Thomas Wharton Icefield Summary
The concept of happiness is seen to be broad and is often overused in today’s society. In some cases, it can be used to describe precious moments of pure joy or even moments where one finds excitement in pursuing a self-chosen career. However, there will never be one set definition to describe this feeling. After all, life is fleeting and brief moments of joy quickly pass us by. With such a precious and limited amount of time in our lives, it is crucial to spend our lives doing something that we love. In Icefields by Thomas Wharton, the author illustrates the importance of finding a calling that we truly care about. In Icefields, we are introduced to Dr. Byrne, a botanist and doctor who tragically falls into a crevasse while visiting the icefields
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for an expedition. While trapped in this dilemma, Byrne briefly witnesses a miraculous image – a frozen angel with its wings outstretched, trapped under the ice. After being rescued, Byrne decides to dedicate the rest of his life to finding this angel again; giving up everything he has ever known in order to follow his passion. Although he never again finds the phenomenon, Byrne lives a fruitful and rewarding life while pursuing his quest. Wharton’s story serves to remind us that we should spend our precious little time in life to pursue our passions instead of wasting it away with something we do not truly enjoy. On August 17, 1898, Doctor Byrne slid into a crevasse while on an expedition in the Canadian Rockies. This mishap made him realize how precious his life was at that very moment. The danger his life was put into and the fact that there was a possibility of death made his life much more valuable at the time. During these slow painful moments he saw a “pale human figure, with wings” (11) embedded in the ice. The appearance of this phenomenon sparks a fascination in Byrne that he eventually dedicates the rest of his life to. His near-death experience triggered a midlife crisis of sorts where he realized how fleeting life truly was. After the incident is resolved, it is clear Byrne is unhappy with the life that he was living. In his journal he writes about this when he says “(I had) doubts about the meaning of the life I was pursuing. Doubts about marriage and family life…which in my case persisted and grew into irrational fears.” (54). Byrne eventually leaves his wife and quits his career in botany and medicine. While it may seem extreme to the reader how quickly Byrne decided to throw away his old life, it is important to note the mental state he was in. Byrne did not believe that he was living a fulfilling life, and given his near-death scare, no longer wished to continue a life where he wasn’t satisfied with his career. Byrne realized how quickly his life was passing by and how the time he had spent did not engage him on a scale similar how much the angel in the ice fascinated him. Once Byrne begins his journey to rediscover the frozen angel, it becomes increasingly clear that he was completely enthralled by the work he was now doing. It seems strange given the fact that his life had more or less collapsed following his decision to pursue this quest. However, it only serves as testament to the fulfillment one can gain when following their passions. Byrne’s contentment at his new life is illustrated when Wharton writes “He smiles. I’ve learned a lot from the glacier itself. A way of looking at the rest of the world. Patience. Control of the emotions.”(189) By mentioning the lessons he has learned since starting his new life with a smile, it is clear that Byrne has made peace with his decision to leave his old life behind. His decision to pursue this new life is validated by the new memories he has gained, memories he remembers with fondness. It is also important to note that he reflects on “patience” as a lesson he has learned from his icefield experiences. Given the context of life passing us by quickly, we must consider why Byrne adopts patience as a lesson. I believe Byrne’s newfound patience was due to his love and engagement in his new life’s work. With something he could truly sink his teeth into; Byrne no longer was concerned about how much life he had left to live. His only stake now as far as time was concerned was if he would be able to spend all the time he had left doing something he cared about. This shift illustrates how we can be unscathed by the perception of time passing us by, as long as we spend that time doing something we truly love. The end of this story revalidates the sense of accomplishment and satisfaction that Byrne gained from his new life. Byrne eventually finds the tin of flower specimens he dropped when he first fell into the crevasse. The seeds had miraculously started growing into flowers, an impossibility given the climate of the icefield, and the fact that it had been 25 years since he lost it. The event is a metaphor for the satisfaction and happiness Byrne achieved in his lifetime. When he first dropped the tin, it symbolized his life before he chased his passions – mundane and by all accounts dead. However, the flowers at the end represent how beautiful his experiences had been after giving up on his previous life. The flowers were full of life, a beautiful impossibility. The presence of the flowers also reflects on the fleetingness of life. The growing flowers takes the reader back to the beginning of the novel when Byrne first dropped it, making it feel as if only a small amount of time had passed in the story. In actuality, it had been 25 years, again making the reader contemplate the quick passage of time. Hence, the book ends on a positive note, a validation of Byrne’s life and decision to chase after what he loved.
In an interview titled “The Iceman Cometh Across: an Interview with Thomas Wharton” by Herb Wyile, Wharton himself describes how life is short and how quickly it passes us by.
He states that “One of the reasons I write is my fascination with the complexity of life around us at any moment of our lives… how all these things pass into the past so quickly, leaving us with just traces to hang onto.” Wharton’s views on life and the past can be seen in the character Byrne, who often reminisces about the past. Some of Byrne’s memories involve his mother, his seizures as a child, and his discovery of the angel artifact in the ice. These life-changing experiences seem quick and instantaneous to the memory, again illustrating just how quick life can pass us by. Wharton further describes his thoughts on the passage of time when he talks about his “fascination with the way things slip into the past and then we're left with trying to put together bits and pieces that we choose from the past… what is time, and how does it flow, and why does it seem to flow at different rates at different times in our lives.” It is also clear from this source that Wharton has a passion for the mountains and glaciers where “Icefields” is set. Wharton spent several years living in Jasper, and talks about this location in the interview, showing both fascination and knowledge in the subject. I believe that in creating Dr. Edward Byrne, Wharton infused a little bit of himself into the character. In “Icefields”, following the crevasse incident, Byrne dedicates the rest of his life to his passion – the icefields and the angel. Similarly, Wharton wrote a book about Jasper and the mountains, a place he once called his home. It is clear that Wharton has a genuine love for the location he decided to set “Icefields” in. Both men dedicate their professional lives on a subject that they were passionate about and intrigued by. Given Wharton’s love of the mountains and his fascination with the seemingly quick
passage of time, it is easy to see where he got the idea for Byrne’s decision to drop everything in his life and become a glaciologist. It fits perfectly into the theme of following your passions because life is short.
Another text we can use to analyze this novel would be “The Melting of Time” by Claire Omhovere, a review and analysis of “Icefields”. Omhovere also points out the significance of time and the human perception of time, relating time to the actual setting of the book. She quotes the book, a passage about the icefields as “a time machine…both a history and a memory (217).” Omhovere attributes this to the history-bearing nature of an icefield. Built over thousands of years, every layer of an icefield holds a snapshot of a time long ago. When I view the icefields in this perspective, it is hard not to feel that our lives are extremely short. After all, a mere single layer of an icefield could hold an entire lifetime of history. The entirety of an icefield, therefore, holds millenniums of memories, more than any individual could know or comprehend. The vastness of the history of the icefield makes one reconsider just how long one human lifespan is. When faced with something monumentally huge, we as humans feel small and insignificant. The same could be said of Dr. Byrne, who was absolutely enthralled by the sheer size of the icefields. The vast history of the icefields makes Byrne reflect just how short his own life is. It serves as motivation for Byrne to spend every waking moment working on something he loves. Omhovere against discusses how quickly one’s life can pass by when she discusses a passage from the end of the story. In this passage, Byrne finds a sea urchin shell while exploring the icefields. This discovery triggers a flashback of himself as an 11-year old child, reminiscing about the death of his mother. In this memory, Byrne sees his mother standing on a beach, waves motioning back and forth. This draws a parallel to the beginning of the story, when Byrne first falls into the crevasse after being distracted by ice patterns that looked like waves. By contrasting Byrne’s experiences in his twilight years to his memories as a child, the reader gets a sense of just how quickly Byrne has aged. Though Byrne was now almost a senior citizen, he still grieved for and remembered his mother. Out of all the nightmares Byrne had throughout the story, his mother was the only person he could see distinctly, as if he still had a crystal clear memory of her. This again reinforces the notion that Byrne’s life had passed rapidly, seeing as he could still “remember like it was just yesterday”.
for an expedition. While trapped in this dilemma, Byrne briefly witnesses a miraculous image – a frozen angel with its wings outstretched, trapped under the ice. After being rescued, Byrne decides to dedicate the rest of his life to finding this angel again; giving up everything he has ever known in order to follow his passion. Although he never again finds the phenomenon, Byrne lives a fruitful and rewarding life while pursuing his quest. Wharton’s story serves to remind us that we should spend our precious little time in life to pursue our passions instead of wasting it away with something we do not truly enjoy. On August 17, 1898, Doctor Byrne slid into a crevasse while on an expedition in the Canadian Rockies. This mishap made him realize how precious his life was at that very moment. The danger his life was put into and the fact that there was a possibility of death made his life much more valuable at the time. During these slow painful moments he saw a “pale human figure, with wings” (11) embedded in the ice. The appearance of this phenomenon sparks a fascination in Byrne that he eventually dedicates the rest of his life to. His near-death experience triggered a midlife crisis of sorts where he realized how fleeting life truly was. After the incident is resolved, it is clear Byrne is unhappy with the life that he was living. In his journal he writes about this when he says “(I had) doubts about the meaning of the life I was pursuing. Doubts about marriage and family life…which in my case persisted and grew into irrational fears.” (54). Byrne eventually leaves his wife and quits his career in botany and medicine. While it may seem extreme to the reader how quickly Byrne decided to throw away his old life, it is important to note the mental state he was in. Byrne did not believe that he was living a fulfilling life, and given his near-death scare, no longer wished to continue a life where he wasn’t satisfied with his career. Byrne realized how quickly his life was passing by and how the time he had spent did not engage him on a scale similar how much the angel in the ice fascinated him. Once Byrne begins his journey to rediscover the frozen angel, it becomes increasingly clear that he was completely enthralled by the work he was now doing. It seems strange given the fact that his life had more or less collapsed following his decision to pursue this quest. However, it only serves as testament to the fulfillment one can gain when following their passions. Byrne’s contentment at his new life is illustrated when Wharton writes “He smiles. I’ve learned a lot from the glacier itself. A way of looking at the rest of the world. Patience. Control of the emotions.”(189) By mentioning the lessons he has learned since starting his new life with a smile, it is clear that Byrne has made peace with his decision to leave his old life behind. His decision to pursue this new life is validated by the new memories he has gained, memories he remembers with fondness. It is also important to note that he reflects on “patience” as a lesson he has learned from his icefield experiences. Given the context of life passing us by quickly, we must consider why Byrne adopts patience as a lesson. I believe Byrne’s newfound patience was due to his love and engagement in his new life’s work. With something he could truly sink his teeth into; Byrne no longer was concerned about how much life he had left to live. His only stake now as far as time was concerned was if he would be able to spend all the time he had left doing something he cared about. This shift illustrates how we can be unscathed by the perception of time passing us by, as long as we spend that time doing something we truly love. The end of this story revalidates the sense of accomplishment and satisfaction that Byrne gained from his new life. Byrne eventually finds the tin of flower specimens he dropped when he first fell into the crevasse. The seeds had miraculously started growing into flowers, an impossibility given the climate of the icefield, and the fact that it had been 25 years since he lost it. The event is a metaphor for the satisfaction and happiness Byrne achieved in his lifetime. When he first dropped the tin, it symbolized his life before he chased his passions – mundane and by all accounts dead. However, the flowers at the end represent how beautiful his experiences had been after giving up on his previous life. The flowers were full of life, a beautiful impossibility. The presence of the flowers also reflects on the fleetingness of life. The growing flowers takes the reader back to the beginning of the novel when Byrne first dropped it, making it feel as if only a small amount of time had passed in the story. In actuality, it had been 25 years, again making the reader contemplate the quick passage of time. Hence, the book ends on a positive note, a validation of Byrne’s life and decision to chase after what he loved.
In an interview titled “The Iceman Cometh Across: an Interview with Thomas Wharton” by Herb Wyile, Wharton himself describes how life is short and how quickly it passes us by.
He states that “One of the reasons I write is my fascination with the complexity of life around us at any moment of our lives… how all these things pass into the past so quickly, leaving us with just traces to hang onto.” Wharton’s views on life and the past can be seen in the character Byrne, who often reminisces about the past. Some of Byrne’s memories involve his mother, his seizures as a child, and his discovery of the angel artifact in the ice. These life-changing experiences seem quick and instantaneous to the memory, again illustrating just how quick life can pass us by. Wharton further describes his thoughts on the passage of time when he talks about his “fascination with the way things slip into the past and then we're left with trying to put together bits and pieces that we choose from the past… what is time, and how does it flow, and why does it seem to flow at different rates at different times in our lives.” It is also clear from this source that Wharton has a passion for the mountains and glaciers where “Icefields” is set. Wharton spent several years living in Jasper, and talks about this location in the interview, showing both fascination and knowledge in the subject. I believe that in creating Dr. Edward Byrne, Wharton infused a little bit of himself into the character. In “Icefields”, following the crevasse incident, Byrne dedicates the rest of his life to his passion – the icefields and the angel. Similarly, Wharton wrote a book about Jasper and the mountains, a place he once called his home. It is clear that Wharton has a genuine love for the location he decided to set “Icefields” in. Both men dedicate their professional lives on a subject that they were passionate about and intrigued by. Given Wharton’s love of the mountains and his fascination with the seemingly quick
passage of time, it is easy to see where he got the idea for Byrne’s decision to drop everything in his life and become a glaciologist. It fits perfectly into the theme of following your passions because life is short.
Another text we can use to analyze this novel would be “The Melting of Time” by Claire Omhovere, a review and analysis of “Icefields”. Omhovere also points out the significance of time and the human perception of time, relating time to the actual setting of the book. She quotes the book, a passage about the icefields as “a time machine…both a history and a memory (217).” Omhovere attributes this to the history-bearing nature of an icefield. Built over thousands of years, every layer of an icefield holds a snapshot of a time long ago. When I view the icefields in this perspective, it is hard not to feel that our lives are extremely short. After all, a mere single layer of an icefield could hold an entire lifetime of history. The entirety of an icefield, therefore, holds millenniums of memories, more than any individual could know or comprehend. The vastness of the history of the icefield makes one reconsider just how long one human lifespan is. When faced with something monumentally huge, we as humans feel small and insignificant. The same could be said of Dr. Byrne, who was absolutely enthralled by the sheer size of the icefields. The vast history of the icefields makes Byrne reflect just how short his own life is. It serves as motivation for Byrne to spend every waking moment working on something he loves. Omhovere against discusses how quickly one’s life can pass by when she discusses a passage from the end of the story. In this passage, Byrne finds a sea urchin shell while exploring the icefields. This discovery triggers a flashback of himself as an 11-year old child, reminiscing about the death of his mother. In this memory, Byrne sees his mother standing on a beach, waves motioning back and forth. This draws a parallel to the beginning of the story, when Byrne first falls into the crevasse after being distracted by ice patterns that looked like waves. By contrasting Byrne’s experiences in his twilight years to his memories as a child, the reader gets a sense of just how quickly Byrne has aged. Though Byrne was now almost a senior citizen, he still grieved for and remembered his mother. Out of all the nightmares Byrne had throughout the story, his mother was the only person he could see distinctly, as if he still had a crystal clear memory of her. This again reinforces the notion that Byrne’s life had passed rapidly, seeing as he could still “remember like it was just yesterday”.