Explorers or boys messing about? Either way, taxpayer gets rescue bill.

by Stephen Morris

‘Boys messing about’

Infantilises the men and implies a lack of professionalism

Use of the noun ‘farce’

Used to describe the ending of a previous expedition. This shows the writer’s view of its absurdity by treating a potential tragedy as a comedy. It also suggests the men failed to learn their lesson, making the second expedition more egregious in the contrasting reference to tragedy.

The verb ‘plunged’

Heightens the folly of the men’s actions through its active implications of potential destruction and loss of control

The verb ‘plucked’

Implies the men became helpless objects that had to be saved

The tricolon, “The Royal Navy, the RAF and British coastguards”

Emphasises the scale of national military resources required to rescue these two civilian men, highlighting their incompetence and the cost of their recklessness.

The reference to ‘resentment in some quarters’

Shows that some people were unhappy about how much the rescue of the two men cost taxpayers

‘A nine-hour rescue’

Shows the extent of the effort needed to rescue them

‘The four-seater Robinson R44 has a single engine”

Extra detail in parentheses to emphasise small size.

Adjectives ‘small’ and ‘hostile’

Contrasting connotations of the adjective ‘small’ to describe the helicopter and the adjective ‘hostile’ to describe the environment - indicates folly and recklessness.

‘Trusty helicopter’

The ironic reference in inverted commas serves to undermine their judgement

Introducing the anecdote with the noun ‘drama’

Treats it somewhat disdainfully as entertainment, building on earlier references to ‘farce’ and ‘tragedy’

Ironic James Bond reference (referring to him as ‘Q’)

Seems to depict one of the explorers as an overgrown child acting in a story

The verb ‘scrambled’

Connotes a chaotic desperation and sense of urgency, ridiculing the men’s incompetence and the danger into which they place themselves.

The reference to the watch being a ‘wedding’

Draws attention to Brooks as a grown man who has made a promise and accepted the responsibilities that come with marriage, highlighting his failure to fulfil those responsibilities in his reckless behaviour.

‘This is not the first time’ and ‘hit the headlines for the wrong reasons’

The fact that it ‘is not the first time’ is made more memorable and ridiculous through the use of alliteration in ‘hit the headlines for the wrong reasons’

‘ditched’ and ‘scrambled’ vs ‘deciphered’ and ‘dispatched’

Contrasts the relative skill of the two men with the responsible emergency, military services.

‘Ironically’

Reveals the writer almost laughing at the shortsightedness of the plan given the action produced a result (tension with Russia) directly opposed to the stated aims (demonstrate how good relations between east and west had become)

Title with rhetorical question

Immediately suggests the writer’s doubts about the two explorers and some implication of the recklessness of their behaviour as a burden on taxpayers paying the bill

Use of short paragraphs

Used to convey the different opinions and to engage the reader.

Inclusion of the fact that it cost ‘tens of thousands of pounds’

Emphasises how expensive it has been and implies disapproval of the explorers’ selfish attitude, especially as it is ‘highly unlikely’ any of the cost would be recouped. The constant references to the cost of the expedition also builds anger in the readers about the fact that their money is contributing towards the rescue bill for these privileged men’s reckless actions.

The fact that ‘experts questioned the wisdom of taking a small helicopter’

Suggest the men were foolish amateurs. The writer returns to the idea of experts doubting the men’s good sense later in the article using very similar language. The later phrase ‘The wisdom of the team’s latest adventure was questioned’ further emphasises this through structural repetition and repeated appeals to experts and sources of authority

Jo Vestey describing them as ‘boys messing about’

Suggests a lack of respect or pride in her husband’s exploits. Structural as Morris selects what from interviews to include and when and where to include these testimonies.

Jo Vestey’s statement that her husband asked her to ‘call the emergency people’

Hints at his lack of experience. The structural choice to include this statement reveals Morris’ focus on evidence that exposes the men as inexperienced as Brooks’ phrase ‘emergency people’ sounds imprecise and childish.

An ‘antarctic explorer’ describing their survival to be ‘nothing short of a miracle’

Builds logos as Morris includes expert testimony with loaded language embedded.

Explorer’s ages of 42 and 40

Supplied with the underlying message that these are mature men who should have known better.

The Royal Navy patrol ship being referred to three times as HMS Endurance

Links the rescuers to qualities of stoicism and fortitude. This is contrasting to the ‘explorers’ qualities.

The writer concluding the passage with Jo Vestey’s comment: ‘will probably have their bottoms kicked and get sent home the long way’

This further portrays her view of them as immature children (and the view Morris selects as the final image left with the readers

The structural inclusion of three paragraphs focused on Brooks’ and Smith’s past experience with danger

Highlights their privilege, responsibilities and repeated opportunities to behave more reasonably, especially when juxtaposed with the short, single sentence, paragraph ‘despite their experience, it is not the first time they have hit the headlines for the wrong reasons’