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Cite textual evidence from "The Open Boat" that supports claims about the theme of nature's indifference toward man.

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Answer: In "The Open Boat," the cook was forced to bail out water initially, even though he didn’t quite like the sea. He would often say, "Gawd! That was a narrow clip," in reference to the looming waves. The oiler and the correspondent were compelled to keep on rowing, despite their growing tiredness: “The plan of the oiler and the correspondent was for one to row until he lost the ability, and then arouse the other from his seawater couch in the bottom of the boat.” This sentence conveys the growing exhaustion that the two men felt. The behavior of the sea was inconsistent as well. The sea would buck like a bronco at times and appear calm at other times. This would happen irrespective of how tired or sleep-deprived the men on the dinghy were. The sea did not judge the men’s situation when treating them the way that it did. The sea also did not seem to care as the men were approaching the shore, toward the end of the story, and destroyed their dinghy, forcing them to swim to shore despite their exhaustion. While one wave helped the tired correspondent reach the shore safely, another wave ended the oiler’s life. The random treatment of the two men who did the same job on the boat—rowing—exemplifies nature’s indifference to man.

Explanation: answer from edmentum

User ZacWolf
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Answer:

In "The Open Boat," the cook had to bail out water despite not liking the sea. He said, "Oh! It was close "looming waves The oiler and the correspondent were forced to row despite growing tired: “The plan of the oiler and the correspondent was for one to row until he lost the ability, and then arouse the other from his seawater couch in the bottom of the boat.” This sentence shows the men's fatigue—inconsistent sea behavior. The sea would buck like a bronco and then be calm. This happened no matter how fatigued or sleepy the men were. The sea didn't evaluate the men's condition by how it treated them. As the soldiers neared the beach, the sea smashed their dinghy, forcing them to swim despite being exhausted. While one wave helped the reporter get to the beach, another killed the oiler. The random treatment of the two rowers illustrates nature's indifference to man.

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User Twisted Whisper
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