Roberto Canessa example essay topic

By: fred 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 Mon cho 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. Word Count: 960.