Summer Homework, Alfred Lansing, Endurance, Part II, Chapter Four-Six, Narrator, Metaphor

Camp life is a drab and rather unhappy existence because the day-to-day activities almost are unchanging. There is hunting and other tasks to occupy the mind and to prevent insanity from taking over the mind. Soon, the crew of the Endurance had become accustomed to the camp life that they were now living in as they wait for a plan to leave their Arctic prison. On November 21, from their camp, they watched as the Endurance finally sank into the icy waters.

"The final loss of the Endurance was a shock i that it severed what had seemed their last tie with civilization. It was a finality. The ship had been a symbol, a tangible, physical symbol that linked them to with the outside world (page 84)."

The Narrator- (the one who tells the story; may be first- or third-person, limited or omniscient) tells of how the ship was the piece of hope that kept the crew hopeful and optimistic. This Metaphor- (direct comparison of two different things) of the ship being a beacon of civilization, while it is in a desolate waste land, is used to help the reader understand the desperate nature of the situation more so than before.

On the 23 of December, Shackleton allows the crew to celebrate Christmas early by having a large feast before they leave the camp on the ice floe. The plan to move was generally disliked by the whole of the crew and there was fear of mutiny. The synergy of the crew was upset and now violent outbreaks were a serious threat to the crew. Many crew members refused to push the boats any further because, in their minds, they were no longer contractually obligated to do anything that involved working under the instruction of the captain because the Endurance sank. Shackleton convinced them that they were still under contract and that they had to do work. Nevertheless, if complete unity was not restored to the crew, survival was at stake. In the end, the crew ended up abandoning their plan to move and turned back because of unfavorable ice conditions.

This situation reminds me of the film Independence Day when the continued attempts of the Americans to defeat the aliens were all for not, just as the crew of the Endurance's continued efforts to move from their camp were thwarted by the bad ice and weather. Also, in the film there were disagreements among the cabinet members under the President on how to make the next move against the invaders just as there were quarrels among the crew members over what should be done and how to do it.