Colonel Eddie Rickenbacker is viewed by the public as a heroic figure. Not only is he a war hero, but he is also a racecar driver and a successful businessman. He has even survived a plane crash in the past. Two of the biggest sources of his heroism are his strict code of behavior and his rigid ideals about manliness: “In his lifetime, the racetrack, the military, and the top ranks of the business world were mostly male territory. And to Rickenbacker, the important virtues—courage, determination, self-reliance—were male virtues” (103). However, the same strictness and inflexibility in Rickenbacker often causes his other stranded crewmembers to resent him and chafe under his command.

The public knows Rickenbacker from a distance, but the rest of the crew get to know him personally. To the crew, his heroic aura is often a form of tyranny. While Rickenbacker is good at establishing control and order—keeping the men focused and making sure that each crewmember gets an equal portion of the little food they find—he is unable to handle individual problems and rebellions. His initial reaction to Kaczmarczyk’s illness, which eventually kills him, is to write Kaczmarczyk off as a weakling. He also does not react well when the other crewmembers tell him that they want to cut the rope tying all of their rafts together and set off in separate directions.