Quote- Greenstreet had this to say in his diary, “… I fail to see any cause for excitement as it puts us no nearer getting out. What i would far rather see would be a crowd of seals coming up so that we might get food and fuel.”
Discussion- The crew have resigned themselves to the style of living they have experience for the past couple months. They realize the journey to land is futile, and the sight is a tantalizing reminder of a comfort the men cannot enjoy. Because of the conditions of the weather and the ice floes themselves, the men can neither sail or travel by land to reach their destination which was so close within their grasp. This quote shows that the men are more in favor of a practical event that will help them survive for the time being, such as the capture of seals, instead of desperately hoping that some miracle would allow them to reach land. Another large swell began and caused a crack down the floe. Throughout the progression of these three chapters, cracks caused by swells continue to decrease the size of the floe. Because of the shortage of rations and blubber with which to cook the food, the dogs are killed and fried, and the men rejoice when a large leopard seal is butchered. The men continued to try to predict where the floe would end up, and the crew’s constant goal of land changed from island to island depended on drift and currents. Towards the end, Clarence Island seemed to be where they were headed. The floe was becoming so small, Shackleton finally gave the order to take to the ships and head to land. The setting of the novel, which for the past four or five month had been different camps on floes, would soon change. By this point, there was no turning back.
Literary Terms: setting- A large majority of the novel so far has been set in the camps the men had pitched on large chunks of ice after the Endurance was abandoned. Now, the setting was going to change, for the men took to the boats to head to land, and the ice closed behind them.
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