mwsg alive

7/31/2019 Mwsg Alive

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Running head: MWSG:ALIVE 1

MWSG:Alive

by Piers Paul Read

Tim Stone

West Career and Technical Academy


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Reference and Publication Information:

Read, Piers Paul. (1974/2002).Alive. New York: Harper Perennial.

Biographical Information:

Piers Paul Read was born in Great Britain in the year of 1941. This made him grow up during

World War Two and the Cold War. This influence him to write about moral and belief issues

which would give him a cause to write a book like this, wear the characters have to challenge

their beliefs and what they were taught growing up. Eduardo Strauch became very weak and

emaciated, he finally overcame his revulsion to raw meat-forced to by his to cousins. (Read,

1974/2002, p. 97). Growing up during this time period in Great Britain also made him want to

tell the truth. This relates to the book because there have been many lies of what had happen in

the Andes to these survivors.

Historical Information:

This book was published two years after the survivors escaped the Andes in 1972. They wanted

to publish this book as soon as they can because there are lots of rumors that were going around

that time of what really happened. They want the world to know the truth of what they have been

through. The time of when they crashed has a huge influence of the story. If they had crashed in

the Andes today they would have not been stuck there for seventy days because of technology.

They were not saved because the technologies during those times were not as advanced as they

are today. For example today they would have used their cell phones, but back then they used the


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planes radio which didnt work. It was equally obvious that no more tinkering with the radio

would make it work. (Read, 1974/2002, p. 226)

Genre and Its Characteristics:

Historical

Characteristics: uses historical events used for the storyline. uses historical interviews and true

to life elements.

This book fulfills these characteristics becauseAlive in a non-fiction book and it is set in 1974.

Being non-fiction and in the past makes it historical because he uses the stories from the

survivors who went through it in the seventies. The entire storyline is based off of the survivors

interviews which are historical events.

I am also indebted to Rafael Ponce de Leon and Gerard Croiset, Jr., who told me their roles in

the search for the Fairchild. (Read, 1974/2002, p. IX)

I started my research, interviewing the survivors, their families, and also the families of those

who had not returned. (Read, 1974/2002, p. XIII)

Setting

1972, Andes

At around six on the morning of Thursday, October 12, 1972 the passengers began to arrive in

small groups at Carrasco airport for the second Old Christians trip to Chile (Read, 1974/2002,

p 8)

Title and Epigraph


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The title of this bookAlive is important to the book because it is the main goal of the characters.

All the characters are struggling against the elements to stay alive.

EpigraphGreater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his

friends. John 15:13

The author chose this as the epigraph because this is the survivors reasoning to eat the dead

bodies of their friends. They think that God let their friends die, so they can have food to eat for

them to survive.

Narration or Point of View

Third Person-Omniscient

Characterization

Fernando Parradocourageous, motivated, strong-minded

Well, Im going back anyway, said Canessa. And Im going on, said Parrado. (Read,

1974/2002, p 244)

INDIRECT

Roberto Canessaspoiled, whiny, weak

Weve got to stop, Canessa replied. Im finished. I need to rest. (Read, 1974/2002, p 282)

INDIRECT

Gerard Croist Jr.smart, wise, helpful


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The landscape around the aircraft as described by Croiset-the three mountains, one without a

top, and the lake- was found by the parents, but forty-one miles south of Planchon, whereas the

Fairchild had crashed forty-one miles north of Planchon. (Read, 1974/2002, p 394)

INDIRECT

Alfredo Delgadosmart, cunning, selfish

The whole room listened in silence as, one after the other, the survivors told their heroic and

tragic story, until it was Delgados turn. Almost at once his eloquence-which had been of such

little use on the mountain-came into its own. (Read, 1974/2002, p 380)

DIRECT

Alvaro Manginoemotional, soft, caring

Mangino cursed Canessa. Canessa lost his temper and grabbed Mangino by the hair. He was

about to hit him but simply threw Alvaro back against the wall of the plane instead. Now youre

not my friend any more, Mangino said, sobbing. (Read, 1974/2002, p 232)

INDIRECT

Antonio Vizintinstrong, courageous, scared

The wall of snow was almost vertical and Parrado could only proceed by digging steps for his

hands and feet, which Vizintin used as he followed him. If he had slipped he would have fallen

for many hundreds of feet, but this did not dismay him. (Read, 1974/2002, p 243)

INDIRECT


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Javier Metholscared, positive, stubborn

The only ones who still had not eaten human flesh were the two eldest among them, Liliana and

Javier Methol, and as the days passed grew thinner and more feeble. Marcelo begged them over

and over again to overcome their reluctance to eat the meat. (Read, 1974/2002, p 97)

INDIRECT

Conflict and Resolution

Man vs. Nature: The survivors vs. the elements of the Andes

Resolution: The survivors have to survive in the middle of the Andes without any food in the

most extreme conditions. This is the main conflict of this book. The survivors finally get rescued,

and they escape with their lives.

Man vs. Society: The survivors vs. them eating the human flesh

Resolution: In order to survive in the Andes the survivors have to face the social taboo of eating

human flesh, and they do learn to get over it to live. They later face the guilt and the repressions

of eating the human flesh from the media.

Symbols

Eating human flesh = going to communion

The survivors wanted something that would make eating human flesh seem less disgusting. Since

they are Catholic they compared eating human flesh to eating the body of Christ. They used this

symbol to think that God gave them this food to live.


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Think of it as Communion. Think of it as the body and blood of Christ, because this food that

God has given us because He wants us to live. (Read, 1974/2002, p 97)

Surviving in the Andes = God wants them to teach the world

They think that they have survived and went through this for a reason. That reason is to teach

others about God and their experiences. This is their way of thanking God for letting them live

and helping them while stuck in the Andes.

Felt a sense of vocation to make use of their experience in some way. They felt touched by God

and inspired by Him to teach others the lesson of love and self-sacrifice which their suffering had

taught them. (Read, 1974/2002, p 390)

Message/Universal Truth

Explicit: Life is hard but it is worth living. Even suffering. (Read, 1974/2002, p 163)

There will be rough times in your life, but it will get better. The survivors know that they are

going through a rough time in their life, but they know there is a chance that they will be saved.

Once they are saved they know they will appreciate life a lot more than they used to.

Implicit: Miracles do come true.

Many people dont think miracles happen anymore, but this story shows that miracles do happen

to these sixteen men and their friends and families. They were able to survive in the Andes

without any food for seventy-two days is incredible and a wonderful example of a Christmas

miracle.


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References

Dolye, Paul A. Piers Paul Read Biography Retrieved October 18, 2011 from

biography.jrank.org/pages/4680/Read-Piers-Paul.html

Read, Piers Paul. (1974/2002).Alive. New York: Harper Perennial

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