Adventures of the 1920's - McKenna

Adventures of the 1920’s

          The cold air fills the lungs of miserable working men.  A plead for mercy drifts onto a gust of wind. Hope is lost in the endless patches of ice and freezing water. The smooth surface of a camera rubs against a workers hand. CRACK! Eyes of desperate men shoot to the ship. Pieces start to break and crumble. A stormy cloud of despair settles over the ship. Waiting. Watching. Hoping. The men stare at the ship while it slips under the ice. Helpless and stranded, they stand on the hard, icy ground in shock, unable to process the devastating series events that had happened and that lie in their path. Their hearts sink unto their stomachs. A stinging breeze glides across their faces. Shackleton blatantly stares into the miles of empty space that he would soon fight for survival in. The crew looks at the pen mass of icebergs and impure water. Their eyes fill with desperation and their stomachs with pity and lost dreams. They endured through days of vigorous travelling and miserable coldness. Shackleton and his crew survived years of nothing but rowing boats in icy waters and fending for what they held dearest, their lives.

          Adventure in the 1920’s lured in both men and women who showed courage, but one man in particular, Sir Earnest Shackleton, was brought into one of the most dangerous adventures of American history. Although, Earnest Shackleton had many trips and goals in his life, he didn’t just accomplish them, he persevered through them with courage and bravery. Shackleton was a brave man who would promenade into a situation put in his hands, and come out of it with more dignity and pride. He had many goals in his lifetime. Even though he tried his hardest to achieve them, not all of them were within his reach. Not only did he have numerous goals, he approached prevalent adventures. He attempted to reach the North Pole twice, but both time he sadly failed. He didn’t give up on his dreams though, which showed he had courage. He wasn’t just any average person who had a dream to sail across the open seas, he was a selfless man who didn’t just care about himself he cared about everyone around him and while on his journeys, that definitely paid off. One of his most famous adventures was his attempt to sail across the Antarctic: many called the trip, the endurance. His trip was one that would shift his life into a completely different direction. He set sail on November of 1914. He picked twenty seven crewmen and took nearly seventy sled dogs. He started off into an environment hostile to human life that held many dangers and commodities that no one would dare think about running into. Nothing stopped him from going, which demonstrated the determination and fearlessness he had. Icy winds up to one hundred miles per hour rocked the ship as it sailed through the patches of ice and water.( youtube, Saptakmandal) Eventually the ship couldn’t push through the ice any longer, and froze to the solid ice. Workers tried to break the ship free for days and days, but it seemed impossible. The temperature dropped rapidly, leaving the men stranded. Things couldn’t possibly get any worse, or could they? The cold air filled the lungs of miserable working men.  A plead for mercy drifts onto a gust of wind. Hope is lost in the endless patches of ice and freezing water. The smooth surface of a camera rubs against a workers hand. CRACK! Eyes of desperate men shoot to the ship. Pieces start to break and crumble. A stormy cloud of despair settles over the ship. Waiting. Watching. Hoping. The men stare at the ship while it slips under the ice. Helpless and stranded, they stand on the hard, icy ground in shock, unable to process the devastating series events that had materialized on their path to Antarctica. Their hearts sink unto their stomachs. A stinging breeze glides across their faces. Shackleton blatantly stares into the miles of empty space that he would soon fight for survival in. The crew looks at the pen mass of icebergs and impure water. Their eyes fill with desperation and their stomachs with pity and lost dreams. They endured through days of vigorous traveling and miserable coldness. After the ship stranded them, Shackleton knew that he had to protect his crew so that they could survive. The men started to gain hope in Shackleton.  They decided to try and reach Elephant Island by row boat. It took Months to get there, and along the way all they had to eat was penguin, blubber, and other unknown things. After they finally arrived at Elephant Island, Shackleton picked a few people to start off to Georgia Island. He never stranded them or left them to fend for themselves ( PBS. PBS). After they left, they had a hard journey ahead of them, but they made it. Because of Shackleton’s kindness and consideration for his crew, he saved every single mans life. None of the men died on that trip and they went on to go on more adventures and explorations. (youtube Saptakmanda)

          Not only was Shackleton a daring adventurer, a woman named Amelia Earhart became one of the most respected and well know risk takers of America’s history. Amelia took many adventures, crossed the Atlantic Ocean by plane, attempted to fly around the world twice. Amelia knew that she was born for flying planes ever since she was a little girl, and that’s what pushed her to set records and go on dangerous expeditions such as being the first woman to ever fly across the Atlantic. She wasn’t of failure, because she would just try again. She started up the smooth charcoal black runway and was of to prove the world that women could do anything men could do, possibly even better. She had many struggles along the way such as rough turbulence and other near catastrophes. The trip as a whole took twenty hours and forty minutes, and that was the title of one of the books she wrote.( "Amelia Earhart Flies Across the Atlantic.) She could now officially be called, a courageous woman. She was fearless, courageous, and daring. She was the woman of the decade. After she successfully flew around the world, she started on her first attempt around the world. She started on the Honolulu runway nearing her trip towards the adventure of a lifetime. She turned on the roaring engine. The plane rolled along the long black pavement, gaining speed and momentum. She though everything had been checked, but a problem occurred that result in a runway crash. She was not injured but failure had been set at her feet, waiting for her to kick it away and try again. Later that year, 1937, she tried again at her goal of flying around the world.  Courage and bravery ran in her veins. Adrenaline pumped through her body as she departed from the runway. She was so close to achieving her goal of flying solo around the world, it was practically in her hands already. She never gave up on her dreams no matter how scary they were. She once said” The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life; and the procedure, the process is its own reward.” She always acted with confidence and dignity. She achieved some of the most unimaginable goal a woman could dream of. Although she started off her trip around the world with fierceness and bravery, she never got to finish because she disappeared in the middle of her trip.( centennialofflight) The people controlling and talking to her got some messages from her before she disappeared such as there was rough weather and turbulence.( youtube, NationalGeographic) She always fought through her trials and usually succeeded, and even though she didn’t succeed her last time, she went out of the race with goals that had been acquired.( "Amelia Earhart." Amelia Earhart)( bing.com)

          Sir earnest Shackleton and Amelia Earhart both had dreams of their own, but Gertrude Ederle, a famous speed swimmer, had unique ambitions that she more than achieved, she made them her life. After realizing that swimming is what her passion was, she made it to the Olympics and swam in many, many races. The Paris Olympics were incredible. She set nearly twenty nine records ranging from fastest speed in the one hundred meter butterfly to the four hundred meter freestyle.( REAL VERSION." NBC New York) She loved swimming. It was more than a hobby to her it was her passion, her life. She also swam in the sea. It was her best friend. She said once, "To me, the sea is like a person - like a child that I've known a long time. It sounds crazy, I know, but when I swim in the sea I talk to it. I never feel alone when I'm out there." She also had many, many races. Some were local for her and others were national. One of her really memorable races was when she swam a twenty one mile race across the Lower New York Bay, the water was frigid and the hair on her skin stood up.( "Swim-City.com - Swimming Metropolis." Swim-City.com) She was excited and nervous at the same time. The race took over seven hours of non-stop swimming in the bleak waters, but she didn’t care, every second was worth it. She was a risk taker who would do what it took to achieve her goals and dreams. She never gave up and she tried her hardest at everything she did. She had many accomplishments in her lifetime. Not only did she swim races and set records in the Paris Olympics, she was the first woman to every swim the English Channel. She had to be drenched in Greases and jellies of different sorts. The first time she tried to swim it her coach secretly poisoned her so that she would get sick and be unable to swim the full length. After minutes of struggling, An Egyptian swimmer eventually pulled her out of the water. Her courage kept pushing her through her trials and she decided to try again. The got up on a bright early morning in 1926, she was ready to do what people thought was impossible for women, swim the complete length of the English Channel. She persevered through the rough waters. She dodged jellyfish and sharks that could have been fatal to her swim. She made it in fourteen hours and thirty one minutes. Over two hours faster than any man had ever swum it. She accomplished her dreams and never gave up, that is what made her a courageous, brave, fearless, and bold young woman.

          Adventurers of the nineteen twenty’s were not only daring went to extreme measures to achieve their goals. Sir Earnest Shackleton was one of the most fearless men of American history by far. He endured through many trials that he faced and never gave up on himself or his peers when it came to survival or anything else for that matter. Amelia Earhart was an American idol for many people. People praised her for he talents, she achieved numerous goals, and while trying to persevere through her trials, she learned to be a courageous woman. Gertrude Ederle, much like the other adventurers, she set multiple goals for her life, and achieved them. Even if she failed the first or second time trying to break a record or do the impossible the always tried again and usually succeeded because of that. All three adventurers ended their races with dignity and pride, and never gave up on a dream.