The trepanning image from special effects guru Mathew Mungle @ http://www.matthewwmungle.com/Resume.htm. One of the oldest recorded surgical procedures. Discuss this or some of the other examples of life aboard an early 19th century naval vessel in time of war that you found interesting, disturbing or maybe downright gross!
http://www.hulu.com/watch/13112/master-and-commander-the-far-side-of-the-world-first-encounter
23 comments:
After watching the movie Master and Commander, there are many aspects that I find either disgusting, disturbing, and interesting about living on a naval ship. Some of the parts that I found disgusted included the open-head surgery, for the idea of a surgeon making a hole in someone’s head without present day medical equipment makes me feel anxious. Death from infection or complications from surgery must’ve been abundant after naval warfare or battles. Another part that I found disgusting in the movie is the idea of how badly food was prepared in the Napoleonic era. I would dislike the idea of eating food infested with bugs, yet the commanders aboard the ship were completely nonchalant about having weevils living inside their bread.
Aside from being disgusted by some scenes in Master and Commander, I was also disturbed by some truths that were revealed. For example, although it was logical in the scene for the captain to sacrificed lucky Jack in order to prevent the ship from sinking in the storm, it still served as a reminder that people who went overboard during a storm were not always saved by their captains or their crewmates. Contrarily, captains would not have the option to search for sailors lost at sea because they did not have the time or the resources to save the victim in question. I also found it disturbing to learn that it was not uncommon for kids under the age of 18 to be present on warships. Early in the movie, I was deeply troubled that a lieutenant (who was about 12 years of age) was exposed to so much danger, and that he was dismembered as a result of being in a naval battle. Clearly life was very dangerous while a person served the military at sea.
Not all aspect of the movie were disgusting or disturbing to me. In fact, there were many parts that I found quite interesting. I was actually quite surprised that one’s age did not affect one’s social structure on the ship, for there were lieutenants present that were 18 years old or younger. I also found the ship’s self-sufficiency very impressive. I did not suspect that any warship would have farm animals (such as chickens) to make food. Subsequent to watching Master and Commander, it is now obvious that life on a warship in the 19th was much more different and difficult than life today. In the coastguard or the marines, sailors are only suspected to spend a few days on sea, but if you were a sailor in the 19th century, you were often away from home for months.
Andras
While I was only present during the last period in which we viewed Master and Command, there were a number of elements of 18th century naval life presented in the film that piqued my interest or irritation. Firstly, there is the matter of the Captain's adolescent mates. I found it exceedingly surprising and bizarre that individuals whom, by all appearances, are twelve to sixteen years of age were given not only active roles within the hierarchy of a naval vessel, but also command positions. This does not appear to make a terribly great deal of military sense to me. The structures and physiques of individuals so young would render them very poorly suited and exceedingly vulnerable within the intense firefights and melees that transpire during boarding actions, less suited towards effectively handling cumbersome firearms, more susceptible to injury and death, less able to effectively issue commands in the kind of tumultuous situations that require the firm attentions of an able officer (the intensity their voice would be capable of attaining would generally not compare favorably to those achievable by more mature specimens of the species), and so on and so forth. Not only that, but so young an individual would, as a natural result of their paltry years, not be terribly likely to have received considerable military or academic education and enlightenment- a twelve-year old serving on a warship isn't exactly going to have had much of an opportunity to receive the kind of advanced military education and evaluation as well as general level of education so critical or highly beneficial to the capacity of a military officer to perform his duties or effectively conduct himself in life. Not to mention that the mind of so young an individual would be quite limited in its comprehension and efficacy under stress when compared to those of more developed, refined, and mature candidates- I have a hard time believing that they would as readily perform well under stress in a command position as more developed men. While observing and experiencing naval life for a few years might indeed be of significant benefit to an adolescent bound for a later career in the naval officer corps, I honestly don't understand the reasoning behind actually assigning such whelps significant positions of authority as was depicted in the movie (or, at least, as my limited exposure caused me to perceive it). While there are inevitably individual exceptions, it seems unlikely that it would be worthwhile to apply such individuals to military operations at so young, sensitive, and fragile an age. I also find it rather distressing that only one individual with apparent competence in the medical field was present on such a vessel. As evidenced by the doctor's own accidental and near-fatal injury, it isn't hard to get one important figure such as the doctor killed in the high-risk environment of a long-range naval combat vessel, and the loss of the only qualified medical professional onboard would certainly be a vast blow to the long-term survivability of a militarily active crew, and puts the critical officer corp at even greater risk. Medical procedures of the era were often extremely risky and painful to begin with- one can only imagine how unpleasant and unreliable they would become when conducted by an individual without a proper comprehension of what he is doing. I also found it strange that the disparities in the structure of a typical whaling vessel and warship were so slight that not a Frenchmen on the Acheron was capable of detecting the ruse set by the English before it was too late. Additionally, I found it curious that the Commodore was able to swiftly dispatch the newly captured Acheron to an English port in the region, considering the fact that the vessel had been completely crippled and heavily damaged by the English ambush. Would it not be risky and complicated to bring the vessel to port without first repairing the main mast? I also find it strange that the individual responsible for inadvertently shooting the doctor was not severely reprimanded and castigated for his spectacular stupidity (or, at least, not on-screen). These and other issues intrigued and perplexed me as I viewed Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.
While watching Master and Commander, or at least the third class period of it, I did find a lot of the movie disturbing and downright gross. I am not one for blood since when I see it I faint so the movie was a very tough one to watch. Just listening to the man trying to get the bullet out of himself, after he was accidentally shot, was making me light headed. So I am sure if I had looked during that scene, the reality of it would have been even more disturbing for me. In what I did see of the movie however, I still found things that disturbed me, other than the blood and guts.
A part of the movie that disturbed me was the suicide at sea. Since that was near the beginning of what I saw of the movie I was not really sure what was going on, but the man seemed to think he was haunted. It disturbed me that he jumped off so suddenly to his death. And then the fact that no one did anything was sad. No one could really do anything because they did not have the time or a way to go and search for him to help save him. But it was just so sudden and seemed like no one really had cared that they had just lost a man. As the beginning scene that I saw it definitely was a disturbing image.
The most interesting and disturbing thing I saw in the small part of the movie I viewed was the fact that there were young children on the ship. The boys looked rather young to be on board of such a dangerous ship. Not to mention the fact that they had high positions on the ship, which shocked me even more. I did not understand how such young boys could be in charge in a time of war and turmoil especially at sea. I was just amazed that boys that young would and could be trusted to be in charge of others and hold high positions in such a calm manner. The young boys were probably the most shocking to me because they looked younger than I am, and knowing the maturity level of boys at a young age, it is outrageous that they were put in charge.
Overall I found the movie Master and Commander, rather gross and disturbing and that was only the small part of the movie that I saw. The blood guts, suicide, and how young the boys were on the boat was both shocking and disturbing to me as I viewed the movie.
I only saw a third of this movie, the first part. However, it revealed a lot to me about life on a naval ship during the eighteenth century. To be honest, a lot of what I saw seemed pretty disgusting. One example of this is the man who was getting brain surgery. Everyone was watching as they pretty much operated on someone in public using kitchen utensils. Probably not very sanitary. It was also gross when they had to cut off the little boy’s arm. That part was also very sad. They didn’t have any painkillers etc. to help him with the operation. Between these two scenes alone, it is apparent that medical care was primitive during that time period, particularly when at sea because there were probably fewer resources available to physicians and surgeons.
Besides the disturbing aspects of the movie, there were a few things that I found interesting. For example, I was both interested and surprised by the young age of some of the crew members. Before seeing this movie, I didn’t know that boys as young as fourteen or fifteen served time on navy ships. I would imagine that experience wasn’t something they were quite ready for. It probably changed them a lot and made them grow up very quickly. Personally I don’t think anyone that young should be exposed to warfare. Since I didn’t see anymore of the movie that is really all I have to write about.
Master and Commander exceeded my expectations and really conveyed to me the hardships that men onboard such naval ships faced during the eighteenth century. As fascinating as the movie turned out to be, it was also extremely disturbing, and yes, downright gross. Going into the movie I thought that I had a pretty high tolerance for seeing disturbing images but this movie clearly proved me wrong. I found myself unable to watch the screen at all, not to mention listen to the awful sounds. I feel that the most disturbing scene was definitely the brain surgery. It was so gory and graphic yet intriguing at the same time so as much as I didn’t want to look, I felt I had to. It was shocking to see such a major surgery taking place out in the open where many of the crew members were observing it as if it were a show! The man whom the surgery was taking place on was sitting upright in the chair, and obviously anesthesia had not been developed yet, so he was conscious as this was taking place. The setting seemed so unsanitary, as if it was just waiting for infection, so it was hard to focus. It seemed like the surgery should have been made a much bigger deal than it did.
Another disturbing scene was when the little boy had a wounded arm and since an infection was spreading they needed to amputate it. All they did was chop it right off while the boy was completely awake! It was not only awful to see but also to imagine the pain that such a procedure would cause.
Though, as gross as this movie turned out to be, it was also very informative and thought provoking, which I feel outweighed the few disturbing scenes.
The scenes depicted in Master and Commander intrigued me greatly. I always find it amazing that people could survive such long journeys without paying attention to, or even knowing about infection and causes for disease. I loved how the director attempted to portray the different surgical scenes (such as amputation or, bullet removal, or cranial pressure release) as realistically as possible without causing half of the audience to spread their lunches out in front of them. The attention to detail, such as the placement of the toweled stick in the mouth of the surgery “patients” or the coin to cover the hole left by the cranial surgery, was exquisite. Such detail gives the viewer a much better feel of what life aboard such ships was like.
However, the movie still left out key points about such medical operations, such as the extremely high death toll associated with even the simplest operation or even small open wounds. All of the major characters survived their wounds and recovered in what seemed like short periods of time, when in reality, sailors would battle for their lives month after month as the pain subsided to fatal disease caused by the infection of their wounds.
Overall, the movie gives the audience a very good sense of the dismal conditions in which sailors lived in. The combination of unsanitary conditions, radical surgeries, and constant threat of death can be felt and feared by the audience. One can only imagine how it must have been like to actually have been on one of such voyages and experience such events first-hand. Although the most dreary of the details were left out, such as high death rates due to lack of knowledge and the long recovery periods, the movie still left an impact that the audience will not soon forget.
From the parts of the move Master and Commander that I saw there were many things that I found intriguing and disturbing. One thing that I found both interesting and disturbing was when one of the lieutenants on the ship committed suicide by jumping off the side of the both. Obviously the suicide was the unsettling aspect, what I found interesting was the reason for Hollom’s actions. Due to the sweltering heat many men become anxious and start accusing Hollom of being cursed. They claim that it was his watch when the enemy ship first came into sight and was scaling one of the ships mast when it collapsed. A seaman acts insubordinately towards Hollom, yet Hollom does not say anything and Aubrey is forced to punish him. So Hollom commits suicide not only for fear of mutiny but also because he believed himself to be cursed as well. I thought that this was an intriguing part of the movie for it showed that the men on 19th century ships were very superstitious.
Another part of the movie that I found grotesque was when the doctor had to remove the bullet from his abdomen on his own. I am not disturbed by blood so the fact that he was shot or bleeding did not bother me, only the fact that he had to remove this bullet himself. It was unbelievable to me how it would be possible to do that to yourself when he would be in such immense pain. One of the days when we were watching the movie I was at my job shadow with an anesthesiologist and I could hardly watch the surgery that was going on then even with anesthesia, so I find it hard to believe that this man would be able to do it to himself. With such advance medical technology today, such as anesthesia, it is hard to believe that it would be possible to perform any type of surgery, especially to yourself, without the help of anesthesia. Even though I did not see the part in which the brain surgery was preformed, it directly relates to the doctor removing the bullet. It shows how limited medical knowledge was at the time, and how unreliable and unpredictable the outcomes would be. The movie definitely showed in depth what life was like on a 19th century naval vessel.
Although I was only able to see the beginning and end of the movie, Master and Commander, I found its depiction of life aboard an early 19th century naval ship to be extremely fascinating and quite entertaining from a viewer’s perspective. I kept finding myself relating Master and Commander to the “slightly less historically accurate” Pirates of the Caribbean; however I soon realized that this movie paid attention to a key element of sea life that Pirates completely strayed away from, the primitive and often ineffective treatment of injury and disease aboard a naval vessel.
The trepanning scene pictured above is one of the scenes that is most vividly stored in my memory, and provides an excellent example of the director’s attention to accurate historical portrayals. When the onboard doctor first decided to cut open the patient’s skull after the patient suffered a cranial injury, I was very skeptical and reminded of a scene in the movie Hannibal, where Hannibal cuts open a guy’s skull and fries up his brains for an evening appetizer. The patient however seemed to be experiencing very little pain and his lack of skull was simply replaced by a coin, which I thought to be quite unintelligent at the time. After the scene ended however, I was told that this pressure relieving method was one of the most effective medical practices of the time period. I was quite taken back after learning this, but it allowed me to have a more open mind when watching the rest of the movie and the many injuries that had to be tended to.
I cannot say that there were any examples of life on ship that I found downright gross, however I would have to say that I had the most trouble watching the scene where the young official was having his arm amputated. Before the actual amputation occurred I imagined that the director would be explicit enough to show the actual act and I was not too crazy about seeing a fourteen year old’s arm getting chopped off. However, when the actual act took place, I was somewhat disappointed but also relieved that the director only shot the boy’s face. I must admit, I was also a little skeptical because I believe the boy handled the whole experience a little too well. I know that if I had to have my arm knifed off, with virtually no painkilling agents, and in those unsanitary conditions, I would have made quite a scene. Overall however I believe that Master and Commander was a great movie which I will definitely have to finish in my free time, and I appreciate the director’s attention to the accurate portrayal of early 19th century naval life.
Unfortunately for me, I was only able to view the last third of the movie. Though I did miss a substantial part of the movie and the majority of its purpose, I was able to view some aspects of life at the time that made me go “hmm, really?” One of the first things that surprised me was the desperation for meat, seen when the sailor attempted to shoot a seagull and ended up wounding the doctor instead. I understand that it was the 19th century and there were no methods of keeping meat on the ship, but it seemed reasonable that they at least have had jerky onboard. The other side of the desperation is that after shooting the bird, there would have been no place to cook it. I did not understand what was expected to happen to the dead seagull afterward so that part confused me.
The ship doctor’s level of skill was another facet of 19th century life that amazed me. After being shot, laying ill for, at a minimum, two days, and being at sea, the doctor was still able to operate and remove the bullet from his abdomen. This is despite the above and the pain of the wound and only using a mirror as guidance. His ability was very impressive and I was astounded that, as a 19th century doctor, he was able to perform that. It was also interesting because in those days, if a person had an abdomen wound, they would usually die because it was hard to operate/amputate that area. The fact that the doctor not only lived that long and saved himself makes his talent that much more amazing.
Something disturbing that the film presented me with was that teenagers were allowed to head missions on the ships. This bothered me because I did not understand why the captain, or anyone else for that matter, thought teenage and 12-year-old boys were capable and responsible enough to lead teams of men. Soon, though, I accepted that there must have been a quality or skill in the children that I had missed earlier on in the movie. However, after that, I was again bothered by how mature children used to be. Comparing the responsibilities the two boys on the ship had to responsibilities two boys in 2009 would have, I was shocked by how accountable the 19th century boys were.
All in all, I was not overwhelming surprised by what I viewed in “Master and Commander”. For the most part, the scenes went along with what I have always interpreted 19th century ship-life to be.
Master and Commander does a very good job of illustrating the obstacles that men at that time faced on a vessel. It was an eye opening movie yet disgusting at some parts. The movie was very graphic and did not hesitate to show any of the gory details that take place in those circumstances. The movie was extremely fascinating and thrilling because as an audience I felt like I was not missing anything. It was intriguing to see that men actually survived the long crucial journey. Even though the conditions were difficult and the environment was filthy, they all worked together to help one another and even took care of each other when someone got wounded or shot. They were not reluctant to perform any kind of medical procedures.
I cannot watch anything bloody and gory so for me there were a few parts that had me disgusted. The most gory part was by far the brain surgery. It was astonishing to see how the old man just sat and let the doctor do his job without even quivering or shrieking. I literally had to turn away from the screen, and yet I was still disturbed by the sounds. The surgery was performed like it was a normal everyday procedure. I wonder if they knew back then that during brain surgery if one wrong nerve is touched or hassled with, the patient could become paralyzed easily. So that scene was definitely the most disgusting out of all.
Obviously Anesthesia had not yet been invented so the thought of being wide awake while getting surgery or amputated really made me sick to my stomach. The scene where the little boy’s arm was poisoned and they had to cut off his arm was also one of the scenes that grossed me out. That scene really depicted the hardships those people faced. Even though medical advancement were not that great during that time, I think it is still very commendable that the doctor was able to save so many lives. They obviously did not even have the tools that we have today, and yet he was still able to do a lot.
Another scene that was very graphic was when the doctor had to take out his own bullet. That scene showed how limited and sparse their knowledge was, but yet they were still able to do a lot. That scene was also really shocking because, the doctor came up with very clever alternative ways to perform the surgery himself. He used a mirror to view his abdomen. The movie showed all the details that took place during the 19th century naval vessel, by showing everything straight forwardly and without sugar coating anything.
I am not one to be disgusted or grossed out easily, so I viewed the events of the movie as much more interesting. As far as the medical procedures go, I thought it to be not necessarily drastic, as it was the easiest solution with the least amount of worry. The arm amputation is thought to many as extreme, but with the risk of infection and possibly death in those conditions, it was the wisest move. I believe the movie gave an accurate representation of the measures men had to take to survive.
One main point of the movie that not only intrigued me, but inspired me was the amount of determination to keep fighting throughout every hardship men faced in the 19th century British navy. For example, in the opening battle scene, the British ship was under heavy attack. I found it stunning perhaps that the men willingly laid on the deck even in the face of serious injury and/or death. Then later in the final battle scene, most of the men boarded the other ship, where the risk of death seemed drastically high. I thought this loyalty to their captain and their nation was so incredible, that it shows future generations that determination will often lead to success. The movie in general was not only intriguing, but inspiring as it was informative as to the lives of men in the 19th century British navy, but how in the face of hardships and death, they remained strong and loyal.
Master and Commander thoroughly depicted life on a naval vessel in the 19th century and the harsh way of life that it was. Many disturbing images were introduced to the viewers, such as difficult, gory medical procedures. One example was a brain surgery scene, where skull was removed to relieve pressure from a patient’s head. This procedure was viewed by the crew, who were in awe at the grotesque sight. This and other similar procedures were quite risky because of the huge risk of infection due to the poor sanitary conditions onboard a naval ship. Another medical procedure seen in the movie was an amputation. Amputations were widely used because it greatly limited the risk of infection. However, I would not say that I would be a huge fan of this. Anesthesia and painkillers were not present onboard, and without them I would not be able to deal with the excruciating pain of an amputation.
Something that I found interesting was the number of teenagers that served in the navy. Many of them held high-ranked positions because of their families’ social status. However, today these practices would not be tolerated because of the conditions and also the level of danger that these kids were exposed to. They had to lead men in battle, fight, and some did die. The weaker teenagers were not as ready to fight and lead the crew into battle as veteran lieutenants. All in all, I found Master and Commander to be quite excellent and I would recommend that anybody who likes to study the 19th Century watch this movie.
Master and Commander’s depiction of life on a war vessel for the British Royal Navy was very interesting to me. I was astonished by the feats of the ship’s doctor as he was able to successfully cure many of the seamen’s injuries and wounds and also able to help himself survive as well. The doctor was able to amputate a young officer’s arm after a shard was blown into it allowing the young man to survive the rest of the journey instead of dying from a disease. Another feat that the doctor was able to accomplish was the trepanning procedure. He was able to open the man’s skull and successfully alleviate pressure on his brain to stop it from clotting and getting a disease. This procedure was hard to believe that it actually happened during the 19th century and even harder to believe that it was executed successfully on a boat in the 19th century. His final great successful surgery was when the doctor was able to remove a bullet and some of his clothing from his torso after being shot by one of his own in the royal navy. The doctor was able to pull out the bullet operating on himself using a mirror. He was able to withstand excruciating pain and pull out a bullet that could have cost him his life. Then a few days later he is up and walks around the Galapagos Islands.
Another interesting point in the movie was when the captain was brought a model of the French ship that they were attacking. I thought it was interesting how the men were able to receive that model and how intricate the model was. It revealed how the ship was so sturdy and how it was able to move as fast as it did. I believe that the British would most likely build their future ships modeled after the French one due to its superiority on the seas and its innovative design technique to allow the ship to have an upper hand in battles.
A couple of things surprised me while watching the movie as well. For instance, the officer who thought he was cursed and decided to commit suicide. This man was feeling the pressures from his crew and it was because he was not fulfilling his role as an officer and instead of manning up and taking control of his crews he decides that he is cursed and jumps overboard. I was surprised that the officer was so superstitious as to commit suicide when all he had to due was take on a more aggressive leadership role on the boat. I was also surprised by the lack of intelligence by some of the seaman. For example, when the doctor gets shot the man that shot him was so focused on the bird that he had no idea he was aiming inside his own ship and at one of the most important members of the vessel. It was surprising to see how he really had no idea where he was aiming until after he had fired.
Overall I thought that Master and Commander was a great movie that depicted the 19th century sea battles during the Napoleonic era well. It foreshadowed to greater ideas of ships and more advanced styles of fighting in the future and had some interesting scenes where I learned more about the advancement of science and surgeries in the 19th century.
Living aboard a ship for months at a time would be difficult for some people even today. However, in the 19th century, it life on the sea was much worse. Aside from the disease and unsanitary conditions, the dangerous weather, and cramped spaces on board a ship, sailors also had to be concerned about injuries during battles. This includes wounds from bullets and swords which could lead to extensive bleeding and infection. It is amazing how much some people were able to withstand and survive, although the death tolls on many of these ships were pretty high.
Although I only saw about half of the movie, there were a few parts that seemed gruesome. One example was the amputation of the boy’s arm. Especially because there were no painkillers or anesthetics to knock him out, he must have been in immense pain. However, this was not uncommon in the least, as many infections were treated simply with an amputation of the affected limb. Another example was the brain surgery on the old man. I thought it was humorous yet shocking that the surgeon cut open his head and let the other crewmen see his brains. I was also very surprised that they used a metal coin in place of his removed piece of skull. I would imagine the immense amount of germs from the diseases and unsanitary conditions aboard the ship, as well as chances of infection would be more than enough to kill him after a short time. However, this was simply part of life in the navy, and the procedures were some of their only options for medical care.
I didn’t find these procedures to be too gross; today many procedures that are performed are actually similar to those on the ship. The only major differences are the extremely sanitary conditions, the professional tools and a greater extent of training for those performing the procedures. Life overall did seem grueling and difficult on board the ship, though I was not very surprised or grossed out by the violence during battles or the treatment of the injured afterwards.
There were many procedures performed aboard warships centuries ago that we might consider both primitive and gruesome. However, given that a ship and its crew were unpredictably tossed about between storms and rough currents for months at a time, it’s impressive that sailors remained so strong and able-bodied. I was surprised that the men aboard the ship worked so well as a unit. Despite living in relatively poor conditions, possibly being drunk and in a claustrophobic space, the sailors quickly work together to load and fire the cannons of the HMS Surprise, as well as to repair it after it escapes from a fight.
Aboard a ship, amputations and the like were not only commonplace, but necessary for keeping sailors alive. If you fell from high up or were injured during combat with an enemy ship, there was a high chance that you would need surgery. Since they lacked many techniques available to doctors on land, many injuries were either treated clumsily to try and save the targeted area, or a limb would be amputated due to serious risk of infection. It is disturbing enough to imagine having part of the body sawed off, but added to this, these sailors endured operations performed without anesthesia of any kind, except the usual "cure of all ailments," alcohol. Another gruesome technique, trepanation, was used to relieve pressure inside the skull or remove dangerous pieces of bullets and wood that might have become lodged inside a victims’ head. Not only were surgical techniques carried out on a rocking boat that could be in the middle of combat, they were performed in dim light, in areas where rats and other vermin could easily be present. In this, I found possibly the most gruesome element of life aboard a ship during the Napoleonic Wars. The idea of surgeries, amputations etc. in unsanitary conditions being performed by less then qualified people is something I find quite "gross".
It’s hard to imagine that children were eagerly taken aboard vessels that would sail to the far side of the world. One of the boys in Master and Commander barely seems to have reached double-digits, and is expected to learn seamanship in the midst of dangerous waters, surrounded by explosions, drowning, and death. However, perhaps these were boys who were lucky to be on the ship and not in the streets of England. Regardless, it is hardly a question as to how safe they were, with the constant threat of attack or accident aboard the ship. The age of the boys I found surprising, as they seemed to place themselves among the ranks of men ten to even twenty years older. But, during war when there is a shortage of men and an excess of national pride, it seems as if the navy would take anyone among its ranks.
Life abroad a ship is clearly as not easy as it seems, and Masters and Commander has clearly shown me that. By far, the most interesting aspect of this movie was the surgeries that were performed by the naturalist doctor. The three surgeries that were performed are the amputation, the trepanning, and the removal of the bullet.
The amputation of the young lord’s arm to me was most likely the most depressing and least interesting of them all. It was very true in its representation of the true reality of how infections were treated, by cutting it away from the rest of the body. Even sadder, is the fact that this young noble who had his future ahead of him will have to continue his life without an arm, which seems literally unbearable to me. The child was not given any anesthetic to my best recollection but rather just a rope so that he can bite on. Scary enough, an even more startling fact is the idea of these inexperienced children commanding lower ranking officers despite their experiences. This example shows the nepotism that existed in British navy and society at the time.
The trepanning surgery again proved the dangers and difficulty of life at sea. This surgery was probably the most interesting of all of the surgeries by far. It was the fact that the doctors knew at the time the idea of brain pressure and swelling and realized that they had to reduce it in order to keep the man alive. I suspect these surgeries are not performed very often, especially on a naval warfare ships on common crewman because of its complications and likely high infection and fatality rate. However, it was very cool to see exactly what level was medical science at during this time.
The removal of the bullet is undoubtedly the most dramatic of all of the surgeries performed in this movie. In terms of medical interest and scientific progress, it was a very simple surgery, remove the object and the wounds will heal. However, the idea of performing surgery on me with just a mirror is just ludicrous and ridiculously dramatic. The pressure and the pain the doctor must have went through to do that seems almost unrealistic. But in the end, this surgery just shows that humans have a natural first instinct built to survive. And essentially, that is what the naturalist did here. He went through any means to survive so that he could accomplish his goals.
All in all, I found the surgeries in this movie to be extremely interesting and would love an opportunity to learn more about the type of life men had on these warships.
I found the movie, Master and Commander, to be very interesting and informative. One of the main things to note was the actual aspect of combat within naval warfare at this time. There are many things to consider in combat like range, which should be obvious, but I didn’t think it mattered at sea. I just thought that if one ship could hit the other then that ship could be hit too. If it were to far away then the cannon ball would bounce off the side. I did not think that happened until metal was added to the ships. I would have never imagined that thicker wooden sides would have an effect upon whether the cannon ball pierced the sides. I also should have figured that wind had a major effect upon the conflict, but I did not consider movement to be that important in naval battles at the time. I thought they just lined up next to each other and fired. Speaking of which I thought only pirates boarded the other ship and started close conflict combat. I always thought that it would be very confusing during a fight with the ships constantly blowing up, but the actual effectiveness of the troops and the plans they put into action was amazing. This really gave a new idea to the actions of combat at sea.
Although I missed a good amount of the movie due to course selection, the parts of the movie I did see left a great impression about the life aboard a British naval vessel. The aspect of naval life during the Napoleonic wars was the horrendous and somewhat gruesome medical care. This was exhibited in two particular instances that were particularly unpleasant for me while watching the movie. The first was when the young naval officer was forced to have his arm amputated due to the many fractures he had suffered. It surprised and disgusted me that the doctor performed the amputation while the boy was awake. It also surprised me that the boy was able to bear the pain of having a person cut off his arm while he remained conscious and clearly able to feel it. The pain he must have felt could likely only be described as excruciating.
The second instance exhibiting the horrid conditions of medical care was the brain surgery performed on the man who had severe head trauma. The doctor cut out a part of his skull to relieve intracranial (word is possibly wrong) pressure. The missing portion of the skull would then be replaced with a coin and a patch of skin sewn over it. The main part of this medical procedure that surprised me the most was that a majority of the crew watched as the doctor performed the surgery in an open area on the deck of the ship, rather than a closed relatively clean environment. I also found it interesting that this was one of the most successful procedures to be performed at that point in medical history. I would not have considered brain surgery to be particularly successful at that period of time, especially with the limited information and supplies naval doctors possessed while on the ship.
Therefore the part of life on a naval vessel that stuck with me the most after watching Master and Commander was the horrible and gruesome condition of medical care that was provided for the crew of a vessel while fighting in the British navy.
After watching Master and Commander: The Far side of the World, it left me with a few impressions. I missed the first day due to my job shadow, but I've seen the movie already, so I still remembered the amputation scene. This scene was the most intense scene in the movie, in my opinion. Blood and gore does not bother me, so I was able to watch it without a problem, and it stood out to me as one of the more interesting things in the movie. It was typical of naval life in those days that operations would be performed indelicately, without anesthesia. In those days, if you sustained that kind of injury or infection to a limb, you could pretty much count on it getting amputated. I was impressed with how the boy stood the pain without going crazy--if it was me, and I couldn't talk them out of it, I would ask them to hit me on the head with one of those big wooden mallets they had and put me out of my misery for the duration of the amputation. I don't think I could have done it while conscious. However, I was a bit skeptical, because I did think that the actor should have showed more pain. I thought he slightly underdid it, actually. I was impressed, though, with how they set it up. I thought it was fairly realistic, even down to the stick in his mouth. One thing that really did surprise and perplex me was the fact that they allowed young boys to hold positions of authority. Even if they come from a good family, there is no reason why a boy who may be as young as 12 years old should be allowed to rise to a command position at so young an age when there are qualified seamen with much more experience in the Navy who could do a far more capable job. Those young kids are just children, and have very little experience in sailing a ship, yet they get put in command of a group of seamen who know volumes more about the sailing than them. Aside from the fact that this makes for extremely dysfunctional and inefficient coordination of things, there is also the factor that the older sailors, who know much more, would probably resent having a green, inexperienced youth telling them what to do. This could only lead to further inefficiency and problems keeping the crew loyal and obedient. Finally, I thought the producers of Master and Commander did a very good job of researching the facts and providing an accurate recreation of life in the British Navy at the time. On the surface, this is an action movie, but on another level, it focuses a lot on what life was like on a British warship during the Napoleonic wars. From watching this movie, you get the benefits of both worlds. You get good action and military warfare, and you get a fairly accurate, interesting snapshot of life on a ship at the time, as well as how the abovementioned warfare was carried out. Overall, I thought this was an enjoyable movie that you can learn from, and I would recommend it.
Master and Commander definitely opened my eyes to life aboard a 19th century European naval ship during wartime. Although I did not get to see the movie in its entirety, the parts I did see shed light on some of the obstacles those crews had to overcome. The first of which being the gruesome medical conditions. To even say that they had medical care at all would be an overstatement. One thing that was surprising and most definitely grossed me out was the fact that a wound of any sort was likely to get infected which could lead to death. So if you suffered a wound in the legs or arms to avoid infection they would simply amputate that limb. Seeing a teenager wide awake and witnessing the doctor cut off his own arm was not a pleasant sight. Also, the brain surgery performed while the man was still conscious was not pleasing either. To perform surgery of that magnitude on a moving ship, while the man is awake, is brutal. From what I saw the medical conditions on the ship were painfully poor.
Another aspect of life on the ship that surprised me was how young some of the lieutenants were. There were 15 and 16 year olds commanding soldiers in there forties. This just seems very unorthodox and counterproductive. A teenager cannot be expected to lead or gain the respect and obedience of men three times his age and experience. These aspects of the movie astonished me.
Overall Master and Commander was not a really gory movie, and in my opinion, it gave a pretty accurate representation of live on a naval ship in the 19th Century. The part of the movie that I found most disturbing was the part that is picture here. Although it was a very common surgery at the time, the thought about cutting someone’s skull open while onboard a moving ship, seems very dangerous and disgusting. I also thought that it was weird that they put a coin back into his skull. What does that serve in the skull? Does it make up for the piece that they cut out? Another aspect of the movie that I found disturbing was the fact that they doctor decided that he wanted to do the surgery on himself, and not have the other doctor do it. I think that it would be very difficult to have to do that kind of surgery on yourself. It was a very brave thing for him to do and I believed that showed more insight into the character of the Doctor. Lastly, I believe that what the captain realized at the end was an interesting way to end the movie and overall it was a good movie and fairly accurate.
The movie was also interesting in the fact that it gave an outlook not just on the military aspects of naval combat during this time period. It gave us a more personal look into the lives of the members on the ship. The movie showed the hierarchy on the ship and how the different ranks were treated. I also thought that it was interesting how there were kids who looked to be as young as 13 on the ship and they had a pretty high rank, like Peter, the boy who lost his arm. The captain seemed to give these younger children a lot of responsibility, which is unique considering what the laws are now. Another interesting aspect was how the ships fought against each other. It was common to go up to another ship and shoot cannons until one of the ships sink, as seen in Pirates of the Caribbean, but that seems like silly way to fight a war, and an easy way to lose a large amount of men. Those to me were the most interesting aspects of the movie.
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