Sacrifice (1 and 2)

"After he had spoken, he reached under his parka and took out a gold cigarette case and several gold sovereigns and threw them into the snow at his feet."

As the Endurance is stuck being crushed by the gargantuan ice floes, the men continue on without her. For their successful survival, the men are asked to only carry their bare essentials to survive. Even expensive possessions of gold, as stated when Shackleton threw down his gold cigarette lighter. Even some of the young puppies are forced to be sacrificed for the overall survival of the ship mates. Macklin had taken care of one of the older puppies, Sirius, for quite some time and had much trouble having to kill young pup as it hopped around playfully right before the shooting.

Nevertheless, the men march on, pushing the 1 ton boats through the thick snow. Progress is so slow that Shackleton comes to a dilemma, either continue carrying the boats towards land or set up camp and see where the ice floe may lead them. Shackleton finally decides on setting up camp because the men are only averaging a little over a mile a day. When Macklin has to kill Sirius, it reminds me much of Ol' Yeller. At the end of Ol' Yeller, despite all the history the boy had had with his beloved yellow dog, he must kill the mutt because it is sick and there is nothing he can do about it. Macklin must have been having the same type of emotions go through him when he had to shoot the young pup who was so naive of what was about to happen.