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Ernest Shackleton: Epic Voyage Of Endurance Ernest Essay

Ernest Shackleton: Epic Voyage of Endurance Ernest Shackleton was an Antarctic explorer at the end of the period of mass exploration that occurred at the conclusion of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. He was considered a restless man, which was evidenced by the fact that he left school early in order to go to sea as an apprentice on a sailing vessel, an option that his family, which was middle-class, could afford. He achieved the status of Master Mariner in the Merchant Navy. Shackleton's middle-class background was an important part of his life; unlike many explorers of his time, Shackleton was not independently wealthy, and he spent much of the time that he was not exploring trying to create the wealth that exploring required. However, he was not a successful businessman, and never achieved the wealth he sought. Shackleton's personality may have contributed to his lack of success as a businessman. He seemed to enjoy living in the public eye, making the round of lecture circuits, which was also a significant source of income for him. However, Shackleton may have been plagued by health problems, being sent home from his first expedition because of illness and encountering significant health problems when establishing the record farthest south latitude.

While Shackleton was oftentimes described as egotistical, he seemed to have a unique approach to his crew and believed that personality was critical to the composition of a good crew. Many considered...

He received over 5,000 applications for his Endurance expedition and chose his crew members in a seemingly haphazard manner, some because he liked the way they looked, others for skill entirely unrelated to their proposed jobs. Moreover, Shackleton abandoned the traditional hierarchical structure of ship expeditions; he expected all men, regardless of rank or duty, to take on a share of the chores on the ship.
For his cross-continental crossing, Shackleton faced fundraising issues. The plan had originally been developed byWilliam Spiers Bruce, who was unable to raise the funds for the expedition. There was little governmental money available for the expedition, which could have been a reflection of the fear that a war was soon to erupt in Europe. However, Shackleton was able to secure the funding, largely through private donations.

Shackleton began his polar exploration in 1901 as a member of the Discovery Expedition, returned to Antarctica in 1907 to lead the Nimrod Expedition, and established a record farthest south latitude, for which he was knighted. However, Shackleton was not the first explorer to reach the South Pole. Moreover, enthusiasm for exploration began to dwindle in the early 20th century. This was not really…

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It is clear that Shackleton's ego helped contribute to the problems that the crew experienced. Prior to leaving South Georgia Island, whalers warned Shackleton of the problems with ice and suggested that he stall his expedition, but he left for the South Pole anyway. Many people have suggested that, had he not done so, they would not have encountered the problem with the pack ice. However, that position ignores the inherently dangerous conditions surrounding travel in the Antarctic. Ice floes are difficult to detect, so there is no reasons to suspect that Shackleton intentionally risked encountering pack ice, but, instead the theoretical danger of some type of disaster, which already pervaded the entire mission.

Moreover, while Shackelton was known to seek the glory and recognition that exploration brought to him, he was not foolishly attached to that design. It is worth noting that he did not try to get his crew to reach Antarctica with the life boats, but instead had them head toward Elephant Island. He could have foolishly tried to get them to continue on their original mission, which would have ensured their deaths, but he did not.

Therefore, in many ways it can be said that Shackleton's ego saved the men. When the boat became stuck in the pack ice, it appears that Shackleton's goal for the mission immediately transitioned to survival for his crew. When the boat began sinking, he ordered the crew to abandon ship and they were able to use lifeboats to get to Elephant Island in April 1916. From there, Shackleton left the island and went to South Georgia Island in pursuit of a ship to rescue the abandoned men. It took months for him to attain financing for another ship to retrieve the men, but he refused to abandon that mission.
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