What a relief

Gustavo Quintero
English 48B
February 22, 2008
Journal #28 Stephen Crane



Quote:
"...drowning must really be a comfortable arrangement, a cessation of hostilities accompanied by a large degree of relief, and he was glad for it, for the main thing in his mind for some moments had been horror of the temporary agony. He did not wish to be hurt"(Crane 1015).



Summary:
Death by drowning is being described as a huge relief, after enduring the rowing and fighting against the waves to get land.


Response:
After our discussion, in class, on Wednesday Scott ended the lecture with the final Crane stage being about love, courage, trust and community. I do not completely agree with this interpretation but I can see how Scott arrived to it. Scott along with another student interpreted the story about the courage the crew showed by sticking together in the face of death. I however see the ending different. I get more the impression that the crew,"could then be interpreters", because they have just been enlightened to the awesome strength of their environment. In other words they became aware that they have no say in their world. They are at the mercy of nature and the environment. They become interpreters in the sense that they respect their environment and are very aware of its tremendous power. They now posses the ability to read mother nature and interpret what she is trying to say. They are no longer the egotistical humans they once were, they know that everything is not about them. They to will feel the wrath of their environment regardless of how good or bad they are.

The environment has a power that few realize. Take for example hurricane Katrina. No one would ever have thought that a hurricane would reach inland with that much force. The devastation from this hurricane is still being felt and seen three years later. It's our environment keeping us in check and sending us a warning. It's telling us that we need to treat our environment better. It also serves as a message that we are not in control of our fates. At any will we can be wiped off the planet. The environment controls our fate not us.