"Ascension in the Moonlight" Response

The theme of Simon Winchester's "Ascension in the Moonlight" can be summed up in a term I would call the face of beauty. He presents the conflict fairly on: at least three weeks of nothingness, rolling on the waves. Opportunity presents it self by way of an unremarkable, wayside island that happens to have an airfield belonging to the RAF. One motif that the author emphasizes is that of isolation. The narrator finds himself on an island where the loneliness is nearly tangible. The only thing that appears to be on his mind is the imminent arrival of the jet: his ticket home. All of this changes during the night at the beach. There he witnesses sights that few can lay a claim to: Brazilian green turtles laying their eggs and a comet traversing the night sky. "And it was in that instant I realized something: that in this astonishing grand conjunction - of new friendship, of tropical warmth, of strawberries and cream and cool white wine, of white sand and sea swimming, and of Brazilian turtles, an eclipse of the moon and the rising of a comet - was perhaps the greatest wealth of experience that any one individual could ever know in one moment" (270). During this moment, the narrator only appreciates the beauty that he has witnessed in its entirety, and in one sense, he is removed from reality: of the airfield, the jet, and his home back in the bustle of civilization. That is the face of beauty. At one point, the author made great use of contrasts in respect to dialogue. The narrator is soaking wet and slumped on the top of the sea wall, and the greeting which he receives is only more striking due to the manner of the farewell only moments before. "Followed by the yell of Dosvidanya! from behind. And then, almost like a gentle whisper from my left, came another voice" (264). It would be remiss not to mention the author's clear skill with imagery. "Enormous swells and rollers crashed over these steps at regular intervals, completely immersing them, then draining away again in a rush of wild whitewater and fronds of streaming weed" (264). Both of these attributes lend characters a spark of "realness" and accentuate the beauty to follow, respectively.