The Endurance by Caroline Alexander
"In the dwindling light, the men exercised the dog teams, or scouted for now infrequent seals, or went off on exploratory hikes across the ice. Like the hapless Endurance, a number of icebergs a number of icebergs had also become trapped in the pack, and so ship and landscape drifted in tandem, held together by the northwest current. As familiar objects in the men's erratically shifting world, many of these companion icebergs came to be regarded with affection" (Alexander, page 52)
The crew of 27 men set of on an expedition to travel by boat to Antarctica. One their travels, they got trapped in the icebergs and their boat was split like a twig. After the crew settled in and began to try to survive, they grew tired. While on the white slab of ice, the men played with the sleigh dogs, looked for food, and explored the landscape. Because the environment was constantly changing with the drifts of the ocean, things became very confusing. It shows that this story is not only a journey of Antarctica, but of their minds. This shows the theme of constantly keeping a strong mind. Things are shifting in their worlds, but having the mental endurance is key to survival. I also can also connect this to Into the Wild. The mental toughness to survive in a harsh environment is shown in both of these stories. At night, the weather can reach -100 degrees F and winds can reach 200 mph in blizzards. Scott Shackleton and Chris McCandless showed the same outlook on survival.
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