Despite its appearance in most naturalistic literatures, the conflict
of "man against nature" could be construed as a mislabeling-man isn't
really going against nature. On the contrary, man is acting in accordance
with nature; creation, recreation, evolution and the inclination for
destruction are all natural processes and is learned from nature. Focusing
on the similarities and differences between the depictions of both man and
nature, one could grasp this idea by reading Sarah Orne Jewett's "A White
Heron" in tandem with Stephen Crane's "The Open Boat". In "The Open Boat",
man is objectified, depicted with fate resting outside of their control,
whereas in "A White Heron", their role is reserved, nature is put at the
mercy of man, but despite the reversal of roles, both narratives exhibit
the idea that it is not 'man against nature', but that man is mimicking
nature and that they are really one in the same.
In Stephen Crane's "The Open Boat", he states that "a singular
disadvantage of the sea lies in the fact that after successfully
surmounting one wave you discover that there is another behind it just as
important and just as nervously anxious to do something effective in the
way of swamping boats" (585). Even though the four men in the dinghy are
weary with the imminence of demise looming above them, nature continues
endlessly in complete apathy-it is uncaring and unconcerned with man's
worries. It is through this passage that Crane depicts man as needy
creature who thinks they deserve the attention of nature. As such, man's
expectation of nature to treat them fairly can be seen in another instance,
"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? Was I brought here merely to have my nose dragged aw...