Several years ago I watched a documentary on PBS about the failed Antarctic voyage of Shackleton and his crew. I was trapped in a hotel room, on a business trip, and I was kind of depressed. I hadn't heard of Shackleton, I knew nothing of the Endurance, and I was transfixed by the surviving images and video collected by Frank Hurley.
I have always remembered something from the documentary that was said, almost in passing. A mention that Shackleton's mother had banned fairy tales from the home when he was growing up. She believed that the tropes reproduced in those stories - of perfect love, happily ever after - ruined the lives of young, impressionable readers who would then spend eternity searching for that idyllic, unattainable state.
It's interesting to think about, given that hope and possibility had to be two of the drivers that made Shackleton cross miles of freezing water and ice in search of help. And hope and possibility that kept the 28 member crew alive while they waited months, not knowing if Shackleton would ever return to save them.
Yeah. Totally agree.
Posted by: teent | February 23, 2010 at 10:46 AM