Stephen Crane's story, The Open Boat, deals primary with pessimism. The story contains unemotional, naive and sad feelings. The theme of the story is the purposelessness of life which deals with man against nature. Yet the sense of brotherhood, caring, and friendship adds flavor to the beauty of this natural story.
The setting is very important for Stephen Crane. He shows us that external forces are in the control of the setting, which is the ocean. The ocean represents life or the world which is benevolent. You either survive or you don't. The ocean represents man's life, which makes the five men in the story what they are now, pessimists.
Their pessimism is shown in their first disappointment. They thought that they were going to be rescued, but they were not. "As for the reflection of men.if I am going to be drowned -- if I am going to be drowned -- why in the name of the seven mad Gods who rule the sea, was I allowed to come this far and contemplate sand and trees? Was I brought here merely to have my nose dragged away as I was about to nibble the sacred cheese of life?.If she has decided to drown me, why did she not do it in the beginning and save me all this trouble." These phrases are very demanding. They reflect a sense of frustration, unimportance, and worthlessness. It is very sad. This represents man as having no free will. They are stuck. Man is in the pond of fate; it is fatalism. Those five men are hopeless, discouraged, and angry. What can you do when you are stuck in the middle of nowhere? Either you survive or you don't. Either man conquers the ocean or the ocean conquers him. In the story, the five men thought that they are going to be free once they were rescued. Unfortunately, things didn't happen that way.
Being in a small boat in the middle of an ocean is very tough. It needs courage and faith. In the old times, the Vikings were very brave. They spent most of their life in the sea.