Endurance: Part 1, Chapters 1-3

      "They were for all practical purposes alone in the frozen Antarctic seas.  It had been very nearly a year since they had last been in contact with civilization.  Nobody in the outside world knew they were in trouble, much less where they were."

       Alfred Lansing begins with the crew putting forth all their effort in hope of saving the sinking Endurance.  The crew of the Endurance had set out to be the first to cross the Antarctic continent from west to east.  Now, the leader, Ernest Shackleton, was ordering his crew to abandon the ship.  Although the crew was relieved to finally be free from the anguish endured while trying to save the ship, they would soon be in dire need of shelter, food, and heat.  I feel this quote effectively presents a mood of sheer isolation.  The nearest place of refuge was a tiny island located hundreds of miles across the ice-packed sea.  I would say that the quote definitely expresses the extremity of the situation.

 
  
   It is not difficult to compare the desperation that the crew faces to the hopelessness of a Uruguayan rugby team that was stranded in the Andes Mountains after a plane crash.  Like the crew of the Endurance, the rugby team was left in extremely harsh conditions and had no contact with the outside world.  The Uruguayans faced starvation and were actually forced to feed on the dead passengers.  Although it is only the beginning of the misfortune experienced by the crew of the Endurance, the quote suggests that they will share the same fate of the Uruguayans.