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While alcohol always makes things worse, it seems like this crew would have clashed anyway. Power and greed are the problem, all too often.

I feel that alcohol became representative of their interpersonal problems. It symbolised their lack of trust and insecurities and it is arguably this which led to their downfalls.

For me, they could have just built enough trust. Alcohol was quite a problem, but not more of the problem they had. I think they lacked good communication and trust.

I already have a bit of a distaste for liquor and its effects, so it seemed like a no-brainer to me to just get rid of it since an expedition of this nature would definitely require the members to be level-headed at all times. However, I did understand why it was included, as several other points of plot and characterization may not have been revealed to the reader otherwise.

diana lowery wrote:
> I think that the alcohol caused problems, and I was annoyed that the
> commander didn't just dump it all out which would have solved the issue.
> Putting the others on the honor system not to get into it was not a good
> decision.

First off, most of the characters are Russians. Ain't nobody dumpin alcohol in the camp. I don't mean to stereotype and cause issues; its just an observation. Also, alcohol is key to bringing morale up among the campers and building a jovial atmosphere during celebrations.

I think the main issue was the fact that they didn't put much effort into finding a cure for their uncontrolled emotions. If they did, most of the problems could have been avoided.

One of the main obstacles was keeping secrets. Grant explained his motives for not sharing his uncle's diary. Letting other members of the team read the diary could have resulted in different opinions about the contents. Each member of the team had an expertise that might have seen something different in his uncle's writings.

Alcohol caused problems. But more or less, every bit of this expedition was a new experience and a new challenge. So it was full of obstacles

I think that the alcohol was an issue because it affected their ability to make good judgements about each other.

I think the alcohol was not an obstacle. But the consumers where. If only they maintained good morals among them selves, the bad effect of alcohol could not have arrised.

kathy2705 wrote:
> I think that the alcohol was an issue because it affected their ability to
> make good judgements about each other.
As much as, this also true, you have to acknowledge that how they handled the alcohol first depicts poor judgment.

The alcohol did bring problems to them and most were avoidable at best.. A little abstinence and discipline on their side would have saved them lots of trouble

Ferdinand_otieno wrote:
> During the course of the expedition the group overindulged in alcohol and
> this caused many problems that could have easily been avoided. While they
> faced many obstacles from terrible weather to wild animals, In my opinion
> Alcohol was the largest obstacle to the expedition.
> What about you, what do you think was the largest obstacle to the
> expedition?
I'll point at three main obstacles in my opinion 1. Lack of trust 2. Poor communication and 3. Poor Self-Discipline.

Leen282 wrote:
> I think it's the lack of trust and the lack of open communication. The
> alcohol itself was not a problem for me, but the fact that some people were
> stealing it instead of sharing and enjoying together.

I think the fact that the lack of trust and open communication certainly was a factor, but I do think the alcohol definitely made it worse once they overindulged in it.

Of cos, alchohol impacted their judgements, and thus compromises the efficient means of carrying out their expendition.

diana lowery wrote:
> I think that the alcohol caused problems, and I was annoyed that the
> commander didn't just dump it all out which would have solved the issue.
> Putting the others on the honor system not to get into it was not a good
> decision.
I agree. I was wondering if the over-consumption of alcohol throughout the work was supposed to be a commentary on Russian culture or if it was just the characters having poor impulse control, or both.