Free Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors by Piers Paul Read l Summary & Study Guide by BookRags Page A

camp, then inland to the
hospital of St. John of God in San Fernando. Amazingly, their injuries were
few, although they had all suffered from starvation and its associated weight
loss. The survivors' reunions with their friends and family were bittersweet.
The men had been barely surviving for so long that the world to which they
returned was overly stimulating. Their newfound appreciation for life and God
made everything else seem unimportant and excessive. The media jeered and took
pictures, but for the most part the men, newly accustomed to quiet, just wished
for solitude.

 
    Section One
Summary and Analysis

 
    Alive is the story of an airplane
flight that crashed over the Andes mountains . It is
also the story of how some of the stranded passengers survived following the
crash and their reintegration into the society they left behind. The passengers
were united through the Old Christians rugby team. Fifteen passengers were
players, but an additional twenty-five passengers were friends and family of
the players. Long before the team came together, the men were boys growing up
in the country of Uruguay.

 
    Uruguay is one of the smallest
countries in South America. At the time that the author wrote the book, much of
the country existed as lush pasture land. The largest city, Montevideo, was
more densely populated and housed a mercantile class. Uruguay was relatively
peaceful in the 1970's, but prior to that, the country experienced much instability.
Uruguay fought for its independence from its neighbors, Argentina and Brazil.
After gaining its independence, the country faced inner turmoil.   The two major parties were the conservative B ,lancos from the interior and the
liberal Colorados from the city. The two parties were
fiercely competitive and the politics were entrenched over the course of
generations. In 1904 the Colorado party president defeated the conservative
party and created a democratic state.   The country exported goods at a favorable price, but when the economy
declined, the country again fell into turmoil. In opposition to this decline, a
revolutionary group, the Tupamaros , was born.   The Tupamaros utilized such tactics as kidnapping, ransom and corrupting the government agencies.
The guerrilla movement was having an affect , and the
army was dispatched to quench the revolt.   By the 1950's the citizens were searching for stability. Despite the
political tensions surrounding them, parents hoped for a great future for their
children. The school systems in place at that time lacked the religious
qualities the parents sought, so they invited a group of Christian brothers
from Ireland to start a school in Montevideo. The brothers agreed to the
teaching requirements and were quite happy with their new charge in Uruguay.
They brought with them their love for rugby, which slowly replaced the local
love of soccer. The school, called Stella Maris College, taught boys aged nine
to sixteen in fundamental subjects with conservative Catholic undercurrents.
The school was so highly regarded that its graduates created an alumni rugby
team.

 
    In 1971, the Old Christians rugby
team decided to play a championship game abroad. The championship was scheduled
for October 1972, in Chile and the team secured air passage. The team privately
chartered a plane, which officially belonged to the Uruguayan government.   Inviting friends and family who could pay
their own way defrayed the cost for each player, thus making the trip feasible.
The players looked forward to the tournament and also to a short vacation
abroad.   On October 12 the excited
passengers began to arrive at the Carrasco airport for their departure. The
passengers were jubilant and talked animatedly amongst themselves. Also present
were Colonel Ferradas , the captain, and his co-pilot,
Lieutenant Lagurara . They both had flying experience,
but only Ferradas had experience flying over the
dangerous cordillera of the Andes mountains .

 
    The