in the Open Boat by Stephen Crane, in part IV why are the characters not identified?
The characters are defined by their roles on the boat. Their previous experiences or personalities don't matter here. It is just the narrow repetitive experience of rowing and how they each contribute to it. Each character is Everyman, being thrown around by the merciless, indifferent hand of Fate. I think that Crane was squarely in the company of Naturalists (they think there's no such thing as individual agency, like Darwinism in fiction). The interesting thing to think about here is that one character has a name - Billie, the oiler. Why is this? He's the strongest, he's the most experienced and he's the one that dies. He's an individual to the reader but Fate doesn't care. I'm sure you can flesh the ideas out now.
