Theme Of Personal Ambitions In The Donner Party - Book Report/Review Example

Theme Of Personal Ambitions In The Donner Party In the Donner party, the theme of personal ambition is clearly brought out in the story. It is this personal ambition that leads to the members turn to each other for food. Evidently this group of people set out to Springfield to get a better life for themselves but the entire attempt turned out sour (Rarick, 2008, pp. 16-20). However, the members of this group are to blame as the choices they made are the main causes of why they started eating each other. The mistakes made could have been avoided to a great extent. For instance as Rarick (2008, pp.47-58) indicates, the group members decided to take shortcuts to their final destination as opposed to following the route that they knew. In this case, they delayed crossing the Sierra Nevada till winter. This was one mistake that made them have desperations just at the middle of the commencement of their trip. However, the realized these mistakes before making the decisions…“Clyman had told them the shortcut was impassable…” (Rarick, 2008, pp.63) Secondly, the group members started getting short of supplies to sustain them in the trip. As seen in the research conducted by Rarick (2008, pp.14), the snows became impassable and the supplies were completely exhausted at this time. Had they carried extra supplies especially having decided to take the wrong route, probably they would have survived throughout the trip. One would even argue that the supplies were not well utilized as the supplies lasted a very short time…“supplies remaining supplies may be left until hikers could summon help”… (Rarick, 2008, pp.126) On another viewpoint, this mistake would have been avoided if only the members realized that tragedy ahead and went back. However, the team was firm on their decision to go ahead. They would also have sent some few members of the trip back so as they send a signal to the concerned persons to send them help. The group members never thought of this, but remained with their problem till when they started turning out to each other. In the research compiled by Rarick (2008, pp. 13-14), the group members comprised of all persons. It is of the essence to highlight that this group involved children who took part half of the group members. This is yet another mistake that was done by this group. This is so as one would term it wrong to travel to an uncertain place with children. Knowing the vulnerabilities that come with such as travel, the group members still insisted on this move. It would have been more sensible if this group would have had a pre-visit to the place first prior to carrying all their family members to the expected place. It is astonishing how these families hoped to get a better life yet they did not consider all the challenges that they would have encountered on their way. Selfish ambition continues to unfold in the party, as one of the organizers of the members, James Reed, hoped to carry on with his business in California (Rarick, 2008, pp.21). Being a businessman, it is expected that he would had a “balance sheet” of life during the trip or prior to having George Donner steer the train. Proper planning would have acted as a good way to avoid the cannibalism that took place at the Donner party. According to Rarick (2008, p.7), the expedition was to take only four months. The greed to get their within a shorter time is the mother of this tragedy. Sierra Nevada Mountains would reduce 300 miles to the end, but cost them a great deal (Rarick, 2008, pp.12-13). Had the leaders planned well, they would have arrived safely. The author continues to narrate that the persons who opted to follow the long route actually reached their destination safely (Rarick, 2008, pp.61-184). Poor planning and wrong decision making of taking an alternative path is the source of this tragedy. Still, yet another mistake by the members of the Donner Party made a mistake by retreating to Truckee Lake where the other pioneers were stuck (Rarick, 2008, pp.108-172). It is at this juncture that they were unable to either move beyond or backwards. They would have thought wisely that their wagon had already been subjected to a broken axle (Rarick, 2008, pp.125). It was their responsibility to take all the necessary measures to save all they had left for their survival. Yet another mistake made by the Donner party members was that of erecting camps at Alder Creek. Rarick (2008, pp.125-127) indicates that despite the group members being trapped by snow, they still set up a camp at the Alder Creek, which was a quite a distance from the main group. Evidently, a lot of energy was used in this process. With the cold getting worse by the day, the members lost a lot of energy that they would have saved to keep themselves alive as opposed to shedding it. They would also have realized that they did not have enough supplies to replenish the energy that they lost during this process. This was a major mistake that ultimately led to cannibalism as they had exhausted all the options of staying alive. At this juncture as well, cannibalism and selfishness are evident as some members turned out to each other for food (Rarick, 2008, pp.144-191). Had they realized that every person is important, they would not have resulted to this move. Some members felt other were of less of value and were to be eaten. Dying together as a group would have displayed the humanity in the members of this group. Lastly, the make-ship snowshoes would have come in handy to save the group members. It is only in the middle of December that the group members thought of breaking through to California so as to send a signal of the misfortune at hand (Rarick, 2008, pp.130-144). If the signals were sent earlier, the rescue parties would also have come in at the right time to save the members. Conclusively, it is warranted to argue that the Donner party was governed by numerous mistakes by the group members that ultimately led to the cannibalism that comes out as a devastating theme of the story. Additionally, the members were indeed extremely egotistic and portrayed their selfish ambition to survive over the life of others. Reference Rarick, E. (2008). Desperate Passage: The Donner Party's Perilous Journey West. New York: Oxford University Press. Read More