Andes Plane Crash
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On October 12, 1972, forty-five people flew into the Andes, fifteen of them members of an amateur rugby team who had chartered the flight to Santiago, Chile. The plane crashed onto a snowy mountain. Ten weeks later, after one of the most harrowing ordeals in recorded history, sixteen people were rescued from the accident. In between they suffered incredibly spiritually and physically, including the eating of the raw human flesh of their dead companions. Yet, somehow, without food, without water, without heat or decent shelter, among numerous fatal and life-threatening injuries, several avalanches and a host of personal tortures, sixteen people survived. One of the biggest reasons for this survival is the ability of those not killed in the initial crash to work together as a team, almost like a mini-society united by one driving force-survival.Desperate situations demand desperate measures, and certainly the situation in which the survivors found themselves was as desperate as desperate can be as were the measures often employed to help them survive. We see how desperate situations like this, similar to those of war, demand teamwork and positive cooperation to raise the chances of survival. Many concepts emerge in the united survivor colony that survives the crash. We see that there is a hierarchy formed, with leaders based on intelligence, preferential treatment given to those of might, and a labor class for those who have a lack of
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ould not bring themselves to perform” (Read 136).
In such desperate conditions and with as limited resources as the survivors possessed, rationing became an important aspect of daily “group” life. Small portions of chocolate and wine that had been carried by some of the passengers was doled out equally to each group member. We see how individual needs and personal selfishness can create anarchy without group unity when one survivor and some of the wounded drink a whole bottle of wine and Marcelo discovers someone has stolen chocolate. As he passionately cries, “For God’s sake. Don’t you realize that you’re playing with our lives?” (Read 62). We see that without group cohesion and cooperation no one may have survived the outright hell experienced in this accident.
We also see how negativity and selfish behavior cause the group to become unstable and makes their efforts more difficult and unproductive. We see this when Canessa comes up with an idea to make hammocks for the wounded and is ostracized by those who are feeling dour and negative about the situation, “You’re a fool. You’ll kill us all with your hammock” (Read 63). We also see this when shock, hysteria and abject pain cause many of the members of the group t
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Parrado Vizintin, Santiago Chile, Daniel Fernandez, Teamwork October, ideological differences, Lippincott Company, nature situation, warrior class, cutting meat, preferential treatment, sixteen people, desperate measures, personal growth, desperate situations,
Approximate Word count = 1255
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)
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