Endurance, Part III, Chapters 1-3

Quote- “Only if the pack chose, they might be permitted to escape, but for the present they were powerless; there was no goal, not even the smallest achievable objective to aim for.”

Discussion- By now, the men have completely forgone their optimistic outlook.  They are running low on stores, thanks to Shackleton’s odd way of displaying his optimism and leadership, and still have not found a safe way to continue forward.  Restlessness and even fear begin to grow among the men.  The tiny flickers of hope the men occasionally experience, such as the strong gale that blew them more than 80 miles in the right direction, never amount to anything significant and could even cause the men to become even more disappointed or fall into a deeper depression.  It was up until this time that the men had kept their optimism because they could actively participate in the effect to reach land and move forward.  Now they were completely at the mercy of the ice, currents, and gales, and there was nothing more they could do.  They reluctantly resigned to the occasional hunt and large amount of thinking.  This quote clearly describes the utter helplessness that the men were subjected to.  All they could do was sit and wait, and pray that the floe moved in the right direction.  Some were unsure they would make it out alive.  Rations were running low and dogs are being killed to save food.  Macklin even uses an allusion explorers would recognize when he writes in his diary that he fears the crew might face some of the hardships of Greely, whose was the leader of an expedition from 1881-1884 in which more than half of his men died of starvation.  There were few things to occupy the time other than playing cards and talking about the wind and food.  Thankfully though, near the end of the second chapter, a huge flock of penguins appeared around the camp and the threat of starvation was no longer imminent.  The crew faced one more disappointment before the end of the fourth chapter, unfortunately.  They observed movement of the ice caused by swells from the ocean.  To their utter dismay, the swells disappeared as quickly as they had appeared.

Literary Term: allusion- Macklin makes an allusion to a famous explorer in his diary to display his fear about the shortage of stores and means of obtaining food.  His crew members and other explorers of his time would recognize the name Greely and would understand the predicament Macklin was trying to explain.

Small Adélie penguins without much blubber, but in large numbers can be a substantial food source