Alive Book Report Essay, Research Paper
The book ALIVE, by Piers Paul Read identified many possible themes, although I
do think there are two that stand out. These two themes are survival and cooperation.
Survival plays a major throughout the entire story. The most gruesome part in the story
occurred when the remaining 28 passengers of the Fairchild were forced to cut up and eat
there deceased friends and family members so that they would be able to survive. This
drastic action was long disputed. This group of people went on for two weeks eating
nothing but small portions of chocolate before they thought about their alternative food
source. Secondly, throughout the ten weeks the survivors were in the Andes Mountains,
which in the end was only 16 people, cooperation was a necessity. The one instance that
stands out was on the last expedition when Roberto Canessa and Nando Parrado set off
for civilization. For ten days the two boys walked the endless chain of snow covered
mountains until they finally found a Chilean peasant. During these crucial days it was
only their minds of steel and endless cooperation that got them through. Parrado and
Canessa were the one’s who saved their friends in the Andes.
The setting in ALIVE gave you a real sense of how terrible it was for the Andes
survivors. First of all, the Andes setting was basically what kept the survivors from being
found by an airplane. The snow covered mountains blended to the roof of the Fairchild
to a point where the plane was literally invisible from more than 50 ft. away. Secondly,
the intense cold, which at night dropped to around 40 below zero, weakened many of the
passengers. Since there was no proper protection against such extreme temperatures,
many of the passengers who were already injured from the plane crash developed
frostbitten limbs which eventually turned gangrenous. The passengers of the Fairchild
were stuck in a very horrible situation.
I can interpret and critique the end of this book, but first comes some background
information. At first the last expedition was supposed to consist of three people which
were Roberto Canessa, Nando Parrado, and Antonio Vizintin. All three boys were
stocked with a 10 days ration of flesh. Unfortunately, on the third day of the expedition
Canessa and Parrado realized that the crusade for civilization was going to longer than
expected. So due to there position they were forced to send Vizintin back to the plane
and take his ration of food. The two boys walked the Andes for seven more days until
they finally found a pasture of cows. With a little more walking they found a Chilean
peasant who contacted the proper authorities. One day later the remaining 14 passengers
still in the Fairchild were rescued. The Fairchild had crashed on October 13, 1972 and
the remaining passengers were rescued on December 20th of that same year. The end of
this book was described in such an excellent manner that it seems as if you were right
there with the survivors doing, seeing, and unfortunately eating what they were. I also
believe that God played a part in the survival of these men. I don’t know how it would
be possible for 16 men, barely clothed could survive arctic temperatures for ten weeks
without the help of some supernatural force. This may sound crazy to some, but to others
it sounds absolutely valid.
Many of the men on the plane, especially Roberto Canessa felt the irony of being
out in the middle of nowhere with nothing to eat but a small piece of chocolate and sip of
liqueur. Roberto’s irony came from his life back home. He thought of all of the times he
threw out a bowl of soup because it didn’t taste right or it was too cold. Then he thought
of how he was now forced to eat human flesh, certain organs, and even brains so that he
didn’t starve to death. Just think of what he would do for that soup now. Many others
also felt a spot of irony from their past during the final weeks on the mountain. They
believed that because of the things they did wrong when they were in civilization, God
was now punishing them by keeping them alive in a place that they thought of as hell. It
is truly amazing how one comes to terms will himself when faced with death.
While in the Andes Mountains almost every passenger experienced internal and
external conflicts. Javier Methol was a man who probably had the most severe internal
conflict with eating the human flesh. He was constantly asking himself if he should or
should not eat the meat. Methol starved himself for days, but when his wife finally died
he knew that he had to survive so he could look after their children. Reluctantly he ate
his ration of flesh day after day, and in the end he was one of the survivors. Since the
inside of the Fairchild was mighty squished during sleeping hours, fights would often
break out between passengers. One night Moncho Sebella laid his feet down right in
front of Roberto Canessa’s face. When asked politely to move them, Sabella refused. At
this Canessa pushed Sebella’s feet away. Then Sebella kicked Canessa in the head.
Canessa blew up, grabbed Sabella’s foot and was ready to break it in two if Javier Methol
had not broken the fight up. For the rest of the time on the mountain Canessa and
Sabella managed to stay away from each other. Overall I really enjoyed this book and I
am glad I read it. Although it had its sad parts, there was nothing better than to see the
Andes survivors go home to their families for Christmas.