Endurance: Part 7, Chapters 1-ep

They did it! Everything ends up okay and the men are able to go back to lives in the world that was lost to them for so long. The extreme joy they must have felt when they were saved must have been awesome. I imagine at first the crew did not believe it, but they had epiphanies and realized they were saved. Shackleton did it they reached their destination and came back for the rest of the crew they left behind on Elephant Island. “A spontaneous cheer went up. In fact the excitement ashore was so intense that many men actually were giggling.”(Lansing280). This part of the book was great it truly made you feel good and happy for the crew. I can’t even go and say the word ‘giggling’ reminded me of one of the cartoon characters of my childhood. 

Endurance: Part 6, Chapters1-6

“They are called Cape Horn Rollers or ‘greybeards.’ Their length has been estimated from crest to crest to exceed a mile, and the terrified reports of some mariners have placed their height at 200 feet, though scientists doubt that they very often exceed 80 or 90 feet.” (Lansing225). This stuck out to me as a hyperbole it is really common for people to come back and over exaggerate things that happen in the ocean. The poor crew was scared because they had heard about these reports. They were worried for their own lives. Shackleton and his small crew on the boat wanted to find help and land. They knew the people back on the island were counting on them, and more then anything they wanted to help them by reaching help themselves. When they were trying to get over the rough sea I couldn’t stop thinking of that scene from Castaway. Tom Hanks was trying to get out of rough sea himself. 

Endurance: Part 5, Chapters1-6

The life of the crew is terrible. Shackleton was quick to come up with a new plan after they found security on the land. A group of men went out on a smaller boat to find help leaving the others behind to wait. The injuries of the men got worse and worse Blackboro’s foot turned black and had to be cut off. It reminded me a lot of the movie Mr. Deeds with the black foot that he couldn’t feel at all.  When Blackboro woke up after the surgery, “He was groggy for a time, but then he smiled up at the two doctors [other crew members].’I’d like a cigarette,’ he said.” (Lansing 207). This dialogue made me literally laugh out loud. This Blackboro guy had to have been tough if that’s all he said after getting his foot cut off.  It is hard to believe anyone could handle that type of pain without complaining. This to me shows how tough these sailors truly were. 

Endurance: Part 4, Chapters 4-5

“Greenstreet, Macklin, Kerr, and Marston were at the oars and they had about reached the limit of their endurance.”(Lansing168).  These guys are busting their butts to get closer to land. None of them had been on land for 497 days and they were all exhausted. I doubt that Lansing did this on purpose, but I found a little irony in the way he included that they were at the limit of their endurance when the title of the book is Endurance.  Just looking at the book and judging it by the cover along with the first couple chapters you might think that it was called Endurance because of the ships name. However the book could be called endurance regardless of the ships name. Each man had to have endurance to make it through the harsh nights on the sea. Today people talk about working on their endurance so they can run more or exercise more to stay in shape. Now if a personal trainer was a jerk about it and did not want a job he or she could just say plan a trip to the Artic with Shackleton if you want to work on endurance. This is where I came up with a good idea for a workout video someone needs to make. Call it the Shackleton plan or something like that. 

Endurance: Part 4, Chapters1-3

Finally a change for the crew! Instead of trying to survive on the floe the men found a break in the ice and took to the boats. The men wanted to find land, and it was sort of close by. However they had no control of the currents and the winds.  The ocean currents and the wind still impacted how far they could travel even when they were on the boats rowing.  It would take the crew extreme dedication if they were ever to get out of the icy ocean setting they were trapped in. When they finally got out of the ice and into the open sea, “It was a welcome sight after more than a year of looking at nothing but ice.” (Lansing147). I could not help but to think about the sport of rowing or crew when I was reading this section of the book. I know it is not the same but I could not stop picturing the crew of the endurance being on a true rowing team especially after reading, “The sound of their voices chanting, ‘stroke…stroke…stroke…’’’ (141). If you do not know the seriousness of the sport check out this video.  

Endurance: Part 3, Chapters4-6

“There were some intrepid attempts to make jokes about cannibalism. ‘Greenstreet and I,’ wrote Worsley, ‘amuse ourselves at Marston’s expense. Marston is the plumpest man in the Camp and we become very solicitous about his welfare and condition, making a great show of generosity by offering him old penguin bones that we have gnawed till there is nothing left. We implore him not to get thin and even go so far as to select chops, etc., off him and quarrel about who shall have the tenderest part. Finally he gets so disgusted with us that whenever he sees us approaching he turns and walks away.’”(Lansing 122).

Personally I thought this section of the book was interesting because it reminded me of another book I have read before called Miracle in the Andes. Miracle in the Andes was about a plane crash in the Andes and when people died the others ate the bodies for survival. Once again the crew of the Endurance was hungry, and they were making jokes about cannibalism. I could not believe it in one sense the book tricked me because I believed the joke. I thought I was going to be reading another book about cannibalism. Hopefully the crew of the Endurance never gets to that stage of survival. I do not want to read about the crew saying eulogies as they are eating human flesh.

Endurance: Part 3, Chapters1-3

The situation of the crew was only getting worse as they were slowly running out of food and there optimistic outlooks were fading. “But on January 1, it seemed that the New Year might have brought with it a change of luck. Five crabeater seals and an emperor penguin were killed and brought into camp” (Lansing 102). Woohoo! The crew had more food, but with extra food there was also extra excitement. While on the way back from the hunt Orde-Lees became the hunted. It reminded me of something that could be the climax scene for a movie. In fact something similar happened in a good movie called Happy Feet http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XkfUM7Hmjg. Luckly Orde-Lees got away from the beast with “sawlike teeth” and when the dinosaur like animal lunged out of the water again Wild came to the rescue and killed it with a rifle. The sea leopard, “measured 12 feet long, and estimated its weight at about 1,100 pounds.” (102) Also Orde-Lees was given the jawbone of the beast as a souvenir and I can imagine himwearing it like an Indian would from Apocalypto. 

Endurance: Part 2, Chapters 4-6

The abandoned ship finally went under so they could no longer recover anything else. “The final loss of the Endurance was a shock in that it severed what had seemed their last tie with civilization.” (Lansing 84). The ship was more than just a ship to the crew. It was a symbol connecting everyone to the world they missed so much the world filled with warmth and loved ones they used to live in. My first thought on this was that the ship in some ways was like a cell phone. When alone on a long car ride a cell phone is sometimes the only thing that keeps you connected to other people. However once the cellphone dies it is much like the ship going down for the crew. Instantly the connection is gone and nothing is there the idea of the cell phone or the ship becomes useless once the batteries die or it sinks to the bottom.  I realize no one should be this connected to a cell phone but once it dies everyone with a phone knows the feeling of being completely isolated. I really do imagine that the ship sinking gave the crew a feeling of isolation also.

Endurance: Part 2, Chapters1-3

“Nevertheless, there was a remarkable absence of discouragement. All the men were in a state of dazed fatigue, and nobody paused to reflect on the terrible consequences of losing their ship.” (Lansing 63). This in many ways reminds me of my own work. When I first started at Jimmy John’s I often times should have gotten discouraged because I messed up on a delivery by forgetting something, but I was so tired of working I didn’t care. I was not used to the working life. Of course the crew of the ship Endurance had a real reason to be dazed and fatigued though. They worked a lot harder than me, and their lives were in real danger. The crew constantly impresses me these men were not discouraged even after their ship became stuck in the ice. Not only was it stuck but it started leaking because of the pressure of the ice and the men under Shackleton’s orders abandoned ship. They had to start living in tents and even Shackleton took some for the team he tented up with some people he didn’t  like including someone you could call his opposite or antithesis Reginald W. James the physicist.

Endurance: Part 1, Chapters7-8

           Things start to look worse for the crew, “They had no idea what the future might bring. The novelty was passed, and so too was there optimism.”(Lansing 52). It really starts too look like the book is starting to become an example of a pathos.  But then it lightens up with the sporadic signs that spring is coming. This reminds me of the school year. It always seems like it is getting so tough and everyone’s getting stressed out about work, but then as if out of nowhere there’s a blast of warmer weather and all is forgotten. Sure the warmer weather on the ship was 1.9 degrees but still it’s the same type of thing. All of the workers stopped worrying about the ship for a second just like students stop thinking about school. I swear weather is a game changer when it comes to moods. The nicer the weather the better people’s moods get. However when it came to the ship the weather was not good enough. The ship could not handle all of the pressure and sprung a leak. The crew worked hard to fix it but nothing worked. If I stick to the school analogy I would have to say the student had a mental break down and never recovered.

Endurance: Part 1, Chapters 4-6

In Antarctica there is a part of the year where there is no sun day after day. This is shocking to us and hard to imagine the effects it would have on a hardworking crew. No sunlight so what you might think, but honestly no sunlight for a long period of time will take its toll on people.  Some ships have seen what they call “madhouse promenade” (sounds like a song title to me) which is where people turn on each other and in a sense go mad making things up. “But there was little depression on board the Endurance. The coming of the polar night somehow drew the men closer together.”(Lansing 38). Even though Shackleton warned the crew with his parable about the mouse and the cat, they still kept there spirits.  The fact that spirits were high even when people were unsure reminds me of our very own Roncalli wrestling team.  On Endurance the crew bonded because of shared experiences and trying times just as the wrestling team has. Although to begin with all of the members were not friends they became friends after experiences. Now the Roncalli team is shocked because one teammate was diagnosed cancer. Although all of us are nervous for him we have high hopes that he will get better and everything will be alright. The team will always be there for him.

Endurance: Part 1, Chapters1-3

     “Shackleton’s unwillingness to succumb to the demands of everyday life and his insatiable excitement with unrealistic ventures left him open to the accusation of being basically immature and irresponsible. And very possibly he was—by conventional standards. But the great leaders of historical record—the Napoleans, the Nelsons, the Alexanders—have rarely fitted any conventional mold, and it is perhaps an injustice to evaluate them in ordinary terms. There can be little doubt that Shackleton, in his way, was an extraordinary leader of men.” (Lansing  13).

      It’s hard to understand the truth in this passage. How is it possible that someone who is immature and irresponsible fit to be a leader? I wouldn’t want to trust anyone immature and irresponsible to even water our garden while away for vacation. Let alone lead a whole group of people to go on some extreme voyage where there’s lives at stake not just plants. It is interesting that Shackleton or anyone described as unrealistic, immature, and irresponsible could be a great leader, but the tone of Lansing continues to imply that Shackleton was a great leader. His own crew tribute, “…when you are in a hopeless situation, when there seems no way out, get down on your knees and pray for Shackleton.”(14) I believe the fact that most great leaders don’t fit “conventional molds” is what puts them in front of the rest. Leaders like Shackleton with unique ways of thinking are the best. (I didn’t even mean to rhyme.)