How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"We are feeding up now," [Jack] told his mother, "and I hope to put on ten pounds before leaving, as we need extra flesh to carry us over hungry periods during the expedition." (20.21)
Willpower is also necessary to survive the jungle. Jack needs the willpower to put on ten pounds, which is willpower we have three or four times over. However, the willpower to not eat in the jungle is the actual hard part.
Quote #8
"Daddy had gone on ahead at such a speed that we lost sight of him altogether." It was just as Costin had feared: there was no one to stop Fawcett. (20.42)
Fawcett can sometimes let his strength and stamina get the better of him. Charging ahead is bad for group morale, and yet Fawcett does it, anyway. Could this be one reason why Fawcett eventually went missing?
Quote #9
[Dyott] believed, for instance, that diminutive men—men, that is to say, built like himself—were best able to endure in the jungle. "A big man has to exert so much energy to carry his bulk that he has no surplus," Dyott told reporters, and he would be "difficult to stow in a canoe." (23.14)
Dyott, with his Napoleon complex, shows us how narcissistic many of the explorers are. They may be strong in various ways, yes, but they also look for men just like them to go along with their expeditions—which always fail. Perhaps real strength lies in finding diverse groups to handle any situation? Or at least not a group full of narcissists?