"The Open Boat" (Stephen Crane)

None of them knew the color of the sky. Their
eyes glanced level, and were fastened upon the
waves that swept toward them. These waves
were of the hue of slate, save for the tops, which
were of foaming white, and all of the men knew
the colors of the sea. The horizon narrowed and
widened, and dipped and rose, and at all times its
edge was jagged with waves that seemed thrust up in points like rocks.

1. how is the first paragraph of the story important to the passage as a whole?
a. it focuses on the danger of the ocean as insurmountable.
b. it focuses on the ocean's importance over the sky land, setting the sea as the primary settings.
c. it establishes the ocean as the primary focus and antagonist of the survivors.
d. it establishes the ocean as ugly and gray, as opposed to beautiful and blue.