Endurance: Part 5, Chapters 4-6

" The Caird had sailed, taking with her the best of everything they had."

    With Shackleton and a few other crew members off in search of a rescue team, the rest of the team  intently watch as their leader disappears into the horizon.  The diction of Alfred Lansing suggests that these men are feeling even more stranded and hopeless with Shackleton gone.  Refusing to admit they are doomed, the crew tries to show an outward confidence.  Although the crew tries to have a positive attitude, nothing can erase the long month of waiting for Shackleton's return.  Days later, the men decide it's in their best interest to make a shelter.  The crew worked for days to build a shelter that would hopefully hold up against the violent wind and driving snow.  The days pressed on and members had developed infections, salt water boils, frostbitten limbs, bad teeth, and gangrene.

    With all the misery in front of them, the crew imagines the luxuries of home.  One day, the men each wrote down a meal they wished they could have.  Many wanted sweet dishes, such as apple dumplings, marmalade puddings, and porridge.  Others chose scrambled eggs, baked pork and beans, and apple sauce.  Without Shackleton, the rest of the crew spend their time building up hope.  Even with all the imagining, the men still live in the bitter conditions on frugal rations of food.  Weeks pass and the fact that Shackleton may not return is openly discussed.

    The movie, Cast Away, is about how one man manages to survivor on an island that his plane has crashed on.  The man uses what was left of the plane, food from the island, and cargo from the plane for his survival.  Like the man from Cast Away, the crew of the Endurance survives by building shelters, feeding off the animals on the land, and from items brought back from the ship.  The man from Cast Away and Shackleton's men both learn to cope in the harsh situations and only hope to make it back to civilization.