CI 5442: Non-Fiction Response #1

I was excited to start reading Jennifer Armstrong’s Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World. Flipping through the text I was drawn to the images of the men and the clear struggles they faced based on the documentation provided by the photographs. Non-fiction can be a difficult genre to really engage with unless you are particularly interested in the topic or there is a human component to the presentation of the material that draws you in. This text is able to combine these two elements and create a narrative that is captivating for anyone despite their interests.

The first few pages provided nothing more than basic information about the journey and the area in which the Endurance was about to traverse. At first I was worried that I wouldn’t get the story I wanted most—about the men themselves—but, Armstrong was not about to disappoint me. Soon, I was learning about the crew and imagining their antics: from practical jokes to skiing attempts. I was also sitting on the edge of my seat as I read about the tight time-frame the men had to deal with, “If Shackleton did not reach the edge of the continent before the end of the short Antarctic summer, the ice would shut him out” (15). I tried to imagine the agony of being forced to wait at the whaling station before traveling on in hopes of being the first to travel across Antarctica; a lofty goal with so many obstacles and odds set against them.

As I continued to read I was drawn by the humanity of the men aboard the Endurance. Because of the remarkably thorough documentation and reports of the entire crew, not only did I feel as though I was getting to know some of the men, but I also felt tied to their journey. The book takes the reader through the hard times as well as the uplifting or light-hearted moments experienced by the crew in a way that invests the reader in both the lives of the men and their expedition. We are able to see the men as they were beyond their occupations—they were young men setting out for adventure; men who played pranks, held races, and made toasts such as, “ To our sweethearts and wives—may they never meet” (20).

Shackleton himself stood out to me among the members of the crew. While I was nervous to read at the beginning of the book that he didn’t make emergency plans and was a seat-of-his-pants kind of guy, he turned out to be the driving force behind the successful rescue of his men. It is obvious when reading the comments of the crew and Shackleton’s own account that he always held the good of his men as his top priority. He worked hard to ensure that spirits and morale was maintained as much as possible—breaking up disagreements and never letting the crew know if a break was meant specifically for them as they travelled across the barren ice and sea of the Antarctic. When they must leave the ship, Shackleton leaves behind gold coins but orders Hussey to take his banjo, “because they would need the comfort of music in the hard times ahead” (52). When the crew’s temporary ice camp cracked he alerted them and helped them to get across to the “safe” side of the floe as he stayed “behind to ensure that all of his men got over safely” (80).

After leaving most of the crew of Elephant Island in order to go seek aid, Shackleton continues to think about the needs of his men. South Georgia Island, across 800 miles of open sea in a small dingy not meant for such trying use, the men left behind pushed the Shackleton and the others to the brink. Armstrong notes, “He was tormented with the thought of the twenty-two men waiting for him. They were waiting for him. The Boss. For months they had placed all their hopes and lives in his hands” (107). Thus he decides to trek across the “Alps of the Southern Ocean” a feat never accomplished before. His duty to his men pushed him, “He could not rest now, when only when only twenty-nine miles separated him from rescue for his men” (107). When he is finally able to reunite with his men, Shackleton is paid the highest of compliments, “We knew you’d come back” (123). Shackleton exemplifies the qualities desired in a leader among men and this account serves as a testament of his duty to ensure the survival of his men.

Armstrong is able to combine the personal accounts of the journey with detailed information about the dangers and scientific aspects of the traveling through the Antarctic Circle during the early twentieth century in a way that is informative and interesting at the same time. She threads the information within the story of the men and their survival flawlessly. Even though I am not particularly interested in sea-travel at the turn of the twentieth century I was drawn into the details of the trip by their connection to the journey of the Endurance. Armstrong is able to present the information using highly literary and engaging language that allows the setting to become a character in the plot and the scientific aspects of the journey and setting to become integral pieces in developing the plot. She claims that the timbers of the ship “began to complain” under the pressure from the ice, or describing the riptide “roaring after them, threatening to engulf the three puny boats with a deluge of ice and slush,” effectively characterizing the men’s surroundings in an almost lyrical narrative style (39, 79).

Armstrong’s retelling of this amazing feat of human endurance is entertaining and informative in equal amounts. I learned a lot but never felt overwhelmed by the information presented in the text. She smoothly transitions information from primary accounts of those among the Endurance with the history and dangers associated with the area and travel during the beginning of the twentieth century. The photographs add to the validity of the accounts within the text and draw the reader into the lives of the men as they battle against nature and time. In the end Armstrong is able to create a piece of non-fiction that draws the reader in so much that they become absorbed in the details and fate of the Endurance and her brave crew.