Mental strength can change the perspective of a survival situation, making it very valuable in the psychology of surviving. Mental strength, as seen in Caroline Alexander’s “The Voyage of the James Caird,” can seem as the only way the crew of the James Caird truly made it to their destination. When the crew found reassurance of nearby land they felt more at ease,“Cape Pigeons such as they had admired so many months before at Grytviken […] whose presence hinted at land.” (Alexander 187). The crew of the James Caird may have not been as optimistic if they did not spot these birds and used them as a symbol of survival. In “The Value of a Sherpa Life” many accounts of Sherpa mistreatment and endangerment is recalled. Sherpas are described as “Everest’s …show more content…
workforce—the literal backbone of the climbing industry,” (Schaffer 217), and without this idea, many Sherpas could feel useless, lowering their rate of encouragement in their daily lives. With Sherpas knowing the importance their job holds to their clients, they have an extra motivation of mental strength to continue to work and provide, despite dangerous conditions. Throughout “Night” by Elie Wiesel, the Jews cling onto the thought of God and His wishes for the Jewish people. God allowed the Jews to fight longer and harder to survive, “I had spent years seeking my God, fasting to hasten the coming of the Messiah, imagining what my life would be like later.” (Wisel 19). In awaiting God Eliezer would have had no foundation of mental strength within him while he endured the concentration camps. As simple as a change of perspective can be considered, this menial change can be the mental strength that improves survival rate. Mental strength can improve the rate of survival when compared to physical strength because mental strength is usually the base in which physical strength can be harbored.
In the entirety of “The Voyage of the James Caird” the crew endures many physical discomforts but are accommodated, wherein the reader is not fully enlightened on the thoughts going through other crew member’s minds. Worsley states “ ‘ The carpenter was suffering particularly, but he showed grit and spirit.’ McNish appears to have endured each day’s developments with his customary and dour, matter-of-fact forbearance; he has not been born to a life that had promised things easy.” (Alexander 185). As Alexander continues Worsley’s account, she venteratea how McNish was respected because of his ability to develop new ways to succeed in survival. While in “The Value of a Sherpa Life,” the reader learns how the Sherpas are more-so skilled mentally than physically. “Sherpas are a Nepalease ethnic group famous for their superior mountaineering skills. Companies that run expeditions up the mountain often employe Sherpas to guide climbers.” (Schaffer 217). This passage explains why mentally equipped Sherpas are hired rather than one who is physically equipped; it is more valuable to the ability to navigate through a terrain instead of having a physical strength, not know how to navigate and then possibly encountering danger. It can be believed that in “Night,” the Jews truly felt God choose them to endure such …show more content…
hardships because those without the mental strength from God would not have been able to overcome such hardships. Though a reader knows that the Holocaust was not in fact a punishment from God, it was believed by the Jews at this time it was: “ God is testing us. He wants to see whether we are capable of overcoming our base instincts and […] If he punish is us mercilessly it is a sign that he loves us that much more.” (Wisel 45). In the mindset of the Jews, having this mental strength helped them to have a reason to survive and no physical endorsement could have given the Jews as much hope. The survival rate alongside mental strength is much greater in contrast alongside physical strength especially when considering the rudimentary of compassion. As elementary as the element of compassion may appear, the amount of mental strength we can receive solely from compassion creates an immense difference in survival. Once again, “The Voyage of the James Caird,” can reiterate how important mental strength is also appraising how compassion factors into mental strength.
Through the “James Caird,” the reader sees how the crew was treated with deep thought and care, “Whenever he [Shackleton] noticed that a man seemed extra cold and shivered, he would immediately order another hot drink of milk to be prepared and served to all. He never let the man know that it was on his account, lest he became nervous about himself.” (Alexander 184). While reading this passage the account of how Shackleton took how his actions would affect his crew directly he took cautious efforts to are for his men that would help them survive and keep their dignity. If Sherpas were treated with more compassion and their comfort was taken into consideration, it can be predicted that more Sherpas would be alive today. Though the job of a Sherpa is a choice, “ [...] The amount of time that Sherpas spend making laps through the deadly Khumbu Icefall and up the Lhotse Face, ferrying loads for predominantly western expeditions so that clients can arrive fresh and minimize their exposure to hazardous amount of the mountain.” (Schaffer 218). Through reading how Sherpas are not given the appropriate accommodations to safely work can possibly explain why undervalued Sherpas are dying at rapid rates. While reviewing “Night,” the important theme of family can also be seen as an important theme of compassion. Out of the many passages, the
importance of compassion can be seen within this line: “My hand tightened its grip on my father. All I could think of was not to lose him. Not to remain alone. […] It was imperative to stay together.” (Wiesel 30) Compassion, as it is a very bleak underlying theme, is revisited several times in “Night,” compassion puts the emphasis on family and why it was so valuable to the Jews and their survival.
One conflict seen in Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption is the conflict between man and nature, which Louie, Phil, and Mac faced while lost at sea. As the men spent countless days at sea their points of view about the situation “were becoming self- fulfilling” (Hillenbrand 155). The
In “The Boat” by Alistair MacLeod, the mother shows the importance of tradition to her, which has been cemented in her since youth. Throughout the piece, the reader realizes that the mother comes from a large traditional family of fisherman, which in effect the mother’s most defining characteristic was that she “was of the sea, as were all her people, and her horizons were the very literal ones she scanned with her dark and fearless eyes”. Tradition and her inherited family values shaped her personality that was shown throughout the piece, such as her diligence during her husband’s fishing excursions to her stubbornness throughout the family’s hardships. In a sense, a large part of her identity came directly from her traditions, which she felt
Imagine that you were Douglas Mawson, along with two other explorers exploring unknown Antarctica, when everything goes wrong. Douglas Mawson suffered more adversity than Henrietta Lacks and Phineas Gage. Henrietta Lacks is about a woman who died from cervical cancer and her cells were extracted; later to find that her cells were immortal. Phineas Gage was a normal man when an extraordinary thing happened—he had a iron rod go through his skull. Phineas gage didn’t go through as much hardship, but he did go through more than Lacks. Half way through Mawson’s journey, both of his partners died, and it was just him, all alone in Antarctica. So, as anyone could see, Mawson experiences the most adversity among the three figures for many reasons.
In the story, A Long Walk to Waters, written by Linda Sue Park, the readers are introduced to many different individuals that were able to survive challenging environments. Those individuals used those factors, perseverance, cooperation, and independence. Those factors have allowed individuals to make it past through the harsh environments throughout their journey. Perseverance shows how those individuals kept on going without giving up. Meanwhile, cooperation represents how struggling individuals are able to work together in order to achieve their goal. Last but not least independence shows how individuals can conquer a hurdle by him or herself.
In shipwreck Erasmus presents religious piety as though the people in the story have any piety because they pray to Saints instead of praying to God himself. In the face of danger the people on the ship turned to religion. To combat the danger they prayed to saints trying to make bargains. According to Adolf only one person aboard the ship acted honorably. This was a mother who Sat with her young child. Adolf says “She only neither bawl'd, nor wept, nor made Vows, but hugging her little Boy, pray'd softly.”According to Adolf and Anthony The entirety of the rest of the crew on board acted dishonorably. Because instead of putting their faith in God's hands the crew instead try saving themselves by bargaining with the saints. Erasmus hoped to
A Long Walk to Water, is a realistic fiction book about perseverance, written by Linda Sue Park. The main characters are Nya and Salva. Both characters try to survive, while Nya is collecting water, and Salva has to walk to safety because his village has been attacked. Nya is Nuer (a tribe) and Salva is Dinka (another tribe). The Dinka and the Nuer have been enemies for hundreds of years. Both characters exemplify the theme of perseverance as they stay calm and determined.
Living in the wilderness is difficult, but understanding the meaning of such lifestyle is even more difficult. One of the Christopher’s admirable qualities was that he was well aware of what he was doing. He knew about the difficulties and dangers that he would face into the wilderness, and was mentally prepared for that. Author Jon Krakauer says that “McCandless was green, and he overestimated his resilience, but he was sufficiently skilled to last for sixteen weeks on little more than his wits and ten pounds of rice. And he was fully aware when he entered the bush that he had given himself a perilously slim margin for error. He knew precisely what was at stake” (182). McCandless was an educated youth, who loved nature and dreamed of living in the Alaskan wilderness. Although he ignored to take many necessary things with him on this
As Chris became more fascinated with the wilderness, he increasingly became indifferent towards different aspects of his life. Chris’ operation prior to embarking in the wilderness was fruitless because he lacked the sufficient and valuable preparations. Furthermore, it is appropriate to say that the actions that he took were beyond heedless: “He spent very little time learning how to actually live in the wild” (Christian 1). Practice makes perfect is a common proverb that echoes throughout society but was unfortunately missing from Chris’ life. Chris’ enthusiasm towards nature prevented him from making a logical decision of having sufficient experience with the wilderness itself. Ultimately, Chris was an oblivious person because he commenced into the wilderness with meager supplies. However, Chris failed at entering his excursion with sufficient preparations: “He left the map in Gallien’s truck, along with his watch, his comb, and all his money, which amounted to 85 cents” (2). By leaving his belongings in Gallien’s truck, Chris made an extremely absurd decision. More specifically, he disabled any possibility for him to receive immediate assistance when his health began declining rapidly. Finally, individuals should prioritize rationality in certain situations because it is crucial for them to use when they are blinded by a
O’ Brien, Tim. The Seagull Reader: Stories. Joseph Kelly. 2nd Edition. “The Things They Carried”. New York. W.W.Norton. 2008. 521 pg. Print.
“The author describes a man who had given away a small fortune, forsaken a loving family, abandoned his car, watch and map and burned the last of his money before traipsing off into the ‘wilderness’ west of Healy” (Krakauer 71). Even though some believe that he was crazy and he was just like every other energetic young guys who think they can just go into the wilderness and survive, McCandless was different, his mentality was not the same as other people which is why he was so determined to go accomplish his dream, he was not thinking in the world's way he had his own view on life that was deeper than other people. He did not survive but he did what he set his mind to and I believe that is all that would have mattered to
Imagine traveling 3,700 miles of mountains and dangerous terrain while confronting the most savage of creatures including 600 pound bears and Native Americans with spears, bows and clubs. Every night you risk almost freezing to death and starvation while having to eat candles and sometimes your own horses just to stay alive. Lewis and Clark had to do just this along with their crew. They had to use three skills to survive through all of this. They had to show courage, commitment and most importantly resourcefulness. Lewis and Clark are some of the Bravest people that ever lived.
Since this bond of brotherhood is felt by all the men in the boat, but not discussed, it manifests in small ways as the men interact with each other. They are never irritated or upset with each other, no matter how tired or sore they are. Whenever one man is too tired to row, the next man takes over without complaining. When the correspondent thinks that he is the only person awake on the boat, and he sees and hears the shark in the water, the narrator says, “Nevertheless, it is true that he did not want to be alone with the thing. He wished one of his companions to awaken by chance and keep him company with it” (Crane 212).
In the book, A Long Walk To Water by Linda Sue Park, Salva shows perseverance is key when facing life’s challenges.
In line with the feeble and vulnerable portrait of human beings, nature is described as dangerous and uncontrollable on the one hand; beautiful on the other. The tone of the waves is "thunderous and mighty" and the gulls are looked upon as "uncanny and sinister.
By using a bird as a symbol for hope, Dickinson conveys the message that hope is continuous in a way that is easily understood b...