Instead, it devotes sole focus on Louis, Phil, and Mac, deviating only to show the utter hopelessness of their situation, like when their search party is forced to give up and basically leave them all for dead. There might not be the singularly antagonistic presence of “the Bird” to hold them under threat, like he does for many of the remaining chapters, but the forces of nature seem almost more unrelenting by comparison. Between their impossible living conditions aboard a pair of life rafts, depending on meager portions of food and water to fight hunger and thirst, as well as dealing with storms, sharks, and other constant dangers, this seems a trial by fire of which there is no escaping from, and Hillenbrand expertly builds upon this with an overarching sense of dread, isolation, and a disconnect from the previously established narrative stylings. Louis and Phil have to rely on hearsay as grounds to speculate on whether they can feasibly even make it out alive, and Mac, despite his failings, is not painted as wholly villainous, so much as he succumbs to human weakness and dies before his time. In contrast, Louis and Phil somehow succeed in lasting, as things
Instead, it devotes sole focus on Louis, Phil, and Mac, deviating only to show the utter hopelessness of their situation, like when their search party is forced to give up and basically leave them all for dead. There might not be the singularly antagonistic presence of “the Bird” to hold them under threat, like he does for many of the remaining chapters, but the forces of nature seem almost more unrelenting by comparison. Between their impossible living conditions aboard a pair of life rafts, depending on meager portions of food and water to fight hunger and thirst, as well as dealing with storms, sharks, and other constant dangers, this seems a trial by fire of which there is no escaping from, and Hillenbrand expertly builds upon this with an overarching sense of dread, isolation, and a disconnect from the previously established narrative stylings. Louis and Phil have to rely on hearsay as grounds to speculate on whether they can feasibly even make it out alive, and Mac, despite his failings, is not painted as wholly villainous, so much as he succumbs to human weakness and dies before his time. In contrast, Louis and Phil somehow succeed in lasting, as things