Thursday, October 11, 2012

Endurance Post #3


            The beginning and ending of this section are similar since they both are negative due to the little faith and motivation the men have at this point in the expedition. After five days of difficult travels, there was almost no hope. Additionally, there was uncertainty in their plans of travel with their food situation. The beginning states that “many of them, it seemed, finally grasped for the first time just how desperate things really were.... They had nurtured in the backs of their minds the attitude Shackleton strove so unceasingly to imbue them with, a basic faith in themselves- that they could, if need be, pit their strength and their determination against any obstacle- and somehow overcome it.” Shackleton was a great leader especially due to his undying need to never give up. Some of the men, after they lost most of their motivation, judged Shackleton on his extremely high self-confidence. In my opinion, this section seemed the most realistic to me not in terms of their situation, but in terms of their overall moods and motivation level. Personally, I went into this book with the hypothesis that the men would have little to no motivation due to their terrible, terrible circumstances. At the end of this section, the directions of the winds were pushing the men towards the east, far away from the land. Afterwards, the floes began to crack and Shackleton ordered all the men onto the boats. Where the men go from there is completely uncertain and I can only hope more positive events happen.

1 comment:

  1. Shackleton really does deserve significant recognition because of his outstanding leadership, and ability to motivate his crew. He never gives up on his men, and without a man like Shacklton it would be impossible to survive such an adventure like they did in this book.

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