...Interpretation of the extract from “Three men in a boat” by Jerome K. Jerome (Chapter XIV) The text under interpretation is an extract from the book “Three Men in a Boat” by an English writer Jerome K. Jerome. He wrote novels Three Men in a Boat, The Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow, Novel Notes and Three Men on the Bummel. Jerome K. Jerome is famous for his art of story-telling, his vivid style and his humor which is generally expressed in laughter-provoking situations often based on misunderstanding. With sparkling humour he criticized the weak sides of human nature. The three men are based on Jerome himself and two real-life friends, George Wingrave and Carl Hentschel, with whom he often took boating trips. The dog, Montmorency, is entirely fictional but, "as Jerome admits, developed out of that area of inner consciousness which, in all Englishmen, contains an element of the dog.” The trip is a typical boating holiday of the time in a Thames camping skiff. This was just after commercial boat traffic on the Upper Thames had died out, replaced by the 1880s craze for boating as a leisure activity. This story tells us about a boating holiday on the Thames between Kingston and Oxford. The chapter for the interpretation Jerome K. Jerome begins with the lyrical describing the area where three friends had come. Those picturesque views and plenty of time inspire the travelers to try to cook a good, slap-up supper. They use all their sharpness and resource to cope with the assigned...
Words: 1421 - Pages: 6
...Surratt The Open boat is a short story written and published in 1897. It was written by Stephen Crane detailing his thirty hour experience stranded in the ocean after the S.S. Commodore sank. Stephen, at the time, was a newspaper correspondent and was on his way to Cuba for a job. Crane, along with three others, survived the ship wreck. Once they knew the S.S. Commodore was sinking, they were rescued and boarded a small boat. Shortly after their rescue, Stephen created a short story in which he narrated his personal account. The story is soon published by Scribner’s Magazine. He received praise in America and England for his literary naturalism provided in the story. Throughout Crane’s career as an author, and in the present day, The Open Boat is, in most critics’ opinion, Stephen’s best work as an author. The major theme in this short story is “Man vs Nature”. Crane gives an in-depth, detailed account of what he and three other men experienced against the raging sea. One example of the conflict is, from the start of the story, Crane gives a description of how much visibility there is to navigate the boat. He writes, “These waves were of the hue of slate, save for the tops, which were of foaming white, and all of the men knew the colors of the sea” (Crane, 1897). This gives readers an image that for miles nothing other than waves of water could be seen, making it almost impossible to direct the boat in those conditions. Though navigation of the boat had seemed all but hopeless...
Words: 1060 - Pages: 5
...missiles are being fueled for deployment. The boat begins the process to launch ten missiles. During this time a second radio message begins to be received, but is cut off by the attack of a Russian...
Words: 1415 - Pages: 6
...Alec Orozco Mr. Tom Treffinger ENG 102-005 4 March 2015 Correspondent’s Epiphany in “The Open Boat” In Stephen Crane’s story “The Open Boat”, Crane seems to focus on the struggle of man versus nature. The struggle is shown throughout the whole story, but is most clearly seen when the correspondent seems to be on the verge of death. The correspondent begins to see how nature “views” humanity. The four men who are on the boat all start to see that though they may have worked hard to live their lives, nature does not seem to care who lives or dies. In “The Open Boat”, there are four men trying to survive on a small boat there believe is smaller than a bathtub should be (Crane, 339). This posed a problematic situation because the “waves were most wrongfully and barbarously abrupt and tall, and each froth-top was a problem in small-boat navigation” (339). During this trial in the four men’s lives, the correspondent begins to contemplate on various things about their situation and his own life. One of the correspondent’s thoughts is “’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’”(350). The meaning behind this particular thought is the correspondent is wondering why he is living his life so long just to have it taken away for no real reason. Then the correspondent begins to ponder the death of “A soldier of the...
Words: 433 - Pages: 2
...Three men in a boat" text analysis Jerome Klapka Jerome was born in Walsall, Staffordshire, England on May 2nd, 1859, the son of a preacher and coal mine owner. Leaving school at the age of fourteen after his mother's death, Jerome worked such diverse jobs as a railway clerk, a journalist, and a schoolmaster. Though also an actor, playwright, and editor, Jerome found fame through his writing. He is famous for his novels "On Stage and Off", "Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow", "Three Men in a Boat" ans so on. Jerom K. Jerome is a great story-teller with a strong sense of humor. One reason for his popularity was his different and new way of representation which differed from the books written by authors such as Robert Louis Stevenson , Arthur Cannon Doyle , Rudyard Kipling and other popular authors. We are going to analyse an extract from the book "Three men in a boat". Here we see the story about three friends, who stopped at village called Sonning. Then they decided to stay there for the night, so they had to cook the meal. The majority of this text is describing the troubles and joy of cooking dinner. The prevailing mood of the story is optimistic, with traces of irony. Unlike the writing styles of that times, Jerome did not use glorifying or artificial terms to express the feelings of people. This is the story of three people who speak the usual language and live the usual life. To my opinion, the message is the following: don't be afraid of experimenting and enjoy the...
Words: 385 - Pages: 2
...Fifty To have morals generally means as having a set of values or principles. These values, good or bad are most commonly instilled in us from infancy and usually evolve as we become older and make life choices. Perhaps we can say it’s the foundation of good values in people that bring out their decent and moral conduct. At least that’s what I believe. I would have never imagined that during my vacation, I’d end up shipwrecked out in the middle of the Caribbean Ocean and my sole existence would depend on three individuals aboard that cruise ship that were so different. I say this because prior to the shipwreck I got to socially interact with the other passengers who were on the cruise with me. It’s those three men that are now making all the decisions for one hundred and seventy four other passengers, crewmembers and myself, although very intelligent and equally portray a common sense type of character, have a set of totally different ethical beliefs. The theorist with the divine command type of personality preached daily about “doing what God wants us to do” and how it’s important for parents to raise their children with a strong religious background if we want them to find eternal life with God. Don’t get me wrong, its not that I think he’s wrong or disagree, I just believe that my vacation time involves a lot of RR and I certainly don’t want to be discussing such personal matters with complete strangers. Now, the second gentleman whom I call the “relativist” seems...
Words: 2043 - Pages: 9
...carrying a highly celebrated British polar expedition, froze into the icy waters off the coast of Antarctica. The leader of the expedition, Sir Ernest Shackleton, had planned to sail his boat to the coast through the Weddell Sea, which bounded Antarctica to the north, and then march a crew of six men, supported by dogs and sledges, to the Ross Sea on the opposite side of the continent (see Exhibit 1).1 Deep in the southern hemisphere, it was early in the summer, and the Endurance was within sight of land, so Shackleton still had reason to anticipate reaching shore. The ice, however, was unusually thick for the ship’s latitude, and an unexpected southern wind froze it solid around the ship. Within hours the Endurance was completely beset, a wooden island in a sea of ice. More than eight months later, the ice still held the vessel. Instead of melting and allowing the crew to proceed on its mission, the ice, moving with ocean currents, had carried the boat over 670 miles north.2 As it moved, the ice slowly began to soften, and the tremendous force of distant currents alternately broke apart the floes—wide plateaus made of thousands of tons of ice—and pressed them back together, creating rift lines with huge piles of broken ice slabs. For months the wooden timbers of the Endurance, held between three of these floes, creaked and moaned under the immense pressure of the moving ice. It seemed only a matter of time before she would succumb, crack, and sink. On...
Words: 21552 - Pages: 87
...When we try to define ethical decision, we usually associate it with one’s perspective or type of decision-making that affects the situation at hand. We usually associate ethical or moral decision based on how it influences the emotional or personal well being of individual(s). Rarely do we associate ethical and moral decisions that affect the physical well being of the individual(s) or potentially the ending of ones life. This example of a C.O.B. authorizing the closing the hatch on 3 individuals challenges our type of ethical and moral decision making from several different perspectives. We will try and illustrate several different reasoning’s to how and why morally, one would decide to close the hatch knowing that it will cost three people their lives Jones’ Model of Moral Intensity is divided into 6 different categories that could potentially influence my ability in making a moral decision. 1) Magnitude of Consequences: The sum of the harms (benefits) done to victims (or beneficiaries) of the moral act in question. 2) Social Consensus: The degree of social agreement that a proposed act is evil or good. 3) Probability of Effect: The probability that the act in question will actually take place and the act in question will actually cause the harm or benefit predicted. 4) Temporal Immediacy: The length of time between the present and the onset of consequences of the moral act in question (shorter length of time implies greater immediacy.) 5) Proximity: The feeling...
Words: 3344 - Pages: 14
...Real Life Nightmare By: Danyelle J Lieneck The full moon lit up the water that night. The water was calm and there was not another boat in sight. As my parents, my sister Brianna, my friend Alissa and I traveled home from Fire Island; there was not a sound except for the engine of the boat running. As I looked up in the distance I saw a light and kidding around with Brianna and Alissa I said, “hey look a UFO” and they both laughed. All of a sudden I heard a bang. I closed my eyes and grabbed onto the pole right next to me. The boat was spinning; I heard screaming, and my Dad say something. Then everything came to a sudden stop; I got up and looked at the horrifying scene that surrounded me. I saw my father pulling himself up onto his seat, his eyes swollen shut, blood pouring down his face; he was confused and incoherent. Next to me was my mother, grabbing onto the side of the boat, her arm only attached by a few pieces of skin, her flesh cut open, her bone sticking out, blood pouring down from her face. My friend was screaming and I quickly snapped at her to shut up. This was not the time for her to be acting like this. There was an even bigger problem then the bloody scene around me; everyone was accounted for except for my sister. I looked around and realized that lying on the floor underneath the canopy that used to be the top of my boat was my sister, motionless and decrepit. I immediately went to her side and lifted off the heavy canopy and pushed it away. She was face...
Words: 1471 - Pages: 6
...sinking of the Titanic. His story takes the reader through all aspects, from thought to planning, from building to launching, from the iceberg and the sinking of the Titanic to the rescue of the survivors, and to the discovery of the wreckage at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. Butler does not place blame, he presents only the facts. The conception of the RMS Titanic occurred in the summer of 1907. The men behind the creation of the Titanic were Joseph Bruce Ismay, the managing director of the White Star Line, and Lord William James Pirrie, senior partner and chairman of the board of Harland and Wolff, a Belfast shipyard. Ismay and Pirrie’s respective businesses had been in partnerships for the last forty years; this relationship would continue for another quarter of a century, continuing after the tragic events surrounding the sinking of the Titanic. Ismay decided that not only one, but three ships were needed. As the men continued their meeting, the sketches became more defined and soon they had outlined the three ships, the Olympic, Titanic, and Gigantic. The three ships were staggered in their construction; they were projected to be ready for service in the spring of 1911, 1912, and 1913 respectively. The dimensions of these “strikingly beautiful” ships were 882.5 feet in length, 98 feet wide, 175 feet high from the keel to the top of their four tall funnels, and a displacement of 45,000 tons; these sister ships would become the largest ships, in every way, in the...
Words: 2363 - Pages: 10
...Ernest Hemingway Indian Camp (1924) At the lake shore there was another rowboat drawn up. The two Indians stood waiting. Nick and his father got in the stern of the boat and the Indians shoved it off and one of them got in to row. Uncle George sat in the stern of the camp rowboat. The young Indian shoved the camp boat off and got in to row Uncle George. The two boats started off in the dark. Nick heard the oarlocks of the other boat quite a way ahead of them in the mist. The Indians rowed with quick choppy strokes. Nick lay back with his father's arm around him. It was cold on the water. The Indian who was rowing them was working very hard, but the other boat moved further ahead in the mist all the time. "Where are we going, Dad?" Nick asked. "Over to the Indian camp. There is an Indian lady very sick." "Oh," said Nick. Across the bay they found the other boat beached. Uncle George was smoking a cigar in the dark. The young Indian pulled the boat way up on the beach. Uncle George gave both the Indians cigars. They walked up from the beach through a meadow that was soaking wet with dew, following the young Indian who carried a lantern. Then they went into the woods and followed a trail that led to the logging road that ran back into the hills. It was much lighter on the logging road as the timber was cut away on both sides. The young Indian stopped and blew out his lantern and they all walled on along the road. They came around a bend and a dog came...
Words: 1537 - Pages: 7
...There were some heroes who rose from the ranks of those brave and daring aviators. Lt. David Ingalls, who became the Navy's first ACE only U.S. ACE from WW1 and Ens. Charles Hamman, who was Naval Aviation’s first Medal of Honor recipient. The war ended on November 11, 1918 and Naval Aviation had grown significantly to over 2000 aircraft, 6700 officers and 30,000 enlisted men. There were now 12 U.S. Air stations, 21 in Europe, one at the Panama Canal and two in Canada. Dawn of the Aircraft Carrier At the end of WW1, the Navy was primarily operating flying boats and seaplanes. Planes that could take off and land in the water seemed to be the only logical choice for the Navy at the time. Better seaplanes were being built, including the Navy-Curtiss NC flying boat. This new “Super Seaplane” had four engines, and could fly long distances without taking up space on a ship. CDR. Jack towers believed these planes could be the first to fly across the Atlantic. The Navy’s flight across the Atlantic was attempted on May 16, 1919. Three aircraft each with 6 men on board left from Newfoundland. Two of the aircraft had to set down at sea and were not able to continue. One aircraft commanded by Lt. Cdr. Albert C. (Putty) Read, reached the Azores and then after a layover, flew on to Lisbon Arriving May 27, 1919. The Navy became the first to fly across the Atlantic eight years prior to Charles Lindbergh’s Historic...
Words: 1613 - Pages: 7
...Imagine being a hero that everyone hates because he/she is a terrible hero. Odysseus is a hero that thinks he is a good hero when he is not. In The Odyssey by Homer, the character Odysseus is seen as a hero and everyone thinks he is. When actually he is taking ten years to get home because he is sleeping with other women and letting his men get killed, all on his way home. He spends many years or a few days at each island trying to get out of something he got him and his men into or is staying with some goddess or other woman. Odysseus is boastful, obnoxious, and dishonest,Odysseus proves that he is a terrible hero in so many ways. Odysseus is gratefully boastful and shows that in many ways throughout the story. Boastful is to show pride or...
Words: 595 - Pages: 3
...“The Open Boat”, Stephen Crane places all four of his characters in the face of grave danger, where they consider the chance of their own untimely death. Death is a theme in this story because Crane uses dark atmospheric undertones, dark language usage and imagery, and the situations that the characters face forces them to consider their own demise. Before they challenge their demise, the characters, crunched uncomfortably in a dinghy thrown around on the violent and threatening sea, are known as an injured Captain, a cook, an oiler, and a correspondent. It is unknown to the reader how the Captain was injured, and because of his injury he cannot help his crew but by orders from his mouth. “There was something strange in his voice. Although steady, it was deep with mourning and of a quality beyond oration or tears” (344). This displays the Captain’s inability to help. He feels helpless with his injury and feels sorry, possibly guilty and maybe feels like there is no hope left for his crew. Crane uses many dark undertones, imagery and word usage in this short story to depict a theme of death. The “wrath of the sea” is described as having black (often associated with death) waves, with water that is cold, sad and tragic. (345/358) Rowing the boat is thought to be “diabolical punishment” and a “crime against the back” because of the strain on the back, and rowing for pleasure and sport is questioned. (348) And while the other men are taking their turn rowing, the men who are...
Words: 665 - Pages: 3
...Neutrality: Sacred Cow or Pious Wish? Given the current controversy surrounding Irish neutrality and the use of Shannon Airport by American troops we, as Irish citizens, have every right to be concerned about where we stand on the question of neutrality. After all it is a treasured ‘sacred cow’ of the Irish Constitution. Or is it? A look at the record shows that, during World War II, Fianna Fail was not only a ‘slightly constitutional party’ but Ireland was also a slightly neutral country! | Crashed "Liberator" aircraft, Co. Donegal, 1943 | 'The focal point of the war against England and the one possibility of bringing her to her knees is in attacking sea communications in the Atlantic ' ,said Karl Donitz, Grand Admiral, German U-boats. For him, things were looking good. In December 1939, the opening year of World War 2, German submarines operating together with planes and surface raiders, accounted for 754,000 tons of Allied shipping losses. This represented 99.6 per cent of all shipping sunk in 1939. At this point in the war Britain had less than 3 weeks supply of wheat; stocks of many other commodities such as sugar had fallen to under 6 weeks supply. A solution had to be found, and quickly. England in great danger As Europe fell to the advancing German armies, the UK became more and more isolated and increasingly dependent on the Atlantic trade route for industrial raw materials and food. If this lifeline were broken England would starve both physically and financially...
Words: 2563 - Pages: 11
