The Wager by David Grann is a narrative nonfiction book that dives into the story of a shipwrecked crew along the coast of Chile, and how they persevered and escaped the island. The theme I perceived from the book was how human nature when your life is on the line can bring out the good and bad in people, the story shows that humans will do whatever it takes to survive. The story's main premise is based around a group of British men who were manning a warship called the HMS Wager. The British are in a war with Spain, and these people are a part of the navy. On their way to South America, the HMS Wager is shipwrecked on a small island off Chile's coast, leaving the group of men stranded. "Our greatest strength lies not in our successes, but in how we rise after we fall,”(Grann 156). This quote shows the human resiliency not to give up when there is hope of survival. The book was very interesting, I thought that the way humans never give up despite bleak situations was very interesting, and it shows how with some belief, anything can happen, no matter how high the odds are stacked against you. During the book, several times the characters could have saved more of their crewmates if they had waited a little longer, and thought of solutions to the issue. The book suggests that the stakes of belief are extremely high, making belief a safer bet to the shipmates than skepticism of God, this is shown throughout the book by using one of the main characters, John Bulkely who claimed he was a devout man of God, but throughout the text, he sins very badly. It also dives into the discussion of the consequences of our choices by using Captain David Cheap who is overthrown by many of the crewmates, because of his poor choices for the group as the leader. After reading this book, it has made me realize that the human species are a determined group, and will do anything to stay alive, even if it means taking others away. All in all, I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to see the psychological aspect of humans, and who will do whatever it takes to keep going.
Word Count: 389
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