In the Heart of the Sea

This book was passed on to me by a neighbor a few months back. He is one of the most positive and endearing people I have met in a long time in spite of many afflictions. In the course of two years his wife has been diagnosed with cancer, he has been diagnosed with cancer, lost his father-in-law, had his own mother diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, been laid off from a job he held for over 10 years, and most recently had his only son diagnosed with Asperser’s syndrome. Most remarkable is that in no way does he seek sympathy and no matter how much you commend him for his courage he remains as humble as anyone I have ever met. Obviously he has been through many trials and in discussing them with him one night I discovered he was an avid reader (to the tune of finishing 2 – 3 books in a week). I asked him if he had one book to recommend what would it be and he sneaked away to his house and returned with a book titled In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick.
The book chronicles one of the most amazing tales of human will in history. I know we are all familiar with tales of survival such as the stranded Argentinean soccer team and the recent movie “127 Hours” and each time are amazed at the perseverance and fortitude of humans facing the most harrowing of circumstances. We are also all familiar with Herman Melville’s novel Moby Dick, the story of a salty Captain scouring the seas in an attempt to avenge the whale which attacked and sunk his whale ship. In the Heart of the Sea is an almost unbelievable true story which served as the inspiration for Melville’s masterpiece. Centered on the whaling industry of the early 19th century based almost entirely out of the New England island of Nantucket, the book follows the Tragedy of the whale ship Essex.
Philbrick does an excellent job describing one of America’s first lustful pursuits for oil at any cost, albeit whale oil. Also interesting is the barbaric yet incredibly adventurous manner in which the early whalers brought these beasts of the ocean down. Anyone who has a gripe (PETA) with the seemingly inequitable tactics of the modern hunter and/or fisher who would also like to see a sport where the animal actually has the upper hand would be highly intrigued at the prospect of bringing down a whale in the open ocean 200 years ago. Nonetheless, when successful the whales provided a large profit and many a young seamen set sail in pursuit of the sperm (no pun intended) whale.
The tragedy associated with the whale ship Essex begins when the primary boat, the Essex, is struck down by a whale in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Against inconceivable odds the men attempt to sail to South America facing the brutal heat and endless waves the open Pacific. For 94 days the twenty-one man crew is stranded in three tiny whale ships (each about 24 feet long) battling the ferocity of the Pacific. Without going into too many details the men are well short of the needed supplies to live even 60 days at sea and the protection provided by their whaleboats is at best minimal. Tragedy ensues, but in spite of the overwhelming circumstances, there is also triumph. Philbrick does an excellent job of portraying the story without making the oft-attempted effort of creating larger than life heroes who are in reality just the deserving victims of their own insidious decisions prompted by the pursuit of money. He highlights their poor decisions with no attempt to cover it up as bad luck but also gives fate a fair shake for its part. He openly addresses the fact that no black members of the crew were among the few survivors and goes as far as making bold but altogether believable speculations as to why none survived.
After finishing this book I pondered for a while with astonishment at what humans are capable of when pushed to their limits. While the narrative is nothing exemplary the story surpasses expectations in the end and leaves you with a sense of just how relative of a thing that despair really is.