The imagery used in "The Open Boat" brings a vivid image to the reader's mind. As four men are in a boat being tossed by the sea with no hope of life, the boat is approaching land. With the men's view of the land from the crest of each wave, the description of the land gives the reader an actual picture in his or her mind of not only the approach of land but also the approach of a hope to continue life.
             No land is in sight as the four men are tossed by the mighty waves of the ocean. The imagery describes the sea meeting the sky with only blankets of seaweed in sight. The correspondent describes how he perceives the view, giving the reader a feeling of no hope.
             As the rowing continues, a lighthouse on a distant shore comes into view. "It was precisely like the point of a pin. It took an anxious eye to find a lighthouse so tiny" (Crane, 457). Through this sentence Stephen Crane makes the reader actually see the lighthouse, not actually as a tall building but as nothing more than a shadow in the horizon.
             Towards the shadow of the lighthouse the four men row. Land comes into view as a shadow. Cran describes the land as being thinner than a piece of paper. Imagery lets the reader see the land and the hope of life becoming stronger as more and more of land is seen.
             "Slowly the land arose from the sea. From a black line it became a line of black and a line of white – trees and sand. Finally the captain said that he could make out a house on the shore" (Crane, 458). The reader could see the land approaching with each new crest of the waves through the use of imagery. The hope of survival is becoming stronger with each new sighting.
             Night comes and rowing continues. As daylight approaches, many small, black cottages and a tall windmill sit on a distant shore. Crane describes the four men's thoughts in vivid detail as life is viewed on the shore. The chance to liv...