Cannibalism In The Heart Of The Sea

In the book In The Heart Of The Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick , the men face the decision between starvation or cannibalism, are forced to resort to murder and cannibalism, all while the irony of this decision looms over their heads. Consequently, the events that lead to this horrific action are as tragic as horrendous as the act of cannibalism itself. On a seemingly regular whaling expedition, they are attacked by a sperm whale. The Essex is sunk, and they are forced to sail help on the remaining whaleboats. But, alas, bad luck pursues them still. A killer whale attacks the remaining whaleboats, leaving them with only three. Much of their food stores get depleted, and they face starvation and dehydration. Chase commented later “Our suffering during these calm
With people dying at a faster rate on his boat, it was only natural that the idea would be suggested on his boat first. A total of four bodies are consumed, all of which were African Americans. After all the corpses and meat is consumed, there lies and unspoken, horrible wondering, to cast lots to see who to eat next. Ramsdell suggests this horrid idea. At first, Pollard but his foot down, and “Would not listen to it”(Pg 175). After studying his emaciated shipmates, he resigns to it. To his horror though, Owen Coffin is chosen. Owen was Pollards cousin, and he volunteers to take Coffins place. Coffin denies this though, and accepts his fate. So Chase is killed and eaten. Just a few days later, Ray dies. This leaves a grand total of six people being eaten on Pollard's boat. Pollard and Ramsdell are suddenly the only ones left on Pollard's boat. Chase, however, has expertly ration his crew's food. Though they have two weeks of hard tack left, it is not enough. So they eat Isaac Cole, who has died due to insanity. But Chase does a much better job than Pollard, because the only have to eat one body before they are