 " The Open Boat " directly references Lady Caroline Norton 's 1883 poem " Bingen on the Rhine " , which focuses on the death of a French Foreign Legionnaire , far from home , while grasping the hand of a comrade . Recalling the poem , the correspondent sees how the soldier 's dire circumstances mirror his own , leading him to feel sorry for the anonymous poetic figure ; noting the similarities between the dying soldier and the shipwrecked correspondent , critics such as Edward Stone and Max Westbrook believe this realization causes the correspondent to discover the necessity for human sympathy in an uncaring world . While the literary reference may be considered ironic , unsympathetic , and only of minor interest , Stone for one argued that this poem may also have served as a source for The Red Badge of Courage , which also explores man 's relationship with the metaphysical . 
