.
Though Nature seems to make a particular outcome of its action; it does not care what the end result is. Nature knows that it can destroy, but if it does no destroy something the first time, there is always another opportunity. During the journey of the four men, the control of the boat shifts between the men themselves and the wind and waves. A seemingly harmless group of seagulls suddenly become a threat to the boat's stability. Crane portrays the seagulls as demon with "bead-like eyes" full of malicious intent. One of the seagulls tauntingly lands on the captain's head. In that instance, the captain had to submit to Nature by suppressing his urge to knock the bird away. The captain knew that is he did, the boat would have capsized. Seagulls were never set out to capsize the boat. The situation presented to the gulls allowed that option to be open for Nature. Through the captain's submission to a simple seagull, the whole ordeal was soon over, leaving man alive and Nature indifferent .
to the whole situation. In the eyes of Nature, the life of man is too meaningless to take direct action to destroy.
Along with the disadvantages of inferiority, man has a great uncertainty planted in his perception of the world. The two traits of man when Nature, inferiority and .
uncertainty govern him create the need for attempted optimism and survival. Those traits either detract or increase the urge to submit to mature. In the beginning of "The Open Boat," the trait of uncertainty breeds the willingness for man to submit. The first sentence itself tells the reader that the men did not know the color of the sky. But the men did know what the sea looked like. The sky represents the power of nature; since the men could not see the sky, they could not grasp the power of the indifference of Nature. Yet, the men could see the sea. The men knew it was there but they were not aware that it was an aspect of the sky, a reflection.