¶ … Voyage of the Narwhal, by Andrea Barrett [...] second half of the book. Barrett paints a vivid portrait of the difficulties the early Arctic explorers faced, and how they lost their lives in search of adventure and discovery. Her characters and descriptions are vivid, adding to the reality of the novel.
THE VOYAGE OF THE NARWHAL
The Voyage of the Narwhal" is the story of discovery and exploration, and the dangers early explorers faced. It is also the story of the people left behind - of their feelings and fears. The second half of the book covers the time after the "Narwhal" and her crew have arrived in the Arctic, and are ice-bound - unable to return to the United States and their homes. Most of them have survived the winter, but they still cannot leave, the ice is too thick and not breaking up fast enough. Suddenly, Zeke, in an irrational move, decides to go exploring, and when no one will accompany him, he decides to leave alone. "Alone, without dogs or human companions, he couldn't pull a sledge....
They come across an entire fleet of ships that are ice-bound, and are eventually rescued as the ships break free of the ice and set out for their homes. Their expedition to find Franklin and discover a new route to the Pacific have all failed. Those who are left are broken men, injured, maimed for life, and what they discover is how much they are ridiculed by the sealers and whalers who make their living in the icy northland seas. "It's what we call you arctic exploring types,' he said. 'All you men who go off on exploring expeditions, with funding and fanfare and special clothes, thinking you'll discover something. When every place you go some whaling ship has already been" (Barrett 244). They are failures, and Erasmus ends up taking the blame…
