Thoughts from classmate Isabella S.
In Revenge of the Whale, the main topic, other than survival and death, was whaling. Whaling was and still is a very difficult line of work. First, you have to catch the whale, drag it on board, cut it up, then separate the blubber from the skin and bones. It is very difficult labor. And, it is also very dangerous.
In Revenge of the Whale, the sailors went on a journey of a lifetime. They went on the Essex to go whaling, but ended up having to cast lots to survive. When they got hit on the side of the boat by the whale, the crew members tried to get as many supplies as they could into their lifeboats before the entire ship sank. They knew that from then on the journey was going to be long and hard. They didn't know before that a whale could attack a ship.
But, if you have any common sense, you would know that any type of travel on the sea isn't completely safe because your boat could sink or you could drown or you could even fall overboard. Many things could happen.
Now, if you knew that these things could happen to you, would you still go? If you knew that you would spend months and even years away from your family and could get attacked by a whale at any moment, would you still go? The sailors of the Essex knew all of this and they still went only to get paid a low wage. If you were living back at that thime, would you go whaling considering all of the things that could happen to you?
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5 comments:
The possible answers to this question, I believe, are relative and based on several factors. Firstly, if you really needed money and whaling was your best option, you'd take it. You have to support yourself and your family somehow.
Although sea travel has its dangers, it was the main form of long-distance travel at the time. Also, traveling by road has its dangers as well. Many people are just born to the sea. They know its risks and are willing to accept them.
And doesn't everything have risks? No matter what you do in life, there's a certain degree of risk in it. If you looked at opportunities based on risk, then you wouldn't be doing ANYTHING. Even if you took the safest route around, there's still a certain degree of danger. In my opinion, you shouldn't obsess about risk. Be aware of it, but don't plan your entire life around it. Carpe diem, and live life to the fullest.
Hmm... Good question. A lot of dangerous things can happen while you're out at sea, but growing up in Nantucket at that time, whaling was all anybody knew about and did. I think the men of the Essex went on the voyage because even though they were aware of the danger, whaling was so frequent that they thought that nothing bad would happen to them. Another thing is that if you're the captain of a successful journey, you'd get a lot of publicity. But in order to become a captain, you'd have to go through the positions of the first mate, second mate, etc.
I, for one, would not go whaling. I wouldn't risk my life to get paid a low wage.But back then, there was not much else anyone could do, so whaling was pretty much the only option.
I'm not completely sure if I would want to risk my life to go whaling if I knew all the dangers. Since whaling was so common back then, it probably didn't seem like that big of a deal to most people. I agree very much with what Sarah said. People take risks today by getting in their car and driving on the highway. Driving is extremely common today, just as whaling was back in the 1800's. Today when most people get in their car, they don't think about what could possibly happen. My guess is that the crew members willing to go whaling thought of traveling by boat as we think of traveling by cars.
The crew members of the Essex were definitely not rich because they were willing to risk so much for an unreasonably small amount of money. The crew members were likely to be poor. If you had no money, you wouldn't be able to afford a place to live, food, clothing, and other items necessary for life. The majority of people can't survive under these conditions. So if they have nothing to loose, why not take a risk for some money? If I was going to be suffering anyways I know I would take the risk of whaling to try to better my life.
I believe that going to sea depends on two things. Determination, and knowledge. Determination counts because if you don't have the guts, why bother going? Like Dewitt, who deserted the Essex way back in south america, people who dont have the guts shouldnt go. Knowledge is important because if you dont have the know, its kind of hard to figure it out. You should at least know what you're doing before you try and do something yo don't know how to do then put someone else or other people in danger.
I think that there are many reasons that these whalers might want to go to sea. Money back then had more value back then and a dollar to them probably had more value to them.
Besides money the chance to become a captain could have played a factor. After a few years at sea the sailors might have the chance to become the captain on their own ship and whaling voyage. The captain was paid more than the rest of the crew and the job also came with more perks.
Going out to sea also had downsides to it. All of the sailors were away from home for up to as much as three years. In addition there was the biggest risk of not returing home.
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