Following a shipwreck, four survivors are adrift in a leaking dinghy—The Open Boat. The captain is hurt but still able to lead, the cook keeps the boat afloat by bailing, and the correspondent and the oiler—a man whose job it is to oil machinery—take turns rowing. At first, angry at their situation and inclined to bicker, the men ultimately form bonds of empathy and, united, struggle to survive.

Based on author Stephen Crane's own experience of shipwreck off the coast of Florida in 1897, "The Open Boat" is considered by many to be his greatest work and the model of literary Naturalism.

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