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Writing About Non-Fiction...

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ENC1102 2-1-2021

Foreshadowing of Billie’s Death in The Open Boat

There were four men on the boat but only one of them comes to mind whenever this story is being read and that is Billie the oiler. Stephen Crane created a powerful impact on the readers through foreshadowing the death of the oiler. Billie’s death can be said to have been foreshadowed in a series of incidents, as they try to fight for his endurance in opposition to the forces of nature.

Firstly, the oiler is the only person in the story whose name is being mentioned. His name is mentioned so he would be remembered properly after his departure. Others are referred to as their profession because they are not the subject characters of the story. There is nothing so special about the other men that is why their names are not important to the writer except the oiler who later dies and does not make it to the shore after fighting the most among them all.

Also, When the cook asserts that there are rescuers who can save their lives, the oiler is first and mean to say, “We're not there yet”, the oiler at this moment has no hope for life ahead. He receives a lot of orders from the captain and he has no idea how to face his death because he can tell they are sailing to their death. The statement he makes whenever the cook talks about seeing the rescuers clearly shows the oiler is gradually embracing death. He does not sound hopeful

because he has tried harder than everyone on the boat and sees the rest of his life on the boat to be in that constant struggle.

Besides, the phrase “If I am going to be drowned…why…was I allowed to come thus far?” Clearly shows either all or some of them are not going to make it to the shore. The phrase sounds like a plea of mercy to the gods of the oceans begging for their lives. When Billie is found face down, it clearly shows these phrases were recited for his farewell. His death is not surprising because they were mentally and physically weak. Crane can show the transitions of the mental states of the men as they moved through emotional drifts of feeling hopeful to giving up on trying at all.

Furthermore, the oiler is exhausted by using all his strength on saving the rest of the crew. He is working harder than all of them and never cares about saving some energy for his last breath. He is the strongest of the group and therefore should have survived but in this case not. While the cook, captain, and correspondent all depend on him to sail them to the shore, the oiler goes it alone, relying only on his human strength and not on his more evolved capacity for thought and strategy. He used all his life to save the rest. Every little bit of hard work he is doing is eating him away gradually while the rest awaits getting rescued or making it to the shore.

In conclusion, The Open Boat used so many forms of foreshadowing but when it came to the death of the oiler, his name being the only one mentioned among the four men, his discouraging statements every time he heard anything about rescue and exhausting all his energy to save

others are some of the foreshadows in the story before the death of Billie the oiler which foretold, he was going to die....