Some of the crew stole rations, and Cheap had them whipped and then abandoned, but some of the crew thought this punishment too lenient. What are your thoughts on this scene? Do you think that under the circumstances the punishment was just?
It appears that there should have been a better way of distributing rations. Cheap and his cronies didn’t seem to have a “real plan” that was shared with the crew ahead of time. They just “enforced” their rules. If the crew had faith in Cheap’s handling of the rations, I don’t think they would have been forced to steal the rations. I blame Cheap for this happening so punishing the felons was excessive. Cheap proved time and again, he was no leader.
Cheap took this action as a means of displaying his authority and making a point to the others that stealing rations was a serious offense, hoping it would deter others from doing the same thing. To him this made sense. But to me there should’ve been a better, more humane response. But their situation was truly dire, desperate for everyone. I don’t know what the best response would’ve been, but I found many of the consequences of so many desperate acts to be inappropriate.
This scene was so horrific, but the stealing of rations had to be curtailed. If one stole they were basically condeming the others to death. I realize I could never be a captain!