Cosmic Irony in Stephen Crane's The Open Boat

Cosmic Irony in Stephen Crane's The Open Boat

Stephen Crane's "The Open Boat," is thought to be one of the finest stories

ever written by an American. Crane uses a theme of cosmic irony. Cosmic irony

is the belief that the universe is so large and man is so small that the

universe is indifferent to the plight of man. In "The Open Boat," Crane's theme,

cosmic irony, is illustrated through the use of symbols for isolation,

insignificance, and indifference. Three specific examples of cosmic irony

symbolism used by Crane are, the power of the ocean against the insignificance

of the boat, the sea against the universe, and the little boat in a vast sea

from the people on the shore.

The indifference aspect of cosmic irony is where things serve no purpose,

and there is truly no care for anyone or anything. In "The Open Boat," the

power of the ocean against the insignificance of the boat, is a prime example of

indifference used by Crane. The universe is represented by the power of the

ocean, and the small boat in this ocean is symbolic of man in this giant

universe. The immaculate power of the ocean is very indifferent to the small

boat, just as our great universe could not care less for man.

Insignificance is described as being a lack of importance. Those little

things that are insignificant mean nothing to the universe. In "The Open Boat,"

the sea against the universe is symbolic of insignificance in cosmic irony. The

sea represents something which seems very large to mankind, but is actually very

insignificant in comprison to the universe. The universe would still go on

without that sea, just like the universe would still go on without mankind.

The third form of symbolism in cosmic irony is isolation. Isolation is

being held in captivity or lack of contact with the world or universe. The

little boat in a vast sea versus the people on the shore is symbolic of

isolation. The small boal seems so large and important to the people on it,

while the people on the shore just see this small boat as one of many objects in