In the Heart of the Sea Ch. 9-11

       In Nathaniel Philbrick's novel, In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex (2000), Philbrick continues to narrate the voyage of the men on their whaleboats as they hope to reach Easter Island, and ultimately, South America. First, Philbrick describes the first death among the sailors: that of Matthew Joy's. Philbrick then describes how little by little, all the African-Americans on the whaleboats die first. Philbrick explains the factors involving their early deaths such as a poor diet, and the fact that American blacks tend to naturally have less fat on their bodies. Finally, Philbrick discusses the taboo subject of their journey: cannibalism. The men are forced to eat the bodies of their dead shipmates, but yet they are not satisfied and are slowly withering away due to the effects of starvation. Philbrick seems to have not one direct purpose, but many: through the tragedy of the Essex, he discusses different sociological and anthropological subjects such as cannibalism, race, social hierarchies, and the idea of familiarity. Philbrick has a general audience, but as we progress deeper into the novel, the audience shifts into people interested in sociology or anthropology and/or science because he ties in the subjects into the whaling tragedy. 

Vocabulary:

• ludicrous: (adj.) laughably absurd; ridiculous.
• incongruous: (adj.) not harmoniously related or joined; not suitable.
• incessantly: (adv.) continuing without interruption; continous; unceasing.
• prostration: (n.) extreme exhaustion.
• fortitude: (n.) courage or strength in the face of pain, danger, or misfortune.
• dessicated: (v.) to dry up completely.
• glutinous: (adj.) like glue, sticky.
• decrepit: (adj.) broken down  or feeble because of old age or overuse
• impetuousness: (n.) rushing headlong into things; impulsive and energetic
• nil: (n.) nothing, zero.
• indolent: (adj.) having or showing a dislike of work or effort; lazy; idle
• consigned: (v.) to hand over formally; transfer or deliver.
• conscientious: (adj.) guided by one's conscience.
• unabated: (adj.) at full strength.
• daintily: (adv.) delicately beautiful or graceful.
• placid:  (adj.) not easily excited or disturbed; calm or peaceful.
• atavistic: (adj.) relating to the reappearance, usually after several generations, of a physical trait of an ancestor.
• implacable: (adj.) that cannot be calmed or satisfied.
• amoral: (adj.) not having or interested in moral standards.
• compunction: (n.) an uneasiness  caused by feelings of guilt.

Tone: sorrowful, lamenting, and encouraging.

Rhetorical Strategies:

1. Irony: "Two months after deciding to spurn the Society Islands because, in Pollard's words, 'we feared we should be devoured by cannibals,' they were about to eat one of their own shipmates." (pg. 165)
2. Anecdotes: "One of the most thorougly documented cases of cannibalism occurred in the winter of 1710, when the Nottingham Galley, a British trading vessel under the command of Captain John Dean, wrecked on Boon Island..." (pg. 165)
3. Simile: "Soon all six men were plucking the crustaceans off the boat's bottom and popping them into their mouths 'like a set of gluttons.'" (pg. 129)
4. Analogy: "Like Pablo Valencia, [the sailors] had journeyed into their very own valley of death." (pg. 130)
5. Allusion/Rhetorical Question: "Like Job before him, Chase could not help but ask, '[What] narrow hopes [still] bound us to life?'" (pg. 170)

Discussion Questions:

1. Considering the context during the time of the shipwreck (1819), were the seven African-American sailors aboard the Essex freedmen?
2. What does Philbrick hope to accomplish by including sociological and anthropological evidence throughout chapters of the book?
3. Is it truly better for people to stick together as a group, or to thrive according to "survival of the fittest?"

"Joy was no longer a Quaker, but on January 10, a hot, windless day in the Pacific, he demonstrated a Friend's sense of duty and devotion. For the last two days his boat-crew had been left leaderless; he now asked to be returned to them. His loyalty to his crew was in the end greater than his need for comfort from his fellow Nantucketers..." (pg. 153).