The novel In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick is an interesting and compelling story, and is worthy of literary merit.
For the average person, this may not be the easiest novel to connect with. However, this novel can be connected to many movies like The Perfect Storm and Titanic, in the sense that they both have to do with being isolated in the middle of the sea, and have to do with the ship sinking. Furthermore, this novel could connect with other stories like The Cay, or Apollo 13 in the sense that they both explore isolation. But it would be difficult for someone to personally connect with this story.
Overall In the Heart of the sea story is an interesting story. The plotline is somewhat bland, and after an enraged sperm whale rams the Whale ship Essex, the storyline soon falls apart. However, there are some interesting parts, for example “With barley a pound of crackers left, the crew dared to speak of something that had been on everyone’s mind, weather they should eat, in stead of bury the body.” This quote is a good example of how Philbrick shows how desperate the crewmembers were after their ship sunk about 1400 miles away from South America. It is an interesting read, especially at times like this. There were many exiting parts. For example when the ship was rammed, this go the slow story going. Before the Essex sunk, the story was quite boring, but soon people started eating dead bodies. Overall the first half of the book is quite boring and bland, but after the climax, the book starts getting tip-of-your-seat, heart-pounding interesting.
The Heart of the Sea contains many literary devices that make it worthy of literary recognition. Many colorful similes, metaphors, and personifications are used. For example: “ as darkness approached on the first day, the wind built steadily, kicking up a steep, irregular chop.” In this one sentence, there are three creative personifications that add some pizzazz to the text. There are however, some parts of the story that are flat and bland. Unfortunately this takes away from the novel. At points of interest the story is able to come to life with a plethora of similes, metaphors, personifications, ironies and much more.
In the Heart of the Sea challenges the thinking of readers. It makes one think, “What would I do in a situation like this?” it makes them question their actions, and expands their minds. For example: (see quote paragraph 2) it makes one wonder “would I rather eat a dead human, or die of starvation?” this novel puts the structure of the human mind to the test. The countless taboos that the crew performs are only part of the novel. This novel makes people see life in a new way, and thank that whaling was illegalized. This novel wasn’t only a source of entertainment; it was an experience as well.
All in all In the Heart of the Sea is a well-crafted novel that is known to many as “worthy of literary merit.”
