Analysis of Admiral's Monologue in Alone Richard E. Byrd

In this excerpt of Richard E. Byrd's Alone, the central idea is the admiral's internal monologue while he struggles to survive . The readers take a look inside his mind when he fights for his life against the cruelty of the cold weather and the snow. He shares his survival story with the readers so they can learn to not take anything for granted. The writing strategy for this excerpt is imagery. Imagery helps the readers understand the central idea and sympathize with Byrd. There is a very slim chance that any of the readers will be in a similar situation to Byrd's, so the imagery is the only thing helping the readers to imagine what he went through. Richard E. Byrd's Alone has a central idea of survival and the writing strategy is imagery .

Byrd's story of endurance is truly outstanding. He was able to survive in -83 degree weather by himself , and he was in the darkness for the majority of his journey. It is hard for any reader to relate to that because being stranded in Antarctica is not a universal experience. That's why Byrd had no choice but to use imagery as his writing strategy, or else no one could have really understood the excerpt. In the first paragraph , Byrd says he will be limiting his use of his lantern and the stove. This was for his safety , but it was still extremely hard for him. The readers can't even imagine what it must be like to live in the darkness without a stove , so Byrd specifically described how he would rather it be cold and dark than for him to die from inhaling too much carbon monoxide . The readers would never find themselves having to choose between the freezing cold and poison , so Byrd did a great job in showing what he was thinking during this time. While he mainly focussed on the physical hardships , he goes into his mental struggles in the second and third paragraphs . Byrd had difficulty trying to push out all his dark and negative thoughts in both paragraphs , and he was trying not to lose his sanity while he was isolated in the snow. Any reader that struggles with mental health would understand that feeling expressed in the second paragraph , but he still used plenty of imagery to describe the thoughts in his head. Byrd used a lot of imagery in the third paragraph as well . He knew that this journey would leave him with scars, and there wasn't any doubt about that. He would never be the same , physically or mentally , but he did not want to place that burden on anyone. Byrd felt horrible thinking about how if he survived, his family would have to take care of him . He didn't want to disrupt their lives, but he also didn't want to die, so there is an internal fight with himself going on in that third paragraph . Byrd uses a lot of imagery to help the readers sympathize in his journey .

Richard E. Byrd's Alone has a central idea of his mindset during his survival journey and the writing strategy used is imagery. Byrd struggles to maintain his physical health and mental sanity, and helps the readers relate by using imagery to describe his experience . Since it is very unlikely for another person to be abandoned in Antarctica for five months and survive , Byrd didn't have a choice but to use imagery to get the readers to understand to the best of their abilities . It is amazing that Richard E. Byrd survived to tell his story, and even more amazing that anyone can read it. This is why the central idea is his internal monologue and the writing strategy is imagery in Richard E. Byrd's Alone .