In the heart of the sea the tragedy of the whaleship essex analysis - Term Paper Example

The main aspect in the story is the whaling ship Essex as well as its inmates who sets out for whaling and gets destroyed by an attack of a sperm whale. The story background is set during the year 1819 when the whale ship having a crew of twenty people abroad sets out for a two year voyage. The ship faces disasters for nearly one and a half years and gets rammed by the sperm whale and sank in the pacific. All the crew gets on to three whaleboats and were lost at sea for three unbearable months equipped with short rations and very little fresh water.

This situation leads to death due to starvation as well as killing by others for food. During the course, one boat gets disappeared and the other two gets separated. When the rescue time arrives at the coast of Chile, only five men had survived this tremendous ordeal. This includes the captain and the first mate as well as three others rescued from a nearby Henderson island. The story brings out an era of life giving its readers a nostalgic and tragic picture of the whaling industry and its society.

The story relies upon the narratives of two survivors. One of the survivors has just been found through his narratives, the hardships of life of a whaling sailors are descripted in a very interesting manner. His narratives include modern medical knowledge of the physical and mental effect of starvation. The book also has descriptions of other two shipwrecks as well as stories of survivors who loved their rest of their lives as well as an introduction to the recent work of the Nantucket whaling museum.

“The heart of the sea” is one of the greatest sea stories ever written. It has an extraordinary ordeal of ordinary men along with a wealth of whale lore as well as a brilliantly described portrait of the ones who are lost among the unique community of Nantucket whalers. It is the story of man against nature. The impact of the shipwreck of Essex had far sighted impact on the community of Nantucket. It inspired many writers including the creation of world classic Mobi Dick by Hermann Melville which was written on the basis of this story.

The community consisting of about seven thousand people lived on a gently sloping crowded with houses and topped by wind mills and church towers. The community lived here peacefully. Only the sea below was crowded with activity. The destruction of the ship Essex cast a shadow on the family of crew members. Children lost their joyfulness due to their loss of their fathers. Moreover the destruction and its aftermath teached the community a new type of psychology of survival and the incidence of cannibalism in extreme conditions.

The destruction also had an impact on the nation. Since it was times of economic depression every one looked at the whaling community with expectations. The whaling industry was concentrated in and around Nantucket and it was shortly going to become one of the wealthiest towns in America within a short span of time. Destruction of Essex created a shadow in their prosperity expectations. The capsizing of the ship was blockbuster news in New England and New York during the 1820’s. The survival tactics became well known tribulations about people going without food for very long periods.

The author Nathaniel Philbrik has used the narrative of Owen Chase to write this book he also has taken into account the uncovered account of cabin boy