Survival – Between a Rock and a Hard Place, Touching the Void, In the Heart of the Sea, Apollo 13

The human instinct to survive is perhaps our most powerful drive. Forcing us to push past our limits and do whatever is necessary for self preservation. So in short term; survival is humanity’s strongest weapon.  So this leads me to my point: survival instinct is a heavily used factor used in the texts that I have chosen: ‘Between a rock and a hard place’ written by Aron Ralston, ‘Touching the void’ written by Joe Simpson, ‘In the Heart of the Sea’ directed by Ron Howard, and ‘Apollo 13’ directed by Ron Howard. All of the following films and novels have something in common, the human urge to survive disastrous situations regardless of what they sacrifice to do so. In all texts, the viewers learn to understand the risks and methods people will take in order to stay alive or prolong their demise.

Text 1: In the Heart of the Sea – Ron Howard

In the film: ‘In the Heart of the Sea’ directed by Ron Howard based off a true story, survival instinct is the most heavily infused factor put into the plot. It starts off based in 1820, where a whaling company in Nantucket has equipped the tools necessary to participate in the lucrative whale oil trade. The owner of the trade hires a veteran whaler named Owen Chase as first mate. The vessel pulls of course and sails into a storm. The crew kills their first blue sperm whale. After a few months, no further successions had been ensued and Captain Pollard realized that the Atlantic Ocean lacked the amount of whales that the crew desired. The crew decide to sail to the pacific past the Cape Horn in hope of succeeding to find and catch more whales. Rumours have spread of a white whale attacking and destroying ships. In disbelief of the story, Pollard and Chase lead the vessel west where the undisturbed grounds lie. The mythical beast known as the ‘White Whale’ attacks the whaling fleet. The majestic beast damages and sinks a few of the whaling boats and then adjusts it’s rage on the Essex, tearing it in half and killing two men in the process. The crew abandons the doomed vessel and the crew regroups with the remaining three whaling boats. The remaining crew were deeply intimidated, they had to not only sail hundreds of miles to reach the closest shore, but with limited supplies as well. However, the unsuspecting crew do not realize that they were being followed by the White Whale who attacks once again, however the crew was successful in escaping the onslaught. This could be a aspect of survival here. Chase’s decision to not fight back against the attacking whale was the correct one, he had lost a couple men before; he did not want to lose anymore. The crew sought refuge on a remote tiny island called Henderson Island. Chase quotes “Not us? In our arrogance, our greed, look where we find ourselves”, this quote tells us that Chase regrets his decision of attempting to kill the ‘White Whale’ and has put his crew into a dire situation for survival. A choice was split among the crew, four men decided to stay on the island, while the rest including Chase and Nickerson set sail in hope of succeeding to find land. This aspect of survival shows us that those who are not joining Chase’s squad doubt that any help or ship will come to save them or let alone see them so in this case we can say that Chase made the right decision and did what was best for his group clearly showing that he cares about them and their survival. Soon after Chase’s departure, one of the four men die of natural causes and the remaining three reluctantly decide to consume him or cannibalize. This is where we see our first piece of evidence that survival instinct can surpass regulatory human nature, this is shown by telling the viewer that the crew will eat their own friend or shipmate just to stay alive. sooner on the other two further resort to cannibalism to survive, with Captain Pollard’s cousin Henry Coffin sacrificing himself for the right cause. This even prolongs the fact to why cannibalism can be a necessary option to take for the sake of survival; sacrificing yourself just to prolong the survival of your fellow dying shipmates is true dedication and clearly shows that Henry had a deep trusty relationship with his shipmates. When we are back with Chase’s group, the White Whale returns to finish its mission and kill the remaining survivors. However, Chase is ready to retaliate and takes position. The White Whale breaches the surface and glares Chase in the eye. Chase’s final decision was to not attack and the Whale gracefully leaves the area and is never seen again throughout the film. Another survival decision is made here; choosing not to finish what he started by letting the beast that practically killed his entire crew and sunk his prized vessel leave without conflict. It also means he refused to let the remaining survivors die. This tells the reader that Chase making the safer decision resulted in the survival of his group. Chase’s group continues to drift with no water or food and all remaining sailors were on the verge of death until after 110 days, the group are pulled ashore by a current and rejoiced with their distraught families. From this we can see that cannibalism was the main attribute for survival and was committed with deep remorse from each participant of the act but it was the only way that they could survive, therefore showing us that our primitive instincts though put long behind us, can be brought out when times are desperate.

Text 2: Apollo 13 – Ron Howard  

“Apollo 13” directed by Ron Howard shows us that the riskiest options are sometimes the safest option. In 1970; NASA’s space team is put to the test on how far they will go for survival. Many unfortunate life threatening events occur throughout the film and the crew execute risky strategies to survive and conquer the dead space horror they are experiencing.     

In July 1969, former astronaut Jim Lovell hosts a house party where all guests spectate the legendary Neil Armstrong’s first footsteps on the moon. Lovell, who had already visited the moon in the launch of Apollo 8, pay to mind, he did not walk on it. This influences his desire so he tells his wife Marilyn that he will return to the moon’s orbit and walk on it’s surface. Three months later, Lovell’s crew, that consists of himself, Ken Mattingly, and Fred Haise begin to train for their mission. A couple days before the launch, Ken had developed the measles and the surgeon demanded him to replaced with his backup: Jack Swigert but was denied.  The night before the launch, Lovell’s wife Marilyn has a nightmare about Lovell being killed in space and since it can be a likely event that could happen, regardless she travels to the Kennedy Space Center to see him off. This is where we see our first look at survival. Marilyn clearly has a slight suspicion that Lovell will not survive the expedition but will stay loyal and gladly see him off no matter what his choice is. On April 11, 1970, Flight Director Gene Kranz gives the green light for Apollo 13’s departure and the crew depart for what Lovell hopes to be the mission where he and his crew walk on the moon. This desire is similar to that of Owen Chase’s, referencing back to ‘In the Heart of the Sea’. Chase wished to lead a vessel and command the assaults on the sperm whales however, Chase’s wish was not granted due to George Pollard getting elected captain of the crew. Chase eventually becomes a leader of 4 after heroically dedicating his choices on the group’s survival. Lovell is somewhat the same; he had been a member of the space team for Apollo 8 but he did not walk on the moon, only orbited it. The Saturn V, which was the rocket design NASA had used for years; blasted through the clouds and exited the earth’s atmosphere with no time to spare. Swigert connects the Module Odyssey to the Lunar Module Aquarius and disconnect from the spent rocket. During the launch, Swigert quotes: “So long Earth, see you on the flip side”. This quote tells us that Swigert sees no possible way they could fail this mission and is confident that the crew will return with no losses or errors. However this could also imply foreshadowing; maybe the mission will not go all to plan.  Three days into the mission, Swigert turns on the liquid oxygen tank fans as the NASA team requested, but it unfortunately detonates and its contents are sucked into space and the spacecraft was sent plummeting. In the other moment, the second liquid oxygen tank was found to have had a leak but fortunately they halted the leakage by deactivating fuels cells 1 and 3 but this action came with a grave consequence. The Apollo 13 space team had to abort the moon landing. This aspect of survival tells us that an incredible experience such as walking on the moon does not compare to the importance of the lives of Lovell’s crew showing that he obviously cares about their safety and will not be the reason for why they perished. This aspect could also relate back to ‘In the Heart of the Sea’, how Chase made the decision to leave Henderson Island and find their homelands with his squad; sharing a deep trust and care for each of their lives. With the Odyssey heavily damaged, the crew evacuate the Module and power up the Lunar Module known as Aquarius to use a feasible “Lifeboat” for the best chance to survive. This survival aspect was purely from the wise choice of Lovell, he knew that the Aquarius was a two seated vehicle but if they were to stay in the damaged Odyssey, there would be no chance of survival; the Aquarius was the crew’s only option and was therefore a dire measure. The crew were sacrificing the moon mission and pure body space just to get home due to the Aquarius lunar module being a cramped method of transport. In Houston, Kranz refuses to let the team die even though it seemed hopeless, he announces this by quoting: “Failure is not an option”, telling us that Kranz will not lose anyone on his moon mission and will take every measure to get the crew home. The launch team recruit John Aaron to help them find a way to restart the Odyssey considering it was the only way they could make it back. The Aquarius module is running on low power and the crew endure freezing conditions. Haise develops a urinal infection and a fever. With Aquarius running on fumes, the crew must manually ignite the Odyssey’s engine in order to survive the dangers of carbon dioxide. An aspect of survival can be seen here. With carbon dioxide reaching deadly levels, the crew must perform an operation on the Odyssey and restart it by transferring the remaining power in the Aquarius to the Odyssey. The process of this operation would most likely kill the crew but if it’s the only way they can make it home, they will sacrifice their lives for it. After the somewhat successful operation, they disconnect the Aquarius module and seal the Odyssey shut. The crew splashed down into the Pacific Ocean. The crew conserved food scraps, oxygen, and sanity while the Aquarius drifted mindlessly in space just for a single glimmer of chance to get home. This tells us that if a survival encounter that is literally out of this world such as space survival, can still be counteracted by the human instinct of survival.

Text 3: Touching the Void – Joe Simpson

Touching the Void written by Joe Simpson based on a true story, is the journey of two mountaineers named Joe Simpson and Simon Yates who have returned to the west side of Siula Grande located in Peru. Though the duo were previously defeated by it’s deadly figure, they have returned to finally conquer it once and for all. Touching the Void teaches us about survival in a sense where during death ridden situation, people will go as far as sacrificing their own accomplices just for self preservation. 

After few months of negotiating Joe Simpson and Simon Yates agree to take on Siula Grande once more and will return successful this time. After a few days, Joe and Simon achieve their goal and reach the summit of the west face. But now they had to descend back to ground level and most survival aspects occur during this section of the climb. Our first aspect is shown when upon descent, Joe slips down an icy ridge and lands awkwardly on his leg causing it to break. Bad weather had started brewing for this and had caused them to rush the journey resulting in this crippling event. With Joe’s leg broken and him in complete agony, Joe still wants to go on and descend down the mountain. A survival aspect is seen here, Simon making the tough decision to cut the rope for his own survival may of been selfless, but it was the only way at least one of the pair could get home alive. This also tells us about Simon’s personality, that he is selfish and will throw his partners life on the line just for his own preservation. Things got worse considering the fuel they once had ran out. The pair, whose trip had already taken longer than they intended due to bad weather on the ascent, had run out of fuel for their stove and could not melt ice or snow for drinking water. With bad weather closing in and daylight fading, they needed to descend quickly to the glacier, about 3,000 feet below. The two mountaineers stayed connected via a 150-foot rope, however the two ropes were tied together meaning that they couldn’t go through the belay plate which caused difficulties. With the weather conditions worsening, Simon unwittingly lowered Joe off a icy cliff. Simon was unable to hear or see Joe; only feel his weight. Joe attempted to ascend the rope using a Prusik knot however was unable to due to his badly frostbitten hands. Joe then dropped one of the cords required to ascend the rope resulting in the pair facing their most dangerous situation. Joe was completely incapable of climbing the rope and Simon was unable to pull him back up, they couldn’t communicate, and were completely helpless. The two remain in this situation for a while until Simon’s belay cable which was the only thing keeping Joe from plummeting into the abyss; started to give way. If the cable were to part, both Simon and Joe would be dragged to their deaths. Simon had to make a choice quickly, unfortunately for Joe, it was the selfish one. Simon then cut the rope and Joe was sent into the icy depths beneath them. Simon dug himself a snow cave due to his exhaustion and hypothermia and waited out the storm. The next day, Simon returned to the crevasse Joe fell in and called his name multiple times and hearing no reply; Simon assumed he had perished and so continued down the mountain alone. The viewer is taken to Joe, who had survived the 150-foot fall that left him on a small ledge. He exits his unconscious state and notices the cut in the rope and immediately predicted that Simon assumed he had died. A survival aspect is seen here; even though Joe had plummeted 150 feet, with a broken leg, and still wanting to escape the mountain’s cold clutches shows us that Joe refuses to die in a stupid way, hence his best friend’s selfish decision to cut the rope. Even though it was impossible with his broken leg, Joe still thought about climbing out by himself even though it was hopeless, this tells us that Joe has a deep gut instinct just to stay alive and has the determination to achieve survivability. With no options left, Joe lowered himself deeper into the crevasse in hope of finding an alternative escape. Joe finds a small exit and climbed back onto the glacier with little struggle. Back to Simon, who spent the past 3 days without food and barely any water; was crawling back to the main camp. Simon was experiencing a heavy affect of deliriousness. Another aspect of survival that could relate back to ‘In the Heart of the Sea’. When chase’s group had no rations or drinkable water but still had the power ti carry on for weeks, it is similar to how Simon continued to survive and not give up just because he ran out of resources showing the viewer that he has hope and will not give up. Joe makes it back safely but required immediate medical attention, however the story of these two mountaineers will go on as the one of the most legendary stories of all time. So as the viewer can tell, there are many examples of the effects of survival on people shown all throughout the Touching the Void and many of them refer back to both ‘Apollo 13’ and ‘In the Heart of the Sea’. This is proven by the fact that in each scenario, the groups or individuals had run out of resources and were ready to give up and accept their fate but one thing kept them alive, their instinct for survival. 

Text 4: Between a Rock and a Hard Place –  Aron Ralston 

Aron Ralston, a soul survivor of a disastrous accident that restrained him for six days in a searing, rocky crevasse with no existent life sources. Aron’s choices throughout the novel are hugely dependent on his survival and how one act of bravery ended the suffocation of his life force. Many survival quotes are identified and utilised throughout the novel. 

Aron Lee Ralston was a mechanical engineer, American outdoorsman, and motivational speaker famously known for surviving the entrapment of a canyon accident in the desert lands of southeastern Utah. Aron had triumphed the toughest and highest peaks of the Colorado mountain formations and was dead set on exploring the entire Blue John Canyon. Aron has clearly survived terrifying situations before due to being used to taking on raw challenges the most people would not, he especially has survival wits  and how to utilize them in every situation if need be. However, at two in the afternoon, eight miles from his transport truck. Aron was descending through a deep narrow slot in the rock and a loosely wedged boulder came loose. Unfortunately, Aron’s could not react in time to save himself and his right arm was pinned to the rough and rocky wall. Aron’s survival instinct was put to the test for six hellish days. With scarce resources such as water and food, Aron attempted to ration it resourcefully and conserved as much as he could. This survival aspect tells the reader that Aron had clearly been in these types of situations before, this could refer to Joe Simpson and Simon Yates survival situation where both mountaineers had run low on life resources and were balancing on the spear of death. However they still managed to keep their composure, sanity, and survival instincts and used it to preserve their lives as long as possible. Aron clearly has hope that someone will find and rescue him even though it seems unlikely. This could refer back to the survival aspect in ‘In the Heart of the Sea’ where Chase commands his squad to leave henderson island and attempt to find their homelands, therefore a smart decision on Aron’s behalf. Hunger and thirst were not the only thing Aron had to worry about; no jacket to shield him from the cold desert nights and the terrible knowledge that he’d told no one where he had gone. All throughout the scenario, death lingered. Constrained by a near 800 pound boulder, down a near 100 foot deep canyon. After attempting various escape ideas, he began picking them off the list one by one throughout the harsh days. Obviously showing the reader that he is losing hope but refuses to let himself die to a puny boulder incident. As Aron faces the horrific predicament, he quotes: “It’s me.I chose this. I chose all of this — this rock has been waiting for me my entire life. I’ve been moving toward it my whole life’. This quote tells us that Aron is beginning to accept his fate and awaits his untimely demise. As days past, Aron withstood the numbing nights, he withstood the severe condition and effects of dehydration, he even withstood the brute flash floods. He started hallucinating, talking to himself, making jokes and then laughing at the as if he had multi personalities until he had enough. He remembers a serrated pocket knife in his front pocket. He then committed to the most extreme act of survival possible. Aron punctured his arm with the blade and began to gash through it attempting to completely sever it. We are clearly shown that Aron’s limits have been pushed so he resulted to the intense act of sawing of his own appendage just to escape the rocky hell he stood before. After hours and hours merciless pain, Aron fought back against the pain and bravely embraced it. Aron knew that this act was going to come with dire consequences, one being the utility of his right arm but the other would be being capable of defying the deserts hazardous conditions and dehydration. Once Aron had completed the process, he escapes the crevasse and wonders the desert for hours until he stumbles across a family of three who then grant him much needed water and food and take him back to civilisation to get medical treatment. Aron Ralston’s legendary story of survival will remain amongst the earth’s knowledge for centuries to come. All these survival aspects can refer back to the previous three texts, by telling us that no matter how hopeless a situation can be, even if it could claim your life should you give up. There is still the survival instinct. Committing ruthless acts such as leaving friends behind on an island, cutting the rope that connects both you and your partner, and severing your own arm could save yourself or better yet others. 

In Conclusion, ‘Between a Rock and a Hard Place’ written by Aron Ralston, ‘Touching the Void’ written by Joe Simpson, ‘Apollo 13’ directed by Ron Howard, and ‘In the Heart of the Sea’ also directed by Ron Howard all show examples of the effects of survival, how each scenario is similar in a death defying related way. But no matter how many challenges are pitted against the survivors, they will make a decision depending on how they have been affected by the effects of survival. Overall, In these texts we learnt that sacrifices had to made in order to keep lives alive, and that the human instinct of survival can still be put to effective use in certain scenarios.