As far as action goes, this fourth section is very similar to the last. The group is on the ice, struggling to survive each day. On the other hand, Shackleton feels that the crew may begin to experience “demoralization” if they don’t get going again soon. Furthermore, he spends a few days planning their movement westward toward land. They begin their journey only to find out about seven days later that it was no longer safe and they would have to retreat back.
The journey they began over a year ago has taken many turns for the worse. Not even Shackleton himself could have predicted the series of ill-fated occurrences that took place and brought them to the point they were at now. All they can do now is hope that 1916 will bring more luck than the last year did. Shackleton’s last diary entry in the year of 1915 said, “‘The last day of the old year: May the new one bring us good fortune, a safe deliverance from this anxious time, and all good things to those we love so far away.’” His entry really hits home for many of the crew members, and helps to introduce one of the themes in the novel: hope is something that is not easily shattered. The literary term, theme, to me is the most visible in this section.
In connection to life today, I feel this section and the theme of keeping hope is most comparable to the tragedy that occurred on September 11, 2001. When the United States was attacked by planes, our pride was wounded and our hearts ached all over the country. But more than any of that, our hope was strengthened. We still had hope for a better world, a hope for peace that wasn’t there before, and hope that our country could once again be unified. Hope is not easily shattered, not for the crew of the Endurance, and not for Americans ten years ago either.
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