Endurance: Part 6, Chapters 4-6

           Part six of the novel Endurance introduces the reader to the circumstances that Shackleton and the five other men aboard the James Caird, a twenty-two foot long boat, experienced. These chapters describe the second half of the crew’s journey through some of the most perilous waters on the planet. Although the hope of actually reaching land grew in the men, the situation on the boat was not one to envy. The reindeer sleeping bags that the men were using had previously rotted, but at this point, two were so deteriorated that they had to be thrown overboard. Also, the second water container that they had brought along had been contaminated, and the men were left with a shortage. Even when land came into view, the crew’s hopes of reaching it were diminished due to breaker waves, which would crush the Caird if it got to close. Even with nature working against them, the men were finally able to reach the shore. I took this voyage as a lesson in patience, hope, and perseverance. Without patience, none of the men who were a part of the Endurance crew, both those aboard the Caird and those back on Elephant Island, would have survived as long as they did. They very likely would have gone mad due to all of the waiting around, and that would have meant their downfall. The crew of the Endurance also possessed hope. Each man had something to look forward to, to desire, and the hope that they would acquire those things allowed them to prevail. Lastly, these men could teach anyone a lesson in perseverance. Too many times I have given up because something is too hard or too time consuming, but Shackleton and his men never did quit. They did in fact persevere, and that quality brought the men home again.

A Depicition of  the Mountains of Cape Demidov, South Georgia, behind the James Caird.

            One of the literary terms utilized by Alfred Lansing, the author, in these chapters of Endurance is flashback.

            “The second cask of water – the one that had got adrift during the launching of the Caird from Elephant Island – was foul,” (240).

            This quote tells of an earlier time when the crew of the Caird was leaving Elephant Island. One of their water containers had fallen into the sea, but the men had thought it was still sealed. The water had been tainted though, and that reduced the amount that the men could both drink and eat.