Chapter three begins as an overview of the reasons behind the desire for going on an expedition. the freedoms and the simplicity of a sailor's life are all the reasons that Shackleton needs for going on such a dangerous journey. In Chapter three, it is discovered that there is a stowaway on the ship and he is reprimanded for his misdeeds. Blackboro, the stowaway, is disciplined for his actions by Shackleton and is sent to the galley to work. The voyage to the Antarctic coast began and months later the Endurance had become trapped by the ice only 60 miles from their intended stopping point.
Shackleton now set his mind on survival and efforts to move the ship out of the pack ice were halted. The crew hunted seal and other animals and used meat as food and the blubber as fuel. By the beginning of March, the Antarctic night had set in and the sun rarely peaked above the horizon. The dog teams were being trained but many were dying from worms. Hunting had become scarce and the ice pack was slowly rotating.
"The Weddell Sea was roughly circular in shape, hemmed in by three land masses: the Antarctic continent itself, the Palmer Peninsula, and the islands of the south sandwich group. Consequently much of the ice that formed in the Weddell Sea was held there, prevented by the encircling land from escaping into the open ocean where it might have melted (Page 25)".
This passage is a great example of Foreshadowing- (The presentation of material in such a way that the reader is prepared for what is to come later in the work). The report that masses of ice were forming and the description of the sea that was being sailed tells the reader that there is going to be trouble in the near future.
I am reminded of the film Cast Away in the fact that both the Endurance the main character from the film begin with a planned journey that takes a turn for the worst. While the Endurance is trapped in a frozen wasteland and Chuck Noland is trapped on a lifeless island in the tropics, the same feeling of hopelessly being trapped is apparent.
Shackleton now set his mind on survival and efforts to move the ship out of the pack ice were halted. The crew hunted seal and other animals and used meat as food and the blubber as fuel. By the beginning of March, the Antarctic night had set in and the sun rarely peaked above the horizon. The dog teams were being trained but many were dying from worms. Hunting had become scarce and the ice pack was slowly rotating.
"The Weddell Sea was roughly circular in shape, hemmed in by three land masses: the Antarctic continent itself, the Palmer Peninsula, and the islands of the south sandwich group. Consequently much of the ice that formed in the Weddell Sea was held there, prevented by the encircling land from escaping into the open ocean where it might have melted (Page 25)".
I am reminded of the film Cast Away in the fact that both the Endurance the main character from the film begin with a planned journey that takes a turn for the worst. While the Endurance is trapped in a frozen wasteland and Chuck Noland is trapped on a lifeless island in the tropics, the same feeling of hopelessly being trapped is apparent.
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