 Chester Wolford noted in his critical analysis of Crane 's short fiction that although one of the author 's most familiar themes deals with a character 's seeming insignificance in an indifferent universe , the correspondent 's experience in " The Open Boat " is perhaps more personal than what was described in earlier stories because of Crane 's obvious connection to the story . Sergio Perosa similarly described how Crane " transfigures an actual occurrence into existential drama , and confers universal meaning and poetic value on the simple retelling of man 's struggle for survival " . 
