Realism and Naturalism in Crane's Open Boat“Perhaps an individual must regard his own death as the final phenomenon of nature.” In this short excerpt from his short story “The Open Boat,” we can clearly see that Stephen Crane strongly believed in the concepts of naturalism. After the harsh and violent Civil War, the United States was no longer the nation it once was. Previously, Americans focused on the positive or romantic side of their surroundings and wrote in a romantic style, glorifying man's communion with nature. However, after the Civil War, this was no longer the case. Some Americans had now experienced the harsh reality that nature was completely indifferent to what happened to man. They realized that man, no matter how strong, would always be vulnerable to nature and thus launched the concept of naturalism. Nature writers wanted to convey the harsh realities of life and emphasize that nature would always be superior to humanity. Stephen Crane is a leading nature writer who, in his short story "The Open Boat", conveys the effects of nature on his characters and shows readers some naturalistic concepts, such as how nature is indifferent to the events that happen to him. man and that man is powerless in his eyes. of nature. In “The Open Boat,” Crane throws the reader into the middle of the ocean alongside four men trying to survive the wrath of nature with only an open boat. This essay will present several examples found in "The Open Boat" written by Stephen Crane to demonstrate the author's use of realism and naturalism amidst his writings. “The Open Boat” is obsessed with four main characters who survived a shipwreck, the Oiler, the Correspondent, the Cook and the Captain. Each of these characters has...... middle of paper ......s, the reader can see that men base their actions on what nature throws at them, proving that nature dominates the actions of the man and that man is completely vulnerable. against nature. “The Open Boat” by Stephen Crane presents in depth several characteristics of realism and naturalism by highlighting several examples and situations that show the absolute power of nature against man. The story shows several naturalistic concepts such as man being helpless and vulnerable in the eyes of nature. Several situations throughout history such as the actions of the tanker and the invasion of the canoe show the domination of nature over man. Stephen Crane undoubtedly adds aspects of naturalism to his story and from the evidence seen in the text it can be concluded that the demonstration of these concepts is evident in his writings and that he strongly believes in the naturalistic style of writing..