The Arctic Circle/Barbeau Observatory

The chapters of the novel told from Augustine's perspective take place on Ellesmere Island, which is within the Canadian section of the Arctic Circle. He and Iris occupy the top floor of the Barbeau Observatory before they relocate to the outpost at Lake Hazen in Chapter 9. From the observatory, the snow-capped peaks of the Cordillera Mountains are visible. The author describes the arctic's endless miles of snow as a "blank canvas" (4) whose monotony caused Augustine mental anguish. She goes on to explain that "everything was hard. Bleak. As unforgiving as the edge of a diamond, with great shelves of ice that never melted and the ground that never thawed" (7). The arctic is a punishing environment most months out of the year, freezing and isolated and dark, and it is symbolic of the dark time that Augustine is experiencing as he nears the end of...