[Lansing] (Endurance) Part Seven and Epilogue: Resolution (Vocabulary Word: Dilemma)

The Caird and its crew miraculously land on South Georgia, but the journey is still not over. Shackleton now faces the daunting challenge of reaching Stromness either by a one hundred and thirty mile voyage by sea or a twenty-nine mile hike through impassable terrain. Both options were unfavorable, posing a dilemma to Shackleton, but he soon figured that the Caird was no longer seaworthy and chose to hike. Once again, he separated his crew, taking only himself, Worsley, and Crean. The hike was perilous, forcing many difficult and risky decisions on Shackleton's account, but they managed to arrive at Stromness and arrange for the retrieval of the rest of his crew.

Often, dilemmas are part of everyday life. They pose as equally difficult decisions towards either favorable or unfavorable ends. Dilemmas could range anywhere from choosing between twix or milky way to cleaning a teacher's room for an hour or paying a visit to the Dean of Students. The choice, depending on its severity, is made by considering the effects or repercussions of the decision. The cause and effect of the decisions is sourced from The Butterfly Effect, sensitive dependence on initial conditions. This concept states that the decision makes its own effects. A dilemma forms when the estimation of those effects intersect. For Shackleton, the decision between the voyage and the hike both carried a high chance of dying.