In The Heart of the Sea, you see the effects of starvation are imminent among the Essex survivors soon after their boat was struck and destroyed by anthe aggressive whale. It appears asand though the fear of death is so closely linked to their severe malnutrition that it pushes the men past what they believed they were capable of doing. Their bodies and their mental fortitude are pushed to their limits. Starvation, and moreover the mere fear of starvation, lead the novel in what can be seen as the base motive behind the extreme actions taken among the men of the Essex, such as cannibalism and even the act of picking straws to choose which man was next to meet his fate. When you take a look behind these actions, survival due to fear of starvation
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The Minnesota Starvation Experiment was a controlled study that observed men who were starved in the name of science. The subjects allowed the men who were controlling the experiment to get a better understanding of the psychology behind starvation. Even under controlled and supervised circumstances, there were extreme results. It was as if they were returning to their primate state. Their lives began to revolve around the acquisition of food, and would spend their days daydreaming of food and chewing on miscellaneous objects. If this concept was transferred over to the situation the survivors of Essex were facing, one can begin to understand their mental state to get to the root of their actions. However, the subjects of the starvation experiment knew that they were supervised with small portions of food and could even quit the experiment and go home. The survivors of the whale ship Essex did not have that luxury. They were uncertain of their future and did not know if they would survive the journey. Although the men of the experiment started to act in less sociably accepted mannerisms, the fear of survival was not a factor of their actions. With their lives at stake, and the combination of both starvation and survival constantly on their minds, the actions of the men of the Essex seems to have been predictable behaviors for their
The Minnesota Starvation Experiment was a controlled study that observed men who were starved in the name of science. The subjects allowed the men who were controlling the experiment to get a better understanding of the psychology behind starvation. Even under controlled and supervised circumstances, there were extreme results. It was as if they were returning to their primate state. Their lives began to revolve around the acquisition of food, and would spend their days daydreaming of food and chewing on miscellaneous objects. If this concept was transferred over to the situation the survivors of Essex were facing, one can begin to understand their mental state to get to the root of their actions. However, the subjects of the starvation experiment knew that they were supervised with small portions of food and could even quit the experiment and go home. The survivors of the whale ship Essex did not have that luxury. They were uncertain of their future and did not know if they would survive the journey. Although the men of the experiment started to act in less sociably accepted mannerisms, the fear of survival was not a factor of their actions. With their lives at stake, and the combination of both starvation and survival constantly on their minds, the actions of the men of the Essex seems to have been predictable behaviors for their