The Voyage of the Narwhal by Andrea BarrettThe Voyage of the Narwhal is a novel by Andrea Barrett, which reveals many aspects of the search for fame and glory, in relation to the search for truth. When characters go on a journey with the same mission, it is the motivation of their different motivations for the expedition that separates their fates in the journey. It was the commander who, in the blindness of glory, led the expedition into tragedy and loss. Throughout this novel, the author reveals through the characters that the search for truth is more important than the search for fame and wealth. Barrett begins the novel with the crew loading the ship for the expedition, in search of the famous British explorer Sir John. Franklin and his men, lost in the Arctic. It was said that whoever found him would be assured of fame and glory. The expedition's young commander, Zachariah Voorhees, also called Zeke, is determined to search for the men lost for nearly a decade. Captain of the merchant ship for years, he now plans a journey across the Arctic and the discovery of places never seen before. The story is told from an omniscient point of view where the personal feelings and thoughts of different people are revealed in many ways. Erasmus Wells, a middle-aged man is the naturalist of Philadelphia. He joins the expedition partly because he hopes to make up for the dismal failure of a previous expedition, and secondly because his sister Lavinia is engaged to Zeke, so he serves as his protégé, as he promises. He hopes that during this expedition he will be able to gather enough information about the natural history of the region. This time he plans to bring something home from the trip. During Erasmus's previous expedition against Wilkes, none of his efforts are credited to him, when Wilkes writes a book and does not even mention him in it. Erasmus also fails after being engaged to his fiancée who, shortly before the wedding, dies of heart disease. He grew up studying plants and animals with three older brothers and a younger sister. His mother died shortly after Lavinia's birth, and as he was the youngest of three, he had to care for her. After so many failures in his life, perhaps this expedition was another chance for him to succeed...