Classmate Katie R. writes:
After the shipwreck, the men of the Essex faced many tragic struggles. The starvation and dehydration of the men were devastating. As a reader, it was difficult to imagine how they dealt with it. For many of the men, they not only felt pain, but their bodies were falling apart. “They rowed like old men- wincing and groaning… their bodies had been consuming themselves… the simple act of sitting to be a torture … their arms had shrunk to sticks as their muscles withered.” As people today, we all complain at one time or another that we are starving or thirsty. But do we ever have the right to say that? Do we take these words for granted? Do we even have the right to say these words, knowing what the men of the Essex endured? What were your feelings and thoughts while reading this part of the book?
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After reading the initial part of the book I had many of the same thoughts as you. I felt guilty thinking that I was starving as I read what the sailors were going through. I'm not sure it's ok to take to "take these words for granted". Can you imagine feeling like that, so hungry and in such critical condition. Because of not having enough to drink, I remember the author saying that your eyes start to bleed tears. The men of the Essex were not there yet but the thought of that happening horrified me.
After reading the initial part of the book I had many of the same thoughts as you. I felt guilty thinking that I was starving as I read what the sailors were going through. I'm not sure it's ok to take to "take these words for granted". Can you imagine feeling like that, so hungry and in such critical condition. Because of not having enough to drink, I remember the author saying that your eyes start to bleed tears. The men of the Essex were not there yet but the thought of that happening horrified me.
While I was reading the book, I found it reamarkable that the men could survive that long whith only some bread to eat. When the bread was gone, they still survived until they met up with another whaling boat. When we say, " I am starving" or " I am dieing of thirst", I do think that we are taking there words for granted. We aren't really sarving or dieing of thirst, we are just very hungrey or very thirsty. The men on the Essex were realy dieing, so they surelly wern't taking these words for granted. When I was reading the part of the book that said that their tounges were swelling up and they could not even stand up, I felt very lucky that I have my food and water with me. I am very proud of the sailors of the Essex boat crew because they survied the unthinkable and I think that they should be remembered for that always.
When people complain of starving or dying of thirst, they are almost always exaggerating. After reading this blog discussion topic, I am starting to doubt that using these phrases are appropriate. Other people in the world, whether they are poverty-stricken, or ship-wrecked sailors, are suffering from starvation and severe dehydration. Often I take for granted the food and water that I am able to eat. Next time I am about to use an exaggerating phrase, I will probably compare my hunger or thirst to some of the horrible descriptions of the crew's misery and not complain.
One of the main things that came through to me while I was reading the descriptions of the crew members' suffering, including thirst and starvation, was how lucky I am. I have food and water, and not only enough, but a surplus. We all do. We have varieties in our foods and drinks, and if we don't have what we want to eat or drink at the time at home, we can just go and get it at the grocery store. Pretty simple, huh? These men didn't have that luxury. They were reduced to eating limited supplies of hardtack and later on each other, and at times nothing.
This also throws into light the sufferings of other people in the world today. There are many people who go to bed at night with their stomachs cramped from hunger and their throats parched for water. I think that especially from now on, I'll be grateful for what I have, and won't take my wealth of food for granted.
I agree, we do, in fact take wha twe have for granted. Whenever somebody points out that they are starving, they should realize what other people have gone through. The men of the Essex had almost no food or water, and their bodies started to literally eat themselves away. They had many side effects of starvation, as well as thirst. They tell some of the side effects of thirst in the book. "Saliva becomes thick and foul-tasting; the tongue clings irritatingly to the teeth and the roof of the mouth....... Severe pain is felt in the head and neck. The face feels full due to the shrinking of the skin. Hearing is affected, and many people begin to hallucinate." None fo the people who ever complain that they are dieing of thirst have ever experienced suffering like that, and don't realize how well off they are.
I remember last year when we were reading The Giver by Lois Lowry, the main character said he was starving and got in trouble because he wasn't really starving. When I read that, I thought that it was ridiculous that he would get in trouble for saying that (it was against the communities rules to lie). Now, after reading that part of the book, I understand that when we say we are starving, we really have no right to say this. I agree that we do take these words for granted. The men on the Essex were dying because they haden't eaten in days, whereas we complain because we haven't eaten in hours. I think the fact that they carried on while going through something so painful and excruciating is amazing beyond anything that I can comprehend.
i felt the same way when reading this. say i an starving like all the time and guess that is kind of mean to people like the crew of the essex who are really starving. what they had gone threw was horible and they were really starving. i think after reading that i will thinnk about it next time i say i am starving.
I think that the crew of the Essex were fortunate. This may sound delusional, but they were fortnate for a few reasons. First off, they had supplies to begin with. Most modern boat wrecks are left with little to nothing to live off of. They had hardtack and fresh water (if just for a limited period of time) and they also had navigational equipment. To add to their food they had glapagos (fogive my spelling error if any) tortoises to feed on. They ate everything, from the blood to bones of the turtles. They at least had something. Also, a commonly overlooked advantage of being in saltwater, was the barnacles they lived off of for a while. They were also very unfortunate too. They didn't have enough strength to even stab a fish or dolphin or other aquatic life form for food. They were almost always at the brink of death and some on the verge of insanity. The crew was fortunate and unfortunate at the same time
I agree with Katie. When people say, "I am starving" or "I am dieing of thirst" they don't really mean it. These men on the whaleboats are actually starving and dieing of thirst because they have nothing to eat or to drink. But I think the reason that people say that they are starving or dieing of thirst is because people often exaggerate the truth. These people arn't really starving or dieing of thirst, they just say that they are because they've never actually been starving and had nothing to eat or dieing of thirst where they had nothing to drink. So in other words, people do take these words for granted.
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