Survival

While reading through “The History of Newburyport” I have come to realize that there is a strong theme of survival, and especially how the definition of that word as it relates to everyday society has changed over the years since the book was written. Today we think of survival as maybe getting by and making enough money to support a family, or maybe getting yourself out of a risky situation you got into accidentally. As I am just getting into the book and reading about the earlier years of the town of Newburyport I am getting a whole new look on the term survival. The founding of the town was a tough process, from fighting off the natives to getting swept out to sea from the harbor, the average man inhabiting the new area used to face challenges that threatened his wellbeing almost daily. Keep in mind, today, we think of this area as a relatively tame environment.

 Plum Island during these times was locally known as one of the most treacherous places. Back then it was still an island, or when the 113 bridge wasn’t present, there was no way to get back to the mainland through the cold waters and frozen marsh during the winter. While importing materials from well established places like Boston and Gloucester via ocean ships would often wreck on the island’s sandbars during harsh New England winter storms with east winds. Where do they go from there? The shore. Unfortunately, there’s not too much going on the island during this time. In fact, it’s about 2 miles until there is anything involving humans. Survival was failed more often than not.

 

 I have always felt as if it would be a life changing experience to experience real survival. Not only would it be life changing but I feel like it would teach me so much. I have my own personal theory that when the human race no longer fights for survival, that is the end of the original human race and we would then be on to a different category. The willingness to survive is a natural instinct, but I feel like it is so rarely triggered in today’s society that it may be dying off in a specific crowd of people.