Endurance: Part 2, Chapters 1-3

          In this section of the novel Endurance, the crew has been ordered to leave their ship because it is no longer safe for them. After realizing that their efforts to travel on foot are futile, the crew sets up camp on an ice floe that they hope will float closer to their destination, Paulet Island. Because of the lack in available storage space and means of transportation, Shackleton orders the men to leave as many possible belongings behind as they can, and he limits them to only two pounds of personal items. Many of the men left behind family photographs, books, and keepsakes that meant a great deal to them. In this situation, I cannot imagine how difficult it had to have been to leave behind so many possessions. My parents have asked me to sort through my things to find items to give away, but I always have a hard time parting with them, even if I have not used them in years. The crew was ordered to leave the only connection they still had to their lives back at home in a pile of snow, never to see them again. When I give away certain items, I know that they will be used or cherished by someone else at least. The crew’s ability to have abandoned their closest possessions and still have had hope that they would overcome their situation is remarkable.

Frank Worsley

            One of the literary terms that is exercised in this novel by the captain, Frank Worsley, is sarcasm.

“Sounds of bitter sobs and lamentations are heard this evening from No. 5 tent at the loss of their dearly beloved ‘Colonel’ who has removed himself for a season to sleep in his store in the old wheelhouse. He indulgently yields to our earnest entreaties to continue to dine with us and comforts us with the assurance that he will return promptly to our Humble but Happy Home immediately we prepare to get on the march,” (76-77).

            

Thomas H. Orde-Lees

Thomas H. Orde-Lees, one of the men who had been assigned to Worsley’s tent, was an incredibly strong man with an incredibly sophomoric attitude. He was very lazy, and he openly avoided his work. Many of the men became irritated with him and were frustrated that he rarely worked or put forth any effort at camp. It was after he had camped on the ice flow for a few weeks that Orde-Lees declared he would no longer be sleeping in Worsley’s tent. The comment above is Worsley’s sarcastic diary description of his other tent-mates’ reactions to this announcement.