In the Heart of the Sea

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In the Heart of the Sea In his Novel, In the heart of the Sea, Nathaniel Philbrick beautifully reconstructs the sinking of the Whaleship Essex and describes the struggle of its crew to survive in open whaleboats to reach to safety. The story was based on the true event of Whaleship Essex and her crew. This novel seems to be greatly influenced by the 19th century classic MOBY DICK, due to the reason that Herman Melville had written his famous novel MOBY DICK after inspiring the real life event of Whaleship Essex. In the heart of the sea is the story of a Whaleship Essex that was attacked by a bull Sperm Whale almost 85 feet in length. This attack destroys and sinks the ship, stranding the crew in three whaleboats. The crew managed to salvage some provisions and some water and the quick thinking of the steward also helped them to save some navigational tools but they were not enough. They decided to sail back east to South America instead of sailing west to any of several pacific islands. It seems that Captain George Pollard was not the suitable leader for this challenge. He did not accept inputs from his officers and so they have to cover 3,000 miles, which took 93 days in hunger, thirst and death as the trade winds and storms blew them farther and farther from their destination. First mate Owen Chase might have been the better leader, however he was responsible for some poor decisions too. It is difficult to judge who is better leader among them as the world mostly relied on Chase’s narrative of the Wreck of Whaleship Essex. Philbrick also uses Chase narratives but relied more on a recently uncovered account of fourteen year old Cabin boy who was also aboard when Whale Struck the ship. Philbrick interweaves his e...

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...tten rule of nature and have eaten the flesh of their dead fellows. The question arises why they did not eat fish? Philbrick explains why the sea provided no sustenance. This book is more than a novel. It is a chronology of whale facts, of ships and of men sailed and lived whaling. This novel is one of the most interesting and informative novels about whaling and the people lived on whaling, ever written. References In the Heart of the Sea http://www.sonic.net/barny/heart.html In the Heart of the Sea, Lucy's Books http://www.lucysbooks.com/pages/heartofthesea.html Kemp, Mark, In The Heart Of The Sea: The Tragedy Of The Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick http://www.post- gazette.com/books/reviews/20000702review517.asp Wolfrum, William K. A review of In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex http://booksiloved.com/23/Heart_of_the_Sea.html

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