If you were to walk up to someone today and ask them about
some of their aspirations you might be hard pressed to find someone who would
respond with “Exploring and discovering the Antarctic!”. However, I could be wrong, you might get
this kind of response if you were, say, in a room full of scientists of some
kind. What is so amazing about Captain
Shackleton is his insatiable lust for pushing across the Antarctic. This is a truly motivated man, but what was
his incentive? What was it that drove
him to raise the enormous amount of money needed and set out to do what no other man of his time could
claim to have accomplished?
Given the disposition of Shackleton we might be able to
assume that he was a man who loved exploration and fulfilling a purpose. His incentive could have simply have been to
do what was not yet done on his prior expeditions to the Antarctic region. We might be able to conclude that Shackleton’s
motive was to fulfill a need deep within him, a psychological need; whereas, his
incentive might accurately be described as the fame and prestige that would
accompany a successful journey.
Shackleton called this voyage the “last great Polar journey that
can be made.” No one had yet crossed the
expanse of out southernmost continent and so he planned to claim the last prize
left.
Interestingly, the selection of his crew tells a lot about
himself and the kind of group dynamic he envisioned. In the first few chapters, Albert Lansing
gives the reader a detailed profile about many of the men who joined Shackleton
on his quest. Many traits were similar
among his crew. For one, most of them
jumped on board the expedition for the pure purpose of pursuing adventure. The men, while experienced, also possessed a
light-hearted streak and an overall good sense of humor. Perhaps Shackleton wanted a team that was as
motivated by challenge and adventure as he was.
As for their sense of humor and good-tempered dispositions, men who
could see humor easily and take a task and job in a level-headed way was
probably a good investment. As the
journey progresses, this amazing crew was able to entertain themselves and have
a good laugh but at the flip of the switch fall in line to combat the worst of
unexpected threats. Given the desolation
of the Antarctic and the constant potential for disaster, I do not think that
Shackleton could have chosen two better personality traits. Or maybe he sought a light-hearted that might be resistant to pessimism and worry - as evidenced by Shackleton's fears that their on-deck artist's moody and worrisome attitude might spread to the others. What is even more interesting is that Shackleton
rarely needed to interview a man for more than a few minutes, he just knew by
talking to a fellow whether they would be a good addition to the crew. He must have possessed some instinctual sense
for bringing together men who would peacefully get along over the next year and
change. Despite diverse backgrounds and life experiences, these men became close and appreciated what they had in common.
I look forward to see how the men develop further as the
situation becomes more and more severe.
By starting out with a general idea of what the men were like and how
they behaved might provide some insight into what drove them to keep forging on
in the face of imminent death.
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