Preliminarily it must be said that it is the dead child who saves the living, for to bring Isaiah back seems to mean bringing Smilla back, Smilla whose dark love affair with melancholy is far more seductive than her love affair with the mechanic. Death often startles us into living. Isaiah's death sharpens Smilla's senses, like a cup of the mechanic's scalding, tropical tea. She says herself that she has been set free.

Esajas' død er en uregelmaessighed, en spraengning der har fremkaldt en spalte. Den spalte har sluppet mig fri. For en kort tid, uden at jeg kan forklare hvor-dan, er jeg kommet i bevaegelse, er jeg blevet et skøj-tende fremmedlegeme oven på isen. in motion, I have become a foreign body skating on top of the ice.

The death of one child becomes the lifeline of the other.

One can...