Motivation: Post #1

In the book Endurance: Shackletons Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing caused me to think more about endurance. When I think of endurance, I think of something strong that has the ability to last or run for a long period of time. Endurance is a 144 foot long ship with a 25 foot tall beam. A strong ship like this is necessary to travel to the poles in weather that could get to below zero degrees. Unfortunately, Endurance was hit by an iceberg during one of Sir Ernest Shackletons Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition. The men did a great job of getting the lifeboats off, the dogs off without having any of them fight, and returning back on the dangerous ship to bring more supplies like lumber back for all the men. This kind of expedition was not tried for another forty-three years. I personally don’t think I would be capable of doing this.

One of Shackletons external motives for wanting to be successful in this expedition is the financial reward. This caused him to put a crew together. There is no proof of him doing interviews for his crew, but he did meet them. I feel like he judged the individuals based on whether he liked their personality and if they would fit together with the crew. The whole idea of endurance plays a big role in this book because anyone who chooses to volunteer to go to the arctic needs endurance or some form of motivation to survive the trip. However, the money they would receive after the trip represented a reward for the volunteers. I feel this could be the pull the crew needs to reach their goal. At one point out at sea, they couldn’t break through the ice and got stuck. I enjoyed reading about what Worsley, one of the sea men, wrote in his diary. He said, “we must possess ourselves in patience till a Southerly gale occurs, or the ice opens of its own sweet will” (Lansing, 30). Patience is needed in situations like this, especially in places where, for parts of the year, it can become almost completely dark for most of the day. This could cause depression. However, for the Endurance crew, this caused them to become closer due to spending all their time together. They were smart travelers, feeding the dogs and themselves meat and fat during the freezing cold trip. The ship Endurance was very strong and made it through two attacks. Unfortunately, a pipe froze over and the ice grew onto Endurance. The path of water they were going to take froze over as well, weighing her down and keeping her stagnant. Wild, the second in command, took the orders from Shackleton and told Howe and Bakewell that it’s time to get off the ship. I hope they can survive and get through another difficulty to continue on their journey.