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| "The Scream" by Edvard Munch |
OK--enough of that. I digress!
Hopefully, you see that, by now, the sailors are in serious trouble. They don't know where they're going. They are ruled more by superstition and heresay than scientific knowledge. They don't really trust one another, and the captain and his first mate are at odds, causing division. No drinkable water. The turtles have been bloodthirstily consumed. The hardtack has been contaminated by salt water. Some of the men decide to stay on an island rather than get back in the water, even though the island has nothing much to offer. And now, Joy and Peterson are dead and their bodies committed to the sea.
Things are about to change, however. And I'd like you to think about what you'd do. What would YOU do?
You will finish the book by the time of our last blog together (next blog on 7/31), at which time I will give you a little assignment and help you get ready for the first day of school. Meanwhile, let me SAY THIS AGAIN!
WHEN YOU POST ON THE LAST CHAPTERS (11-14) AND THE EPILOGUE, ONLY COMMENT ON THIS POST! EVEN IF YOU'RE COMMENTING ON EARLIER CHAPTERS, KEEP ALL THE CONVERSATION ON THIS POST!
Chapter 11 - "Games of Chance"
Here, Philbrick is going to give you a brief history of cannibalism (you've been waiting for this, haven't you?!). Read this carefully and think about it. Think about the IRONY (if you don't know what that means, you need to look it up) in the third paragraph on p. 114. THIS IS CRAZY! Or as some of my students like to say---CRAY-CRAY! Note who dies from there on out. Keep track of this with your annotating.
Also notice the break at the bottom of p. 115. Now, the author is going to cut from one boat to the other boat to give you an idea of how each is handling the horrors on board.
On p. 116, how does Chase change (thank goodness!)?
Again note the change on p. 118 signified by the break. Now we're looking at cannibalism and Hendricks's boat.
And, at the break on p. 119, we find a really horrible idea--a death game. Imagine looking at your fellow sailors and thinking, "Who's for dinner tonight?"
Chapter 12 - "In the Eagle's Shadow"
Back to Chase's boat and more cannibalism. Please pay careful attention to the map on p. 125; check out the near hits and many misses (of civilization) and rescue. Look at the path each boat traveled. It's crazy!
Again, Philbrick, by using breaks and little arrows, takes you, the reader, from boat to boat, keeping you informed of each group's actions, which parallel each other in many ways. You may now connect the dots between the preface of the book, when the Dauphin spotted Pollard's boat and what he found inside. You now have the complete story. (see p. 127)
Back to Chase's boat, note that Nickerson is about to lose it and actually DOES lose it, but he doesn't die. There's a picture of the twine that Lawrence made while out on the open ocean (see p. 129 and the photo on the last page of the photo insert section next to p. 69). You can see this if you ever go to New England and visit the Nantucket Historical Association!
How is Chase finally rescued? And back, once again, to Pollard's and Ramsdell's rescue by the Dauphin on p. 133.
Chapter 13 - "Homecoming"
In the remaining portion of the book, Philbrick is now going to tie up the pieces for you, resolving some nagging questions, and raising others.
Pay careful attention to their rescues and reunions. Note their physical appearance and how it affected the crew of the vessels that rescued them. I find it very interesting that only Nantucketers survived on both Chase's and Pollard's boats (p. 137).
On p. 138 and following, the author ties up the loose ends of the three marooned sailors on Henderson Island. And remember---there was one more boat that was separated from Pollard's boat. The story of its fate begins on p. 141.
As you finish this chapter, note their reception on arriving back in Nantucket. How do the townspeople take the news? Welcome or not welcome them? Which of the two, Pollard or Chase, has the hardest time? What do you think of the two men?
Chapter 14 - "Consequences"
This chapter ties up the question of what became of the men. What happens to Pollard, and why does the saying "lightning never strikes twice" not apply to him?
What about Chase? And how does Herman Melville (by the way, WHO IS MELVILLE?! You need to know!) figure into the story of the Essex?
What happens to the rest of the men? And finally, note (beginning on p. 155) how each remaining man met his death and established his legacy.
"Epilogue"
In these few pages, Philbrick is now going to comment on the entire story and give his assessment of the tragedy. Do you agree? Disagree?
What did you think of this true event?
Remember, POST YOUR COMMENTS TO THIS BLOG POST! I look forward to hearing from you by 7/29.
During these chapters we learned that the sailors had to live in very bad conditions on these small boats in chapter 7 we see how tight all three boats are and also we learned that these boats were also very over weight instead of 500 pounds of whaling equipment each boat had close to a thousand pounds of bread, water, and tortises. When the Essex sunk they many navigational equipment was lost so these three boats that survived didn’t have much navigation so this because all of them to stay together and this was very hard because of all the waves and the wind. Also during this chapter we find out that salt water had a really bad effect on the crew, the salt water that got in the boat from the crashing waves would get on the food and especially the bread and this was bad for the crew because the salt water would make them thirsty and they didn’t have much water but they had to eat something so it was just horrible for them all around.
ReplyDeleteIn chapter 8 we learn how much these men really suffered they hadn’t had much water in weeks and every single one of them was dehydrated and they wanted water so bad that they had to start drinking their own urine I couldn’t imagine the feeling of have no water to drink for weeks, in this chapter we also learned that the crew started to pray and every night Richard Peterson an African American male would led them in prayer and I think that this gave the grew a little bit of hope that their prayers would be answered.
In chapter 9 all three boats arrived at this small island and at first they only found food on the island but the second day they found a spring of water and everybody was happy but if they stayed at the island then they had little chance to be rescued and after a couple days on the island their daily food supply which was birds stopped showing up so the crew had to make a decision to leave or to stay and they decided to leave because they had a better chance to get rescued if thy kept going but before they left thy had to leave a crew member which was joy he was doing every bad and was about to die. If I was in this situation I would also leave the island because theres a better chance to get rescued.
In chapter 10 we find out that the three boats get separated and that now the crew is no longer dehydrated but now they are suffering from starvation and also the man that had led the crew in prayer had tried to steal some extra bread while everyone was asleep and this almost caused him his life when he got caught. Also later on towards the end of the chapter we find out that he dies from starvation. I am very excited to find out what will happen next of this very hard journey.
Good summaries. Be sure to ofer your comments on what's happening, instead of just telling me what happened. I'm reading it, too! :)
DeleteIn Chapter 7, the men are at sea and trying to keep all three boats together. They are having to eat bread that has been damaged by the salt water and they are very thirsty. Also, they cannot compute longitude so they are not sure where they are. This chapter has several interesting pictures. We learn that Owen Chase was judged insane and Nickerson owned a boardinghouse. Benjamin Lawrence saved his twine from his time on the whaleboat.This picture notes that the Essex was shipwrecked November 1819, but the shipwreck was actually on November 20, 1820.
ReplyDeleteIn Chapter 8, the men are very thirsty. The stages of dehydration are shocking from a cotton-mouth phase to "living death." I cannot imagine what they were going through. Richard Peterson led the men in prayer. Prayer helped to calm the men and give them hope.
In Chapter 9, they find land. They think they're on Ducie Island, but we learn that they are on Henderson Island. There is not much food or fresh water on this island, but they do find some water and tropic birds. After about five days, the "men had exhausted their portion of the island." Matthew Joy is very ill and is likely suffering from tuberculosis. Thomas Chappel, Seth Weeks and William Wright decide to stay on the island. If I had been in their situation, I would have stayed on the island too.
In Chapter 10, the seventeen men leave Henderson Island. They head for Easter Island, but later find out they are too far south to reach it. Richard Peterson steals the bread due to the "cravings of a starved appetite." Chase has to decide if they should eat all their provisions and wait to die or whether he should continue to ration the food and keep hoping they will be rescued. Joy and Peterson die and both are buried at sea.
Wasn't Henderson Island strange? It seemed like a good place, but the resources dried up pretty quickly. I agree with you. I think I would have stayed there, too!
DeleteIn chapter 7, “At Sea”, the men are trying to keep their boats from falling apart. They are also trying to keep their hard tack from being ruined. They also are trying to stay hydrated; right now they are at the point where their saliva gets thick and tastes bitter. Some of the men are so dehydrated that they cannot talk. The salt water was getting into the hard tack which made it harder for them to stay alive. If I was in this situation, I would try to make shade but still help Chase and Pollard so that we could survive the situation. After they decided to eat the turtles, the men were “blood thirsty”. I believe they were “blood thirsty” because that was the first taste of being hydrated that they had felt in a long time.
ReplyDeleteIn chapter eight, “Thirst”, sixty one year old, Ricard Peterson, proved to be important to all of the men. He led the crew in prayer every night letting their minds forget about the situation for a short period of time. Just a small prayer each night kept hope in the men. Even though Richard Peterson helped their minds, their bodies were continuing to weaken every day.
In chapter nine, the men thought that they landed on the island of Ducie, but very soon they realized that they actually landed on Henderson Island. The problem with this island is that it does not have much fresh food or water to live on. In this chapter, Matthew Joy is very ill and suffering from tuberculosis. Thomas Chappel, William Write, and Seth Weeks decided that they would not continue on and would stay on Henderson Island. If I was in this situation, I would have continued on in hopes to see my family again.
In chapter ten, the men leave Henderson Island and head for Easter Island. Later in their journey, they find out that they are too far south to reach it. Richard Peterson was craving for food so badly that he decided to steal some of Chase’s. Chase also has to make the tough decision of eating all of their provisions and waiting to die or searching for food and hoping to be saved. Joy and Peterson both die. This would terrify me as I would think I was next.
I can't imagine any more appropriate word than "terrify." I seriously can't imagine making it through a day of this...
DeleteChapter seven is about the men of the Essex just beginning a long and exhausting journey across the sea. They where faced with storms that lead to separation of the three boats. They had to very carefully ration the water and bread and was constantly beat down by the sun. when saltwater nearly destroyed their hardtack they had almost no means of food. Eventually they had to resolve to eating the tortoises, which had fixed their hunger and dehydration problem.
ReplyDeleteIn chapter eight the mens thirst has grown so bad they it begins to extremely pain them. The only thing to help distract from the pain was Mr. Peterson leading in prayer every night. Even when a school of flying fish provide them with food the pain is not gone for long. The crew are slowly turning into " skeletons ", and speech is almost impossible due to the swelling of their tongues. They begin to have delusions and see non-real things. Some even drink the sea water. When they are on the verge of death a young boy William Wright cries out that there is an island.
In chapter nine it is proven to be an island which is thought to be the Ducie islands. Which if it was they would be way off course. Even though it is actually Henderson island. The island appears to have a lot of vegetation which means freshwater. When they landed there is an abundance of birds and fish but no freshwater. After one day on the island some crew members discover a spring. They set up camp and stay on the islands a little longer than a week. They decide to leave cause they literally hunted all the birds off the island. Chappel, Wright, and Weeks decide to stay though.
In chapter ten not long after leaving they had eaten all the remaining birds and fish. Chase decided to cut the rations again. They had also decided to head for the Easter islands. Shortly after the ill and skinny Joy dies and is tied to a rock and dropped off the boat. Pollard then puts Hendricks his former boat steerer in charge over Joys boat. Soon after a storm separates Chases boat from the others. Chase continues east in hope of seeing the other boats. But while Joy was ill his boats rations where over used and now has enough to last two days. Chase cuts his rations in half again which left his men starved. Somehow Peterson stole some bread and when Chase found out he nearly killed him. Soon after they fought off a giant shark and without too much food and no strength they couldn't spear not one thing. Eventually Peterson died and was sent to the bottom just like Joy was.
Think about what you said. The men were sent to the bottom, and the remaining men didn't have the strength to spear not one thing. So...what do you think's going to happen next? What's the natural progression?
DeleteIn Chapter 7, the boats are more overloaded than before because of all the supplies. Each boat has 1,000 lbs of bread, water, and tortoises. There are 3 boats. Boat #1 has Pollard, Seth Weeks. Boat #2 has Chase, William Wright, Richard Peterson. Boat #3 has Joy, Thomas Chappell. It was very hard for the men to find their way because of poor maps and lack of navigational equipment. They didn't know how to use lunar observation, so that left "dead reckoning." They had to keep careful record of the boats heading indicated by the compass. They had to determine speed by throwing a knotted length of rope with a piece of wood at the end of it (a log line) into the water and determine how many knots ran out in a set period of time. We got the term" log in" from the log line used to measure their progress and speed. The salt water affected the food on the boat. The bread got soaked by the sea water. Eating the salt damaged bread severely dehydrated the men. It was like pouring gasoline on fire. Excessive sodium can cause convulsions. The salt also made the boat seams pull apart, and they had to constantly bail water out of the boats. The men decided to eat the tortoises and drink their blood. They were "blood thirsty" because they had no food and no drink. They would eat anything that would come their way. Once they began to eat they found it difficult to stop. If I had been there, I would have probably survived but it would be very hard not eating or drinking for 2 months.
ReplyDeleteIn Chapter 8, the crew goes even longer without water to drink. They get cotton mouth, their saliva becomes thick and foul tasting and their tongues cling to their teeth. Their voices become cracked and hoarse. They get lumps in their throats and severe pain in their heads and necks. Their hearing is affected and they begin to hallucinate because of the severe dehydration. Their tongues hardened and swelled and their speech was near impossible. Their throats become so swollen it also became difficult to breathe. Richard Peterson was important to the men because he was the one who led the men in prayer. This gave them religious strength in their time of peril. Prayer is very important when people are in very deep doubt. The lack of food and water made the men's skin thin, it weakened them, and it made their hair fall out in clumps. Their skin was burned and covered with sores and their eyes sunk into their skulls. A splash of sea water felt like acid burning on their flesh. Dehydration and starvation was terrible.
In Chapter 9, the crew finds land. They think it's Ducie Island, but it's actually Henderson Island. This island was made of mostly jagged rocks and coral with 90 foot cliffs lining the shore. But the men found a spring of water bubbling up from a hole in the rock and fish, crabs and birds to eat. But Joy did not have long to live. The crew gradually regained weight and strength during the week on Henderson Island, but Joy still remained shockingly thin. Three men end up staying on the island. Thomas Chappell, Joy's boat-steerer, and Seth Weeks and William Wright, 2 teenagers from Cape Cod. I would not have stayed. I would have left the island to try to go home.
In Chapter 10, Joy made a request. The 27 year old second mate asked to be moved to the captains boat. Now that he was reaching the end he wanted to die among his own people rather than with off islanders. The two choices are either to continue to eat smaller portions of food that will last over a long time or eat all the food and wait the approach of death. I would make the choice of having smaller portions that last longer, and hope to reach home. The man who stole bread on Chase's boat was Richard Peterson, an old black man from New York. If the boats got separated, I would try to find land as quickly as possible and go looking in different directions to find the other boats. The two men who died were Joy and Richard Peterson. They were disposed of 1,000 miles from Juan Fernandez Island in the vast burial ground of the sea.
I love your last sentence! "The vast burial ground of the sea." Beautiful!
DeleteIn chapter 7, the three boats are falling apart and are being weighed down with all the supplies and men aboard. The first boat is commanded by Pollard and the two other boats are commanded by Chase and Joy.Their food supply of hardtack was damaged from sea water that had gotten in to the supply. The sailors were just as hunger as of thirsty because of the fresh water supply that ran out. The boats where falling apart of the sailors had to constantly patch the boat up. The sailors ended up eating the Tortoises they had on board to quench their thirst and hunger.
ReplyDeleteIn chapter 8, conditions got even worse the men where now hunger and thirty more then ever. The sailors developed cotton mouth while cotton mouth was bad they later lost their ability to hear and speak. Although there was one man aboard one of the ships that was vital to them, his name was Richard he lend them in prayer which kept their spirits high and god close.
In chapter 9, they finely find land. The island they have found is called Henderson Island. This island has a lack of food on the island if they where to live off it for awhile. Although the men do seem to find fresh water from a spring on the island. The crew ends up staying for a little over a week except three of the sailors. The three sailors that ended up staying where Chappel, Write, and Weeks.
In chapter 10, the crew is begging to run out of the food they have left so they decide to ration it and make it last as long as possible. Then Joy dies and is thrown to the bottom of the ocean. Chase's boat get separated from the others but continues to look for the eastern islands. Later Chase realizes that Peterson stole some of the food and threatens him to kill him. Later Peterson dies anyway.
Be sure to offer your thoughts with the summary. How would you feel in their shoes? :O (That's how I would feel!)
DeleteThe crew of the whaleship Essex has been holding onto survival for dear life. Their whaleboats are overloaded with food, water, and people. Things only got worse when they had dietary issues, spoiled hard tack, scarce supply of fresh water, physical atrophy, and dehydration. The three whaleboats of the Essex are sailing blind, and they are having a hard time communicating between the other boats. I was looking at the pictures and map of Nantucket and it kind of looks like a whale. That’s pretty ironic given the circumstances.
ReplyDeleteThe crew members’ level of dehydration has reached a dangerously high limit. Men were at a stage that they had to drink their own urine. The first stage was the “cotton mouth” state, which made their saliva thick and very bad tasting. Their tongues would stick to the tops of their mouths making it difficult to speak. Next, the crew starts to lose their voice and experience head and neck pains. Last, they started sweating and crying blood. I don’t know how anyone could endure so much pain.
The Essex’s crew finally found land in a deserted island, but they did not know exactly where they are. They believed they were on Ducie Island, but were really on Henderson Island. While the crew hoped for an abundant supply of fresh water and food, even that small glimmer of hope turned out to be part of their unfortunate circumstances. There was very little fresh water and food on the island. Water was only available at a certain time of day during low tide. The second mate Joy was never a big man to begin with, so the effects of the severe starvation and dehydration had a much greater impact on his body and chances for survival. Finally, it came time for them to leave the island since there was not enough food and water for all of them to survive. Three crew members, Thomas Chappel, Seth Weeks, and William Wright decided to stay behind on the island. If I was there, I think I would have stayed behind with them rather than going back to the ocean not knowing what lay ahead. I wonder how long they survived on the island , or if they were ever rescued.
After leaving the island, the crew experienced the death of a crewmate. The second mate Matthew Joy was the first to die from the effects of starvation. Then, the group’s prayer leader Richard Peterson also died soon after Joy. They were both buried at sea by the remaining crewmates. The crew was then faced with a very tough question, continue feeding their bodies as they had been or further restrict even their meager daily rations. Chase’s crew cut their rations in half again to hold out hope that by staying alive they could somehow be rescued.
Ughhh. The dry mouth stage. Isn't it awful? Just being in the heat this summer (and I was at the beach walking along) made me think of what it must have been like to NOT be able to protect yourself from the elements. Horrifying.
DeleteMunch’s “The Scream” represents how I would feel and react if I was told this story. It makes me realize that if I had lived in that time period I could have possibly had a job in the whaling industry. The fact that my friends and I could face the fate of the Essex is beyond scary. Yes, I would scream in fear and hopelessness if I had been in one of those whaleboats.
ReplyDeleteEXACTLY!!!!!
Deletechapter 7
ReplyDeleteIn chapter 7 all the boats are packed full of people and supplies. The boats were so packed they started to fall apart and sink. The boats captains were Chase, Joy and Pollard. The food supply was damaged by the sea water leaving the crew to thirst and starve. The boats had to constantly be repaired(i wonder how many times the crew wanted to just give up!) Eventually the crew had to eat turtles they had collected.
Chapter 8
In chapter 8 the sailors continued to starve. The crew was so thirsty they started to have cotton mouth. Cotton mouth is when you mouth becomes so dry it’s hard to swallow. Over time they couldn’t speak or hear anymore. Richard Peterson led the crew in prayer and kept everybody positive. Richard helped everybody keep God with them through their journey which helped them stay alive.
Chapter 9
In Chapter 9 the boats find land!! Henderson Land is the Island they landed on. After they realized the island was limited on food supply they started to worry. They found a fresh water spring so they stayed on the island for a little under two weeks.
Chapter 10
The crew begins to run out of food again in chapter 10. They started eating as little as possible to save the food as much as they can. Joy dies and can not be kept on the boat because they needed space. They threw him in the ocean.Chase and his crew are seperated from the other two boats but chase continues to look for the islands. Peterson stole some food from chase so chase threatens to kill him. Peterson later dies (naturally, he is not killed by chase).
I liked these three chapters because they start to get me intrested!
It only gets worse from here (if that's possible!)!
DeleteIn chapter 7 the men were still stranded in the middle of the ocean with a decent amount of food and water. Each man was only given six ounces of hardtack and a half a pint of water a day. The men began to develop sores on their skin because of the blistering sun. The men in all three boats were becoming weaker and weaker as the days go by.
ReplyDeleteIn chapter 8 the crew started to not trust one another because of the threat of them stealing bread from the chests. The men were starved but not as much as dehydrated. Their thirst for water grew and grew while the men became skinny to the bone. Then the discovery of gooseneck barnacles became aware to all three boats and provided little nutrients to the men’s bodies. As the boats started to fall apart, they performed what was called clenching a nail to hold the boards of the boat together. Then they spotted an island.
In chapter 9 the men arrive at the island and see it’s made of mostly coral. The crew think that they have arrived on Henderson Island. The island shows no sign of food nor water until the crew starts to chop at the coral walls and find a little amount of water. These men really needed water. They decide to stay for a few days on the island and gather as much food and water as they could. While they were on the island one of the crew members found a cave which had human skeletons in it. This could have been predicting the future for the crew if they hadn’t found any food or water soon. Three men decided to stay on the island and they were Chappel, Wright, and Weeks.
In chapter 10 the crew decides to sail to Easter Island. The crew was pushed back by storm after storm. All hope was lost by the crew of reaching the island. Nickerson called these storms hard weather. Then second mate Mathew Joy asked if he could be moved to the captain’s boat. It was accepted. He wanted to be moved because he wanted to die among his people. The crew was now even on a bigger shortage of food so they cut daily meals to even less amount. Chase forgot to lock his chest that night and then the next morning a man reported to chase that Richard Peterson had stolen some bread. Chase was angry and pulled out his gun on him and said to give it back now and never do it again or he’d be shot. The next day Peterson dies because he didn’t take his daily rations because he knew he was going to die. During one of the storms the boats were separated and couldn’t see each other.
I mostly felt pity for Peterson. I don't know what I would have done in the same situation. What a hard place to be in...
DeleteI can’t imagine being in such a difficult situation without drinking water for days. If I would be in a similar situation, I would have a positive attitude and keep the faith that another ship would come to rescue me. The men where so dehydrated and hungry, so they decided to cut the tortoise to drink its blood and eat the meat.
ReplyDeleteRichard Peterson was important to all the men because he led them in prayer. The other sailors looked up to him and his “evangelical style of worship” and took his worship as a source of religious strength.
Praying helped the men to be alive because it gave them a sense of joy and relief.
After thinking that they finally found an island that will help them with the rest of the voyage and hopefully save some of the men by providing food, they soon discovered that the birds have been attacking the island and have been leaving them without enough food to consume.
In addition, Joy had possessed a “weak and sickly constitution” that will soon lead him to death. Thomas Chappel, Seth weeks and William Wright ended up staying on the island. If I would be in a similar situation, I would stay on the island because there will be no more food in the ship and I will die of starvation. But if I live with the crew although my chance of surviving is low, I will still be closer to help and food,
Unfortunately, Joy dies after being transferred to the captain’s boat.
They sewed Joy up in his clothes and tied a stone to his feet and consigned him in the solemn manner to the ocean. Things were tougher and they had to reduce the amount of food they were consuming. Richard Peterson was starving and decided to steal bread, but he did not survive the voyage. His body was also buried in the grounds of the ocean.
So, they are sending the departed to the watery depths. What do you think will likely happen next, as they get hungrier and hungrier?
DeleteIn chapter 7, the crew heads out to sea. They split the crew into three whaleboats. The leaders of the boats are Pollard, Chase, and Joy. Normally, these boats are used for catching whales and on average only carry about 500 pounds of equipment but since the Essex ship sunk they all had to pile in. Once everything was in the boat including people, bread, food, and tortoises the boat weighed more like 1,000 pounds. That’s why the boats begin to break and need repaired because there’s to much weight and these boats are not made for long periods of time at sea. Their food supply of hardtack was damaged from sea water. The sailors were just as hungry as thirsty. The sailors began eating the Galapagos tortoises for extra nutrition and drank the blood to.
ReplyDeleteIn chapter 8, the men became thirstier than ever. Cotton mouth is when your mouth becomes so dry it’s hard to swallow. Some of the effects of cotton mouth were the inability to speak and hear. One man by the name of Richard Peterson led the crew in prayer time. This gave them religious strength in their time of peril. This gave the crew hope and lifted their spirits. We also learn about McGee’s account on dehydration. They begin to find other things to eat like fish and gooseneck clams. Also Benjamin Lawrence saved the sinking ship by jumping in the water and hammering the boards back into place.
In chapter 9, they finally find land. The island is called Henderson Island. The island had very little resources and was covered in coral. They eventually find fresh water and helps their dehydration drastically. The crew ends up staying for about a week and then they keep sailing looking for Easter Island. The three sailors that ended up staying were Chappel, Write, and Weeks.
In chapter 10, the crew is running out of food. They are left with no choice but to ration the food even more. Joy eventually dies and they throw him into the ocean. Chases boat gets separated from the other boats but they keep moving knowing that if they turn back they might die. Pollards steersman became the new captain of Joy’s boat and they run out of food. Pollard shares with them. Chase finds out that Peterson stole some of the bread out of starvation. Chase threatens to kill him but eventually gives him mercy. Peterson shortly after dies. They were also attacked by many things including a shark but they made it through but after they were completely exhausted.
I can't imagine being in this situation, can you? The old line comes to me: "Water, water, everywhere / And not a drop to drink."
DeleteChapter 7: Following the accident, the men have put together three boats for survival. Chase, Joy, and Pollard each lead a boat. The men have a decent amount of food, but the ocean water destroys some of it. Another problem has to do with the weight that is being put on the boat. Between the men and all of the food that they need, the weight really adds up. The boats are only said to be able to carry half of what they are actually carrying. The men rely heavily on the tortoises for food and drink. Not only do they eat the tortoises, but they drink their blood as well.
ReplyDeleteChapter 8: The men became so dehydrated that many developed cotton mouth, which means their mouths became so dry that it was hard to even swallow. Everyone started turning against each other because they were competing for food and drink. However, a man named Richard Peterson helped keep these men together through their hard times. He led them in prayer, and he reminded people that God is with them and that God can help them get through everything.
Chapter 9: In this chapter, the men finally find some land. They find an island known as Henderson island, but the island is somewhat short on food. They stay at the island for a week and a half, and they get plenty of water.
Chapter 10: The crew tries to sail to Easter Island, but due to storms, the men can’t make it there since they get pushed back. The crew once again grows very hungry during this chapter. The storm also separated Chase’s boat from the others, and he just decides to head east in hope of finding the other boats. Joey and Peterson (the man who kept the crew’s hopes up through God) die in this chapter, and the crew sends their bodies to the bottom of the ocean.
Im chapter 7, "at sea", the harsh journey for the crew becomes worse for many reasons. The three boats are falling apart. Everyday and night they try to stay together. The leaders of each boat try the ration the bread and water between themselves. But day by day, everyone becomes weaker and hungrier. To top it all off, a vicious storm heads their way and the salt water ruins the hardtack. After a whitely all decide to eat the tortoises, which fixed the hunger and dehydration problem. I think that this was a good decision because since the hardtack was ruined, they needed to eat them for survival.
ReplyDeleteIn chapter 8, "thirst", the crew starts to experience extreme pain because of hunger and dehydration. To try to help, Mr. Peterson lead the crew in prayer every night. Slowly, the men turn into "skeletons" because of starvation. Due to the swelling of their tongues, it was almost impossible for them to talk to each other. After a while, the crew began to have delusions of things that were not really there. If i were in this situation, I would feel like I was slowly and painfully dying. At the end of the chapter, a crew member named William Wright cries out "there is land!" (88)
In chapter 9, "the island", the island that William spotted was in fact Henderson island, when they originally thought it was Ducie island. When they land, they discovered tons of vegetation, so they figured there will be fresh water. But instead they found tons of birds and fish but no fresh water. After a day on the island, a group of men find a spring. They camp out there and stay on the island for about a week. During this time, a crew member named Matthew Joy becomes very ill and might be surfing tuberculosis. At the end of the chapter, the crew decided to leave and hope to find more land because they had "literally hunted all of the birds on the island". Three members named Thomas Chappel, William Write, and Seth Weeks desided to stay on the island, choosing that that was a better chance of survival. If I were in this situation, I would have stayed with them.
In chapter 10, "the whisper of necessity", the crew is back to sea and is already running out of birds and fish to eat. This is one of the reasons why I would have stayed on the safe island. Chase decided to ration the food again. Suddenly, Matthew Joy dies. The men decided to tie his body on a rock and dump him over board and down to the bottom of the ocean. To me, I would hate to be literally "buried at sea" but I guess they had no choice but to. After this, Pollard puts Hendricks in charge of Joys boat. When things couldn't get any better, a sudden storm separates Chase from the others. Chase continues eat, as planned, hoping to reunited with the others. Chase rations whats left of their food with the others in his boat. Later, he finds out that Peterson stole some bread for himself. Chase is not happy at all, he threatens to kill him, but after sometime he cools down and forgives him. If I was Chase in his situation, I would be pissed too! Nobody should steal the food everybody else needs to survive. Anyway, soon afterward Peterson literally gives up. He stops taking his food rations and dies. I felt so bad for him, nobody should die like that, nor Joy. At the end of the chapter, Peterson has joined Joy at the bottom of the sea.
"The Scream" by Munch is a great example of what I would do if I was in this story. If I was with the crew, I would think to myself everyday that at any moment, I could die. Just to be in the moment where I'm without almost no food or water, stuck in a small boat with a sick crew, and not knowing or whats going to happen next scares me to a terrifying knowledge. I would most definitely scream in fear and hopelessness if I was apart of the Essex.