Summary

The 15th chapter is titled “Ice.” The landscape continues to change. There are fewer small islands. The mainland has large bays but few of the small inlets he saw during his early journey. He consider this a “world of giants” because of the “enormity” of this place. He remembers asking Old Carl once how many stars were in the sky. Old Carl said the stars could not be numbered and the sea cannot be measured. He stops to fish, very aware that he does not have the relative security of an island. However, he does not encounter bears. A large gray whale travels with him for days. He comes to believe the whale is female – the “ghost of his mother” (198). She stays near whenever he rests. He tries to “picture-remember his mother and reached out to touch-pet the nose of the...