It is not Jack Sparrow’s Black Pearl but It is In the Heart of the Sea
The year is 1820. This is a story of two men. They sailed together as captain and his first mate. One of them was born into the wealthy family of a ship owner, whilst the other was born of a mediocre citizenship. The two ‘fought’ for the ship leadership. Needless to say, the wealthy man was chosen. Captain George Pollard, his name.
The job is to catch a whale and fill as many barrels as possible with the whale oil. We have to understand that this story took place sometimes in the early 19th Century, when the oil from the ground had not been discovered yet. So the main source of oil comes from the whale, and obviously, from the deep wild sea.
But the captaincy has been promised to Owen Chase, the fairly poor and mediocre guy. He argued with the board for he has great experience for the job. He wanted it so much because he had gathered a great number of barrels in all of his previous work. This man though, really deserves to be at the helm.
The man Owen Chase is the man who knows everything about the ship and the sea. And surely, about whale hunting. Decision on this captaincy disappointed Mr. Chase then. But he can not refuse the money. He joined Captain Pollard, and became the first mate; the man in charge of making sure the captain’s order was done smoothly . In modern terminology, this position is as important as the ‘right hand man’ of the ‘boss’.
The ship, The Essex, is a newly re-build whaling ship. Surely, it is not Captain Jack Sparrow’s Black Pearl. She can sink. The captain, George Pollard, is a young, inexperience, and incompetent guy who was chosen in respect of his ship-owner father.
To prove his power, and to show the crew that he is the powerful captain, Pollard ordered to speed up. He intentionally put them in the storm. But Mr. Chase has this special skill with dominant physical strength. He is rather athletic. He led the whole crew to overcome the storm.
One afternoon, they met the whale. Chase stood up, took the iron tool, aiming at the whale. Within minutes, the iron is placed in its body. They successfully took the whale on their ship and filled the barrels with oil from inside the whale’s body. Everything seems under control.
But the next few days were a disaster. There was a giant white whale around the ship. Just like any other ship, it was at a great high risk of sinking. So if there is something wrong with the ship, they must be prepared to abandon it. Just like captain Jack Sparrow and the black pearl.
The worst thing happened. The whale, protecting itself from humans, broke the ship almost in half. Captain George Pollard shouted something that every crew member wish not heard.
“Abandon ship!”
Alas, the ship is now sinking. Whale oil in the barrels spilled over the ocean. They were forced to evacuate themself to the boats. Three small emergency boats that were originally used to hunt the whale.
Long story short, they’re hanging in the wild sea for a very long time. Committed abomination in order to survive. In the end, the story inspired Herman Melville to write it down as a fictional novel. Remember the legendary opening sentence?
“Call me Ishmael”. And the story began.
