Evan Obert Alive Summary

Alive, The Will To Survive
By Evan Obert

We as human beings can be motivated to do many things by the concept of survival. When faced with death we find that we are able to push ourselves further than we thought capable, even possible. Piers Paul Read’s Alive conveys this to us through the account of a Uruguayan rugby team that found themselves stranded in the Andes with frightfully scarce resources for 70 days. From day one, the survivors Uruguayan Air Force aircraft endured horrible conditions. While in its uncontrolled descent, the Fairchild lost both wings and its tail, leaving only the fuselage. Although better than bearing the subzero temperatures without shelter, the fuselage provided little refuge. The passengers constructed
After finding a radio in the tail of the Fairchild on a short mission across the mountain and hearing that the search for their plane was cut off, all hope for rescue was lost and they were forced to consider taking the rescue into their own hands through an expedition to civilization. This was not thought of lightly as the first trip a few hundred feet up the mountain had nearly killed the expeditionaries. How could they hope to reach help. The only inkling as to their position was that Chile must be west because that was the original destination. Seeing this as their only chance for survival the passengers overfed and kept the strongest of them as comfortable as possible. As a last chance, Roberto Canessa and Nando Parrado were to journey over the mountains of the Andes and bring back help. This was a feat unfeasible by any man. The conditions were horrible and without enough food the two, along with another who was unable to continue, set out. After surviving for so long they were not about to give up. The previous months only motivated Canessa and Parrado to carry on and they did so for all sixty miles of their