Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Parts 3-5

When I first starting reading this book, I was not interested in it at all. I read the first few pages and was not sucked into it like I wish I would have been. I thought it was going to be boring and not teach me anything, but I was wrong. The book has picked up a lot and it has hooked me in the more I continue to read it. At first, I was taking my time with the book because it didn't keep me interested, but the more I read, the more I started to love it. Not only has it showed me true bravery of these men, it has also showed me to appreciate the life that we have now. We don't always realize what we have until we no longer have it, and reading the story of the men in this book is truly amazing. They never once complained about what they didn't have and always stayed positive even when there seemed to be no hope at all. I mentioned this in my last post, but it stuns me every time I read more. Today we take food for granted and where it comes from or how we get it and that's something that opened my eyes up. I know for sure that I would not have been able to survive on the food that they have survived on. Eating seal, penguins, and even dog is not the main thing that they wanted to have, but they made the most of it. They were thankful when they found a seal to eat and didn't complain about the work that they had to do to even catch it. And their sleeping situations? We take having air condition in the summer for granted, the heat in the winter time, or complain when it's too hot or too cold, but imagine being in their shoes. Sleeping on sheets of ice in one set of clothes that never even get a chance to dry and NEVER once having anything to say. They lived on a day to day survival but no matter what weather they faced, what ships were getting destroyed, what land they had to search for next, who was having their body parts removed (Blackboro's foot), they were always thankful for making progress no matter how little progress it may have been, they were always optimistic and hopeful of their outcome.

1 comment:

  1. You couldn't be more right, these men are truly survivors!! The tortorous conditions that they endured are unthinkable. I don't think that many of us could last even an hour under the same conditions. They even ate the blubber and didn't complain!! Men of this era had great character and ambition. Unforturnately, this has decresed significantly in our society today. I'm happy we were able to read this book, just for the mere fact of getting to know these men.

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