Endurance: Part 5, Chapters 1-3



The James Caird Setting Sail from Elephant Island



           These chapters of Alfred Lansing’s Endurance introduce readers to the inhospitable living conditions on Elephant Island. Although they were excited to finally be standing on solid ground again, the crew soon realized that the island was not going to be a paradise. Strong winds blew down from cliffs above their camp, causing the three boats to twist and turn. It was at this point that Shackleton made an announcement. He said that he and five other men would take the James Caird and sail towards South Georgia, an island 800 miles away from their current location, in order to find help. Although this journey was practically a death sentence, many men offered their assistance and five were chosen. Before the James Caird set sail, Shackleton had a conversation with second-in-command Frank Wild. He told him that from the moment he left, he was in charge, and that if Shackleton were to not return, Wild should do everything in his power to be rescued. As the six men disappeared into the ocean beyond, it really struck everyone that they might never see those people again. When I moved states ten years ago, I never really thought about never seeing certain people again, but recently, the realization that I have not seen so many people for so many years has hit me. I believe that Shackleton’s crew had a similar feeling; they just noticed it much earlier. Those six men had struggled to survive barren Antarctica with the rest of the party for two years, and they were as close to each other as one could get. Although numb from the freezing temperatures and treacherous conditions, the thought of never hearing from them again had a great impact on the crew.

The literary term simile is used by Lansing during these chapters. A simile is used to compare or relate two things, using the words “like” or “as.”

            “Moreover, an examination of the new campsite raised serious doubts about whether it had been worth the trouble to move. It was a rocky spit about thirty yards across, extending to seaward like a tongue stuck out from an enormous glacier 150 yards inland,” (185).

Lansing uses this simile to relate the appearance of the crew’s campsite to a tongue sticking out. This simile allows the reader to visualize what the camp looked like; a small, rocky beach jutting out from the glacier and cliffs above.