In the Battle
It is in the midst of battle when the reality that training is actually directed toward the inevitable that Rooke must come face to face with the idea that romanticizing war is a losing proposition. The crushing horror of the thing always wins out against the fantasy and the horror is inescapable and uncontrollable:
“Above the din of the muskets and the deep percussion of the cannons, Rooke heard a long splintering aloft, and saw the end of a rope twitching down towards him. He tried to duck out of the way but it caught him across the ear and as he fell he saw a clot of sail collapse and knock down the two men on his left. He was getting to his feet again when he went sprawling sideways from a blast of violent air too loud for hearing. It was so close that it was all there was, the world sucked up into this blind vortex.”
The Harbor View
Imagery is effectively used for an entirely different purpose and in an entirely different way when describing the approach through the harbor. The long trip to New South Wales has been one taking laboriously one yard at a time, but as the end is almost near, the destination becomes more enticing:
“high dark prows of headlands hung over the water, the sombre woods pressing down into their own reflections. To the south the land was lower, each bay and promontory shining with the glossy leaves of mangroves. Now and then between them a crescent of yellow sand was like a punctuation mark. Gulls bobbing on the water turned their heads to watch the boat pass, pelicans seemed to smile to themselves.”
Looking for a Comet
Dr. Vickery has predicted the return of a comet and charged Rooke with locating it. The imagery of Rooke’s astronomical efforts is a catalog of hope raised and expectation dashed layered with a patina of frustration at the repetition required:
“He took care, he did not hurry, he checked that the arc was correct. The first time he found a blur on the black sky, the heat of his excitement fogged the eyepiece and he had to wipe the lens clear, and take a few steadying breaths. He spent the next day in a state of suspension between hope and the determination not to hope, and when he found the object again the next night, he was glad he had not hoped too hard. The blur had not moved in relation to the stars around it. It was not a comet, just a nebula sent to tease him.”
Meeting the Savages
Rooke’s meetings with the uncivilized “savages” makes for some of the book’s most interesting passages. Language is of no use to convey communication since neither understands the others. Therefore, the author is called upon to introduce imagery at a greater intensity in order to put across what is taking place not just physically, but in the unspoken inexpressible thoughts:
“She was perhaps ten or twelve years old, skinny and quick, with a long graceful neck and an expressive mobile face…She looked straight into his eyes and her mouth made a wry pout, equal parts frustration and amusement. He felt his own lips form an answering shape and saw her watching him—his eyes, his mouth, the look on his face—reading him in just the same way he was trying to read her.”
