Naturalism in "The Open Boat" Stephen Crane was a great writer who wrote many great stories about naturalism. Naturalism is when characters in the story are controlled by the forces of nature. One of Crane's greatest writings on naturalism, is the short story, "The Open Boat." In "The Open Boat," the theme of the story is that man has no control over his destinies and that nature controls everything. Naturalist themes prevail in Stephen Crane's, "The Open Boat." Crane is one of the best naturalist writers and has great importance to his writtings. Crane has given a better look as to how naturalism really works in everyday life. Crane's are written very descriptively to giv