Endurance Part 1: 5-8, Lansing

Chapters 5-8 of part one recount the days of the men aboard the Endurance while they were trapped on a large ice flow for over half of the Antarctic winter. The topic on which Lansing decides to speak of is the fact that the relationship between the men actually grew. In most cases, being stuck at see would strain a relationship, as seen in the movie "Survival Island". When a couple becomes stranded on an island after their boat crashes, the tension between the two becomes unbareable and they become almost animal-like in their nature. That is not the case with the men aboard the Endurance. Lansing writes, "It was remarkable that there were not more cases of friction among the men, especially after the Antarctic night set in" (42). In fact, the men grew closer. Near the end of part one, the ship becomes free of one ice floe but entrapped between two others, which eventually builds up enough pressure to basically squeeze the ship in half. At the conclusion of part one, the men aboard the ship Endurance are forced to abandon ship.