The Open Boat

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Explain the refrain

"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 away as I was about to nibble the sacred cheese of life? It is preposterous. If this old ninny-woman, Fate, cannot do better than this, she should be deprived of the management of men's fortunes…”
The significance of these lines is the theory called Naturalism. Analyze the lines.

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A large theme of naturalism is simply the power of nature and man's insignificance in it. Isolated from society, the shipwrecked men are alone in at mercy of the open ocean. In a tiny boat on turbulent seas, they are especially vulnerable to natural elements: they must remain vigilant and united against the violent waves that threaten to sink their dinghy and drown them. From this adversarial position, the correspondent characterizes the sea as a malevolent agent of a cruel nature. However, as the narrative progresses, the correspondent's perspective on the conflict changes: he struggles with his beliefs, wanting to trust that the universe has a plan for him. Ultimately, the correspondent overcomes his uncertainty by accepting man's insignificance. Nature is not with him or against him; as he comes to see it, nature is "flatly indifferent" to his fate.