Diksha Sundriyal
Directed by Ron Howard, ‘In the Heart of the Sea’ tells the shocking true story of the crew of the Essex and their encounter with a giant whale that completely changes the course of their lives. The film begins with author Herman Melville knocking at the door of Tom Nickerson, the only remaining survivor of the Essex who can tell him exactly what happened on the ship. At first, Tom is hesitant to discuss something he hasn’t spoken a word of to anyone. But on his wife’s insistence, he decides to rid his heart of the guilt and grief that he has been holding on to for so long and tells Melville of the atrocious journey that he took on the Essex. The 2015 film paints a complicated tale of greed and the consequences of trying to go up against the majesty of nature. SPOILERS AHEAD.
What Happens to the Crew of the Essex?
There are always risks involved with a voyage on the sea, and everyone aboard the Essex knows that. What they didn’t factor in was something like the massive sperm whale they cross paths with and who changes everything about their journey. A couple of the crew members die when the whale attacks the ship, breaking its hull and destroying it so thoroughly that the only way for the crew members to escape is on boats. While the whale is gone, the bunch that is now divided into three boats has to keep themselves alive as there is still miles and miles of water before they find land. Weeks go by, and with no help in sight, the situation of the survivors worsens. They are severely dehydrated and starved, but there seems to be no end in sight for their plight.
For once, hope appears when they find a small island where they get food and water to bring them back to life. They believe they can camp there long enough for rescue to arrive, but soon, they discover that there is no chance of rescue. The people who were stranded there the last time have turned into skeletons, and the crew of the Essex would meet the same fate unless they do something themselves. It is decided that the three boats should be repaired, and they must go back into the sea. Four of them, however, don’t think it’s a good idea. The second mate, Matthew Joy, is already fighting for his life at this point. He received a head injury while they were on the boat, and due to the condition he is in, he has no hope of recovery, especially if he goes into the sea again. Chase is heartbroken to leave his friend but promises to send rescue once he returns home.
On three boats, Pollard, Chase, Nickerson, and the others continue their journey. Soon, things get worse than they were the first time around, and there is no respite. They get so desperate that when one of them dies, they decide to eat him to ensure their own survival. Briefly, Pollard and Chase’s boats are separated, but they are reunited later, by which time Pollard’s cousin, Henry Coffin, has killed himself to save three others on his boat. As for the third boat, it drifts away and is never seen again. The men from that boat never make it home, which confirms that they all perished at sea and did not make it to land.
Pollard and Chase’s boats drift again, but this time, Pollard finds help. He and the two men on his boat are picked up by a ship and taken back home. Chase and the men on his boat, including Nickerson, spend a bit more time on the sea before they find help. They land in Chile, from where it takes them three more months to go back to Nantucket. The survivors reunite with their loved ones, especially Chase, who meets his daughter for the first time. He also keeps his promise to the men he’d left behind on the island and sends rescue for them. Miraculously, almost all of them seemed to have survived so many months there alone. Joy is the only one who dies, but that wasn’t something unexpected as he had already been in a delicate situation when Chase left him.
Why did George Pollard Tell the Truth? What Happens to Him?
When the Essex is sent into the sea, a lot of people have a lot riding on it. For the company that funds the trip, it is essential to get barrels of whale oil to keep running the business. For Owen Chase, it is important to get those oil barrels because that is the only way for him to ensure that he is granted captaincy. For Captain George Pollard, it is a matter of pride and maintaining his legacy. However, all of that goes down the drain when the crew of the Essex is faced with the terror of the giant whale against whom they can never win. The more they try to fight, the more the whale attacks them, and each blow hits them harder than the one before.
While several crew members survive the ordeal, they are completely changed by it because of the things they did and saw during the time they were stranded. They were reduced to eating their crew mates to survive and even had to leave behind a few of them on an island. This is something that none of them would be able to forget their entire lives, as evidenced by Tom Nickerson’s situation in his old age. So, when the captain and the first mate are brought in and told to lie, things do not sit well with them. When George Pollard tells them that the ship was destroyed by a giant whale, the owners of the whaling company decide that the story should be changed.
The business of whaling runs on the belief that humans are greater than whales and can kill them easily. Of course, there are some risks involved, but those risks are worth taking because the rewards are high. Or at least, the rewards are high for the owners of the whaling companies because they themselves never have to take the risk of putting their lives on the line for whale oil. However, they know that once the story of a giant monster of a whale attacking and destroying ships goes out, the crew of the ships would start to re-evaluate the risk-to-reward ratio, and they might not see it as a profitable thing. Why would they want to risk their lives after hearing what happened to the Essex, even with one of the most capable and experienced whalers on board?
The company owners tell Pollard and Chase to lie and say in the official account that the ship ran aground. Chase is appalled by it, as he knows that he and his crew have been through too much to have their dignity stripped by the lies about their deaths. His crew mates died and paved the path for the others to survive. So, lying about what really happened to them would be an insult to their memory, and this isn’t something Chase can do. He leaves it to Pollard to decide what to say during the hearing, but he asks the captain to stick to the truth for the sake of their men. And this is precisely what Pollard does. Having lost his own cousin to the sea, he agrees with Chase about not tarnishing the memories of the fallen with lies. Moreover, his desire to protect his family’s legacy and honor also propels him to speak the truth during his testimony, even if at a significant personal cost.
Does Herman Melville Write About Tom Nickerson’s Story?
When Herman Melville seeks out Tom Nickerson, it is because he is in search of a story that will change his life. As an author, he has had some success, but he feels insufficient, and his insecurity about not being a good writer keeps nagging at him. When he comes across the story of the Essex, he feels that this is something that he must write about. The urge to get into the depth of it is so strong that he feels that this might be the last great thing he writes. Tom Nickerson is his only way into this tale because the rest of the crew is gone. Following the official inquiry, where he refused to lie, Captain Pollard led another expedition, this time focused entirely on finding the whale and killing it. However, the whale was never seen again, and when his ship ran aground, he was forced to retire from his profession.
As for Owen Chase, his refusal to lie cost him the captaincy for which he had boarded the Essex. When he realized that the company would never give him what he wanted, he decided to change the course of his career. Previously, his wife had advised him to work on a merchant ship where there is much more safety and more pay, and he would spend less time at sea and more with his family. After being disappointed by the whaling company once again, he retires as a whaler and becomes the captain of a merchant ship, living the rest of his life in peace.
Over the course of the next couple of decades, the survivors of the Essex grow old and die until Tom Nickerson is the only one left alive. He is the only chance for Melville to know the whole truth about the ship, which is why he is ready to pay a considerable sum in return for that story. By the time Nickerson reaches the end of it, Melville realizes why the old man had been keeping it to himself all these years. The story is much more harrowing and heartbreaking than the young author had expected, forcing him to reconsider the content of his next book.
Nickerson still feels guilty for eating his dead crew mates, even though he had no other choice. He believes he will be hated and ostracised for it, even though his wife assures him that she loves him despite knowing what he has done. His wife says it because she loves him, but the old man worries that if the rest of the world finds out about it, he will be hated by all. It doesn’t take a lot for Melville to understand Nickerson’s concerns. He himself has conflicted thoughts about all the things that the Essex crew did to survive, which is why he knows that it would not be a good idea for the rest of the world to find out about it.
Still, he believes that there is too much heart and soul in the story for it not to be told to the world. When Nickerson finishes the story, the author is convinced he must write a novel about it. However, he assures his source that he will make his book a work of fiction and will not divulge certain things Nickerson told him. Ultimately, we see Melville sitting down to write a novel that would become his most celebrated work and one of the most revered classics for years to come. Still, he keeps his promise and writes the story in a way that does justice to the Essex and its crew.
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