The Open Boat

E100534

literary work short story

The Open Boat is a classic 1897 short story by Stephen Crane that portrays the harrowing struggle for survival of shipwrecked men adrift in a small dinghy, exploring themes of nature’s indifference and human solidarity.

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All labels observed (2)

Label	Occurrences
The Open Boat canonical	3
The Open Boat and Other Tales of Adventure	2

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T838694 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: The Open Boat
Context triple: [Stephen Crane, notableWork, The Open Boat]

A. Fishermen at Sea
Fishermen at Sea is an early Romantic-era oil painting by J. M. W. Turner that dramatically depicts small fishing boats battling the moonlit waves of a turbulent sea.
B. The Wreck of the Hesperus
The Wreck of the Hesperus is a narrative poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow that tells the tragic story of a shipwreck caused by a captain’s pride and a violent storm.
C. At Sea
"At Sea" is a section or component of Ernest Hemingway's posthumously published novel "Islands in the Stream," focusing on the protagonist's experiences during World War II naval patrols.
D. Life on the Mississippi
Life on the Mississippi is a memoir and travel narrative by Mark Twain that recounts his experiences as a young steamboat pilot on the Mississippi River and his later return to the region.
E. Like the Sea
"Like the Sea" is a soulful R&B ballad by Alicia Keys from her album "The Element of Freedom," noted for its serene, metaphor-rich lyrics and gentle, flowing melody.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: The Open Boat
Target entity description: The Open Boat is a classic 1897 short story by Stephen Crane that portrays the harrowing struggle for survival of shipwrecked men adrift in a small dinghy, exploring themes of nature’s indifference and human solidarity.

A. Fishermen at Sea
Fishermen at Sea is an early Romantic-era oil painting by J. M. W. Turner that dramatically depicts small fishing boats battling the moonlit waves of a turbulent sea.
B. The Wreck of the Hesperus
The Wreck of the Hesperus is a narrative poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow that tells the tragic story of a shipwreck caused by a captain’s pride and a violent storm.
C. At Sea
"At Sea" is a section or component of Ernest Hemingway's posthumously published novel "Islands in the Stream," focusing on the protagonist's experiences during World War II naval patrols.
D. The Toll of the Sea
The Toll of the Sea is a 1922 silent drama film, one of the earliest Hollywood movies shot in Technicolor, featuring Anna May Wong in her first leading role.
E. Life on the Mississippi
Life on the Mississippi is a memoir and travel narrative by Mark Twain that recounts his experiences as a young steamboat pilot on the Mississippi River and his later return to the region.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (46)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	literary work ⓘ short story ⓘ
author	Stephen Crane ⓘ
basedOn	Stephen Crane’s experience of the Commodore shipwreck ⓘ
countryOfOrigin	United States ⓘ linked to: United States of America
criticalReception	widely praised for its realism and psychological depth ⓘ
firstPublicationForm	serialized publication ⓘ
firstPublishedIn	Scribner’s Magazine ⓘ linked to: Scribner's Magazine
genre	adventure fiction ⓘ realist fiction ⓘ sea story ⓘ
hasMottoOrQuotedLine	“If I am going to be drowned—if I am going to be drowned—if I am going to be drowned, why, in the name of the seven mad gods who rule the sea, was I allowed to come thus far and contemplate sand and trees?” ⓘ
influencedBy	literary naturalism ⓘ
inspiredByEvent	sinking of the SS Commodore ⓘ
language	English ⓘ
laterPublishedIn	The Open Boat and Other Tales of Adventure ⓘ linked to: The Open Boat
literaryDevice	naturalistic detail ⓘ situational irony ⓘ symbolism ⓘ
literaryMovement	American realism ⓘ linked to: Realism
literarySignificance	considered one of Stephen Crane’s finest works ⓘ frequently anthologized in American literature collections ⓘ
mainCharacter	the captain ⓘ the cook ⓘ the correspondent ⓘ the oiler ⓘ
narrativePointOfView	third-person limited ⓘ
narrativeTechnique	impressionism ⓘ
notableCharacter	Billie the oiler ⓘ
originalPublicationYear	1897 ⓘ
period	late 19th century American literature ⓘ
publicationType	magazine story ⓘ
setting	off the coast of Florida ⓘ the open sea ⓘ
studyContext	commonly studied in courses on American realism and naturalism ⓘ
symbol	the boat as a symbol of human community ⓘ the lighthouse as a symbol of distant hope ⓘ the sea as a symbol of indifferent nature ⓘ
theme	brotherhood in adversity ⓘ existential uncertainty ⓘ fate and chance ⓘ human solidarity ⓘ man versus nature ⓘ nature’s indifference to human suffering ⓘ
tone	ironic ⓘ somber ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (5)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Stephen Crane → notableWork → The Open Boat ⓘ

Stephen Crane → wrote → The Open Boat ⓘ

The Open Boat → laterPublishedIn → The Open Boat and Other Tales of Adventure ⓘ

linked to: The Open Boat

Billie the oiler → appearsIn → The Open Boat ⓘ

Billie the oiler → firstPublicationContext → The Open Boat and Other Tales of Adventure ⓘ