The entire narrative is viewed at a distance, not only of space, but of time. I keep saying âlight from a dead starâ, but I have yet to find a better way to sum it up. To borrow more from the sciences, itâs ShrĂśdingerâs Expedition: until James Clark Ross and his translator* learn the truth from the Netsilik man, the expedition is simultaneously doomed and salvageable. In essence, it has no fate until that fate is learned/observed. The story we, the audience, are subsequently told, has already reached its end; the past tense, only a sturdy thing in the sense that it is unassailable from the other side, cannot be changed from the present, excepting in how we interpret the events.
Thereâs a secondary theme of preservation. There are the logs and accounts kept by the captains. Somebody must have been writing letters home. Goodsir is a photographer. Goodsir also notably preserves Jackoâs corpse. All of these take for granted a future, being observed in the future, as do the careful burial of the dead men early on. Notably, Hickey balks at the ceremony of burying David Young. For Hickey, death is immediate; aside from Goodsir, heâs the person closest to it**. He jumps down into Youngâs grave, steals Youngâs ring, bringing what might have stayed in the past into the present, and then, into the future. Francis may not have held onto Youngâs ring, but he certainly retains the memory of Goodsirâs account; not something he, himself, observed, but something he still knows to be true***.
* Further distance, by virtue of language. The translator notably tells Ross that he doesnât know what the Netsilik man means by âTunnbaqâ, âthe thing made of muscles and spellsâ. Even being able to understand the language doesnât confer meaning; the translator knows vocabulary, grammar, but as the translator lacks cultural literacy, certain concepts remain out of reach.
** Not the act of dying, which several character observe, but the immutable fact of a body that has been dead for some time.
*** Again, missing or imperfect information. Goodsir and Francis both have the will to bring Youngâs ring to his sister. Having knowledge of his own death that Francis lacks, Goodsir gives the ring to Francis. Yet, his memory failing, due to illness or simply time passed, Goodsir canât recall Youngâs name, only the dreadful circumstances of his death.
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