Endurance: Part 4, Chapters 3-5

"... they were on land.  For the first time in 497 days they were on land.  Solid, unsinkable, immovable, blessed land."

 
    It has been over a year and the crew of the Endurance has finally arrived on Elephant Island.  The few days before getting to the island were long and perilous.  In these chapters, Alfred Lansing uses a tone that suggestions this is the most difficult part of getting back to civilization.  First, the men find the wind has sent them in a direction different from where they wanted.  Disappointed, the men, with their frozen garments and weary bodies, procedure on through the sea in search for land.  On the boats, all men endured the agony of the cold.  All men were ordered to move their toes to keep from being frost bitten.  Also, the crew found it impossible to swallow their food, and their hunger caused seasickness.  Of all of the boats, the Wills was in the worst condition, and was led by Hudson who was suffering from severe frost bite in his hands.  The author's tone tells the reader the seriousness of the crew's condition.  Lansing goes into depth of how Shackleton and his men are suffering from frostbite, seasickness, the cold, and thirst.  Eventually, Shackleton agrees to have the three boats separated.  The next day, the men land on Elephant Island, exhausted from exertion.

    Ernst Shackleton and his crew have been lost in the freezing Antarctic Ocean for over a year.  After months of searching for land, the men finally persevere.  For anyone, it is rewarding to find something after it being gone so long.  I can relate to this when I lost one of my textbooks and binders.  I felt like I had looked everywhere, and still, I couldn't find my book and binder.  My homework, which was due that day, was folded inside my binder.  I panicked, but after hours of worrying and searching, I finally found the book with binder.  Similar to me finding my book, Shackleton felt great relief when reaching land after searching so long for it.