The Arctic ice and the Chukchi Sea, late 1870s

The pack ice and open leads of the Chukchi Sea form the novel’s most important setting, the place where the Esther hunts whales, becomes trapped, and is ultimately destroyed. This frozen ocean turns from a field of opportunity into an intelligent adversary that closes channels, cinches shut around the ship, and finally crushes her, reinforcing the theme that human ambition cannot indefinitely overpower the natural world. The vast, white landscape also strips characters down to their essentials, exposing Lovejoy’s limits, accelerating Thule’s collapse, and pushing Leander into a solitary world of carvings and confession. In this way, the Arctic becomes both a literal and symbolic testing ground in which the whaling economy and its agents confront the consequences of their actions.

The Whaleship Esther at Sea, 1878–1879

The Esther herself is a central setting, a cramped, floating world...