The Explorer's Daughter by Kari Herbert

catching the light in a spectral play of colour

The description of the narwhal's spray gives it a mystical quality, with the adjective 'spectral' making it sound ghostly, perhaps reflecting the narwhals' elusiveness. The adjective also refers to the colours of the spectrum, indicating how the light refracts as it passes through the spray to produce a beautiful rainbow effect.

slowly, methodically

The adverbs describing the narwhal moving create a sense of anticipation; this contrasts with the verb 'scrambling' used to describe how the writer excitedly returns to the lookout.

glittering kingdom and butter-gold

The visual imagery linked to light, shows how the writer was awed by the beauty of the landscape. There is a dreamlike quality to the metaphor of the 'glittering kingdom', which almost evokes a fairytale setting of castles and palaces, although this splendour is produced solely by nature, heightening our sense of its impressive majesty.

sharp intake of breath

Indicates her sense of anticipation as to what may happen.

'butter-gold'

The description of the evening light indicates an atmosphere of softness (also suggested in the 'soft billows of smoke') and richness. The image appeals to the senses of sight and taste: observing this scene is nourishing for Herbert on a deeper level. The light glints off both 'man and whale', temporarily uniting them in a moment of serenity, while the adjective 'lone' to describe the smoking hunter suggests a moment of quiet reflectiveness.

we

The use of the plural pronoun in the first paragraph groups the writer with the other women who are watching; the fact that they need binoculars shows how they are too distant to do anything but watch as events unfold.

close enough to touch

The utter stillness of the scene, and the fact that the hunters appeared so close to the narwhal but 'never moved', adds to a sense of tension.

tricks of the shifting light

The writer's musings on the narwhal gives them an ethereal quality, adding to the magical, mysterious atmosphere suggested by the description of the scene as a 'glittering kingdom' earlier on.

escaping and in the dead of winter

The description of the nanhal 'escaping' the cold winter waters suggests the urgency of this movement. The idiom 'in the dead of winter' indicates how inhospitable the sea is at that time of year. We are reminded of the challenges of survival in this difficult climate.

essential

The use of the adjective to explain how the narwhal is necessary for 'the survival of the hunters' highlights the importance of the hunt to the community.

mattak and tuplaks

The writer's use of specific terms relating to Inughult culture, reinforces the reader's trust in her knowledge, using the rhetorical tool of ethos (convincing one's audience that one is a credible authority).

for centuries

The time phrase places the emphasis on how longstanding Inughuit cultural practices are, implying that the writer is sensitive to context behind them, both culturally and practically.

Details on cooking the whale's blubber

Herbert implicitly refers to how whales' blubber was rendered (cooked down) into whale oil for use in traditional whale-oil lamps. Rather than referring to this directly, Herbert emphasises how the blubber was 'the only source of light and heat' , with the adjective 'only' emphasising how scarce resources were.

light and heat

The nouns allude to the fundamentals of human survival and reinforce the crucial importance of this blubber for High Arctic communities.

a single narwhal can feed an entire team of dogs for a month

The adjective 'single' sustains the impression of the narwhal's critical importance. The adjective 'entire' places the emphasis on how many other creatures are sustained by the meat the narwhal provides, implicitly justifying the hunters' activities.

the narwhal tusk 'can grow up to six feet in length'

The use of numerical detail adds to the factual, informative tone of this paragraph.

clustered on the knoll of the lookout

The description of the women indicates how the women gather in a pack-like way, watching for their husbands as a collective group (as the verb 'clustered' suggests). We sense the extent to which the community relies on the hunters' success for its survival.

occasionally [spin] round at a small gasp or jump as one of the women saw a hunter near a narwhal

This description shows how on edge they are and conveys the tautness of the atmosphere.

intently and instinctively

The connection between each wife and her husband is reiterated by the adverb "intently', describing how the wives watch, stressing the significance of the hunt to every family. The adverb "Instinctively', describing each wife's ability to discem which hunter is hor husband, contributes to our sense of the organic connection between the pair. In their intuitiveness, these bonds they recall those of animals. Arctic foxes and ter (birds), for Instance, rely on the sensory recognition of their mates after hunting or migrating: maintaining these bonds is essential for survival in a challenging environment. Just as some animals operate in pairs and hunt as a survival mechanism, so too must the Inughuit people.

a vast, waterborne game

The analogy allows the reader to link the experience of watching the hunt to likely more familiar personal experiences of tension when spectating a sport. It also suggests the atmosphere of both drama and excitement.

spread like a net around the sound

The simile describes the hunters' positions in their kayaks on this narrow channel of water. The comparison of the hunters to a net suggests how they work in coordination, their presence in different positions making it harder for the narwhal to escape. While nets are often used to catch fish, here, Herbert uses the simile to transform the men themselves into the tool doing the hunting, indicating how focused they are in pursuing their single goal.

The narwhal's intelligence

The detail about the narwhal being intelligent creatures (41) adds to the complexity of the situation; the narwhal's capacity to talk to one another' (41-42) (a description that somewhat personifies them) increases our sense of pity for them.

gently

The adverb to describe how the hunter picks up his harpoon creates the impression of a tense hush before the moment of highest drama and excitement.

heart leapt for both hunter and narwhal

The description shows Herbert's intense physical reaction to what she witnesses.

in that split second

The time phrase draws out this moment for dramatic effect; Herbert is also taking the time to explore the complexities of her instinctive reaction.

he was so close, and so brave

The danger that each man faces is emphasised in the repetition of the intensifier 'so' referring to how near he is to his goal and how much courage he must have to take this risk.

kayak and miles from land

Our sense of the hunter's courage is developed through the description of his vulnerable position. The ominous ending of the sentence (the verb 'drowned' is emphatically placed for maximum impact) creates a feeling of trepidation in the reader.

Comparison of the harpoon and the narwhal

The information that the hunter has 'only one harpoon', that the narwhal are 'huge' and that the exercise is 'foolhardy' conveys a sense of vulnerability.

The harpoon

The harpoon is a traditional weapon (the 'heads' and seal-skin "bladder' are features designed to increase its effectiveness). This detail highlights the respect Herbert feels for the hunter's courage in facing the narwhal with minimal equipment. Herbert also begins to contrast traditional hunting practices with more Industrialised or technologically advanced forms of hunting.

and yet

By beginning the final sentence of the fifth paragraph with conjunctions suggesting contrast, Herbert indicates the complexity of her response to the hunt.

dive, to leave, to survive'

The use of an asyndetic tricolon of infinitive verbs urging the narwhal, with its rhythm and rhyme, engages the reader in the writer's powerful and conflicted feelings about the hunt. We are keen to know what the outcome will be.

this dilemma stayed with me

The figurative idiom indicates its profound impact

we demand and be protected because of their beauty

The use of the plural pronoun we' indicates how Herbert aligns herself with those who argue for animal rights. The verb 'demand' has a critical undertone. Herbert subtly questions the uncompromising stance that people outside the Arctic often take on wildlife protection. It could suggest a sense of entitlement or insistence in those who may lack direct experience of the inughuit's way of life and survival needs. Herbert's language signals the tension between an outsider's sometimes rigid conservation ethics and the sustainable, respectful practices of Indigenous communities like the Inughuit, who balance survival with respect for nature.

How can you possibly eat seal?

The direct speech represents, the reader infers, a common question posed by those outside this community. The fact that she is asked this question over and over again indicates how widespread this shock is, and the repetition of over implies that Herbert finds this reaction rather tedious.

Acknowledgment of outsider's horror

Herbert concedes that there might be good reasons for outsiders' horror at the idea of killing seals, beginning her sentence with the adjective 'true'. Herbert uses procatalepsis to demonstrate the nuanced perspective that she has formed

bombarded and battering

Herbert then uses the powerful verbs to suggest the visceral impact of such graphic imagery of seals being killed 'for sport'. This impact is also suggested through the consonance of the forceful plosive sounds. These violent Images seem to have had a visceral Impact on those who have seen them, pushing such outsiders towards more uncompromising stances on 'the issue of polar hunting'.

one annual supply ship

The description indicates just how cut off these communities still are, with the phrasal verb 'makes it through' indicating how difficult it is for these ships to reach Inughuit communities via potentially treacherous, icy seas.

absolute necessity

The use of the noun phrase in the final sentence to describe hunting suggests that this is potentially the most important argument, implicitly leading Herbert to refuse to condemn the hunters.

How the narrative begins

The passage begins as a narrative recounting of an event, immediately immersing us in the story and using temporal markers ('[t)wo hours after...' and the adverb 'again' to suggest how the narwhals' appearances are an important feature of life in this part of Greenland.

Time markers

Continue to be used as a build-up to the hunt (within an hour...', showing how the watchers are waiting and observing the approach of the narwhal pods.

A peaceful atmosphere

Is evoked in the first paragraph, but we know that this peace can only be temporary, given the context of the hunt. Indeed, this moment contrasts with the dramatic, ultimately violent interactions between hunter and whale that are explored later in the extract, and the juxtaposition of the nouns 'man and whale leads the reader to anticipate a confrontation of epic proportions later.

Atmosphere of suspense

Is lifted in the second paragraph, where the writer moves away from describing the build-up to the hunt and adopts a very factual tone; the present tense is used to expound on how the Inughuit benefit from the narwhal.

challenges of survival

Herbert reinforces the challenges of survival in this difficult climate in the second paragraph, a theme that she reintroduces later in a human context, when she explores how the whales provide an 'essential' means of survival for the hunters.

'the inglefield Fjord, on the side of which [they] now sat'

At the end of this more general, factual paragraph, Herbert returns to the specific context of the moment that she is describing for most of this extract.

essential

The use of the adjective to explain how the narwhal is necessary for 'the survival of the hunters' is reinforced further on in the passage with the adjectives 'crucial', 'staple' and 'much-needed', leading the reader to consider what the consequences of a failed hunt might be.

rich

The adjective is used three times within five lines (the narwhal provides 'dark. rich meat'; the blubber is 'rich' in 'minerals' and a 'rich source of vitamin C'). Herbert stresses that this is high-quality nourishment, making up for the dietary deficiencles that are an Inevitable product of life in the Arctic. Herbert implies that this nutrition-dense meat is thus an efficient form of sustenance, connecting to her later arguments about whale-hunting as a sustainable method of sourcing food.

Parenthetical phrases

Provide extra context and reveals Herbert's detalled knowledge and her nuanced understanding of the central role the narwhal play in Inughuit culture.

each woman focusing on her husband

The writer returns to the hunt in the fourth paragraph, starting with a long complex sentence that moves from all the women to each individual; in this way the intensity of the experience for each individual is axpressed.

instinctively

Herbert establishes a subtle connection between animals and humans in the description of the women knowing which hunters are their husbands; she develops this later in her subtle reflections on how both narwhal and man are simply engaged in a fight for survival.

Herbert uses a short, simple sentence, emphatically placed after a longer, complex-compound sentence, in line 38.

This juxtaposition signals the movement from a description and explanation of the observers' behaviour to the positions of the hunters at a pivotal moment. We can tell that we approaching the central moment of action because Herbert highlights how levery hunter is on the water.

the hunters must stay 'very still'

The silence and lack of movement because of the narwhal's acute hearing leave the writer and the reader in suspense at the end of the fourth paragraph, building tension.

The use of longer, multi-clause sentences in fifth paragraph

conveys the mounting tension of the scene.

Herbert's mixed feelings about the fate of the narwhal are shown through repetition.

The writer twice references her 'heart' to describe her instinctive emotional response and her desire for both narwhal and hunter to succeed. She uses the verb 'urged' to describe her response to the man and the narwhal respectively, reiterating this conflicted feeling.

Final paragraph

The writer uses the transition into the sixth and final paragraph to mark a temporal and tonal shift, as she now tells us about her subsequent reflections on her mixed feelings about the hunt.

one cannot afford to be sentimental in the Arctic

This paragraph's retum to a calmer, more reflective tone is matched in the impersonal statement. This contrasts with the immediacy, pace and high emotion of the previous paragraph.

How can you possibly eat seal?

The potentially ill-informed question, stated in direct speech represents, we infer, a common question posed by those outside this community. This is carefully positioned directly after the reader's acknowledgement that she 'knows]' that sentimentality has no place in the Arctic. Herbert contrasts her knowledge of these communities with the uncomprehending shock of those who know less than her. The fact that she is asked this question 'over and over again' indicates how widespread this shock is, and the repetition of 'over' implies that Herbert finds this reaction rather tedious.

still

Herbert uses the adverb three times to reiterate the fact that the extreme challenges of High Arctic life persist in spite of technological or supply chain innovations elsewhere in the world.

[h]unting is still an absolute necessity in Thule

The text ends with a short, simple sentence. The writer concludes that, while she understands the arguments against narwhal hunting, she ultimately recognises its essential function for the Inughuit people. The brevity of the sentence suggests that this is a non-negotiable fact that outweighs other, possibly more emotionally driven concerns about the conservation of animals.

CONCLUSION

Herbert examines the complex relationship between survival, tradition, and environmental ethics in the Arctic, questioning the ethics of hunting in a world that often condemns it. She highlights the Inughuit's reliance on the nanhal for survival in a resource-scarce environment and respects their sustainable use of it. This contrasts with global perspectives that idealise animals as rare or beautiful. Herbert emphasises the tension between respecting nature's beauty and the need for survival, showing how the inughuit's careful resource use reflects resilience and respect for their environment. She subtly critiques outsider views that disregard the realities of survival in such extreme conditions.