Journal #19 Stephen Crane

Shirly Ong
English 48B
22 February, 2008
Journal #19 Stephen Crane

Quote:
“None of them knew the color of the sky. Their eyes glanced level, and were fastened upon the waves that swept toward them. These waves were of the hue of slate, save for the tops, which were of foaming white, and all of the man knew the color of the sea.”

Summary:
This is quoted from the very beginning of the story “The Open Boat”. It depicts the condition and sight of the four characters in the story.

Response:
The Open Boat is an adventure story published a few days after the adventure Stephen Crane experienced when his ship sank off the coast of Florida. I am confused when I found this quote at the beginning of the story. I am not sure what Stephen Crane infers while he claims that “none of them knew the color of the sky”. Even worse, Stephen Crane goes on by illustrating the waves and reveals that the men knew the color of the sea. With no more information about the characters, I had no clues. As I go on with the story and realize the characters are all working on the ship, I had an idea that Stephen Crane is trying to bring out this important information about the four characters through this quote. Moreover, the quote might also infer that the characters only focused on the sea and observed the motions of the waves, instead of the sky. This shows how nervous they were in the sea. They only recignize the blue, gray waves. I think this interprets their desperation in the sea at that time. During the discussion in class, many peers shared their ideas on this quote. Some of them think Stephen Crane wants to illustrate how similar the colors of the sky and sea are. To me, this is possible but it does not seem to relate the later part of the story as much. Being the first sentence of the story, I supposed this quote has special reference to the remaining plots. Yet, Stephen may only be trying to visualize the scene by portray the environment at the beginning of the story: the color of the sky is blocked by the "abrupt and tall" waves. Without doubt, this is an interesting opening of an adventure story, which can trigger the readers’ imagination and thoughts about the story.