possesses and the realization of the wave’s effect on their boat “we’ll swamp sure” supply not only evidence of the ultimate power but realization of the crew of their fate. The narrator gives further insight in to the state of the sea close to the ending, “the billows that came at this time were more formidable” allowing to imagine the state at which the sailors are wrapped within. The men’s realization of the their imminent doom if they were to continue to face its powerful force, which is said to be ruled by “seven mad gods” showing the extent of its power and the forces which are needed to actually gain control over it, supports the captains choice to stop opposing the waves and go back to the sea where it is relatively safer.
