“The Open Boat” was written by Stephen Crane in 1897. It is an extremely powerful short story fictionalized by one of Crane's own experiences at sea. He is able to take what happened to him and spice it up to turn his story into a fictional tale that everyone can relate to. The reasons this story is so powerful is due to the literary devices Crane uses throughout the story, particularly the symbolism. In "The Open Boat", Crane uses the four main characters, the canoe, the waves and the seaweed as symbols to produce a microcosm of society. The most important method used by Crane to be able to produce a microcosm of society is by symbolizing the four main characters of "The Open Boat". Each man Crane places on the boat plays a special role in creating a small society that people can relate to; the four major characters are: the captain, the cook, the correspondent and the tanker. The captain is exactly what he seems to symbolize in a society. When a person hears the word "captain", they automatically imagine someone in charge. So, by naming him "the captain", readers are aware that he is responsible for everyone on the boat and that he symbolizes all the people in the world who are leaders in life. He represents those who don't have to work so hard in life and who control what others do. To understand who the cook symbolizes in society, audiences may need to analyze the story a little deeper. After careful reading, the text contains some key information that leads to the cook symbolizing the followers of the society. The audience only knows the cook through conversation and what the captain tells him to do. In Part VII of "The Op...... middle of paper...... include this as a symbol that proves that Crane is using this story as a microcosm since people are able to relate to it in their lives, or even as a society. There are many lessons one can learn from reading Crane's "The Open Boat" as it constructs a microcosm of society. It is amazing how authors, especially Crane, are able to use characters and objects as symbolism to convey the meaning of a story. Crane was meticulous in choosing the correct names, backgrounds, and descriptions of the characters and objects he used in this story. If he hadn't paid close attention to these details in his story, it would have been just another simple, meaningless story. Works Cited Crane, Stephen. “The open boat”. The Norton Anthology of American Literature, eighth edition, volume C. Ed. Marie Loeffelholz. New York: WW Norton & Company. 2012. 990-1006. Print