"The drowned face always staring," and "the drowned face sleeps with open eyes" are lines in Rich's poem that correspond with the symbol of drowning as death in Crane's "The Open Boat." The symbol of drowning is that of respect for nature and especially for the power of the ocean over human life.

Darkness is another symbol shared in common by these two works of literature. Although Rich's poem has a more optimistic tone than Crane's short story, both works show how the sea is not just about the power to take a person's breath away; the sea also takes away all light from human life. However, this is where "The Open Boat" and "Diving into the Wreck" start to differ. In "The Open Boat," the darkness of the sea consumes the characters. Some of the men die due to their rough encounter with the sea. In "Diving into the...
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