Crane's exploration of this motif in The Open Boat is evident from the following:.
"When it occurs to a man that nature does not regard him as important, and that she feels she would not maim the universe by disposing of him, he at first wishes to throw bricks at the temple, and he hates deeply the fact that there are no bricks and no temples. Any visible expression of nature would surely be pelleted with his jeers."[Crane 666].
Shifts in anxiety and indifference occur throughout the story. The author balances his views with the reality of experience and the role this might play in countering the obvious detrimental side effects of cosmic irony. This is where the realism of the story enters. The story's theme is based on the plight of the boat in the open sea. This can be viewed as a mere "situation"; credible only because we perceive it in relation to the psychological issue we are faced with. If there is no greater theme to this perception, our reality diminishes and gives way to confusion and doubt. Cosmic irony draws upon this doubt. The realism of the boat in the sea therefore depends on the perception of cosmic irony of the man faced with the dilemma.
Crane's perception of the boat's dilemma belongs to the school of thought called "naturalism". The basic themes of naturalism are survival, determinism, violence, and taboo. Conflicts which appear in naturalistic novels are mainly "man against nature" or "man against himself", all part of an effort to retain a "veneer of civilization". The indifference of the universe is an eternal source of consternation to man. The hopelessness that arises from it throws man into a state of high anxiety and desperation. Nature has an important role in the lives of human beings. Its force is indifferent too, but the extent of its influence is far reaching and deep. Crane echoes a Romantic notion in The Open Boat when he says: "This tower was a giant, standing with its back to the plight of the ants.
