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Although Cranes reference to himself as a correspondent may seem to increase the realism of the story upon first glance, upon repeated use of the phrase it begins to suggest distance and a kind of lack of realism, as he views himself as a character, a representation of helplessness, rather than someone he identifies with in retrospect. Symbolically, his power as an author on the dinghy is temporarily gone as the correspondent: Crane as a character is only a helpless newspaperman, without the ability to use his talent at words to save his fellow crewmen. Stephen Crane's works present sudden shifts in tone and point of view, and frequently the works end without establishing either certainty about characters or resolution of thematic issues (Vanouse 2009)

The lack of realism of the fable The Open Boat is also underlined in the way that Crane the narrator claims to know what the other men are thinking, as is immediately apparent by the first paragraph of the story: None of them knew the color of the sky. Their eyes glanced level, and were fastened upon the waves that swept toward them. These waves were of the hue of slate, save for the

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