ATDTDA (5): Scarcely enough of us, 139-141

[Paul Nightingale]

With the descent of the Inconvenience: "We must have looked to them like
interchangeable insects scurrying beneath". Cf: "... those features left
behind on the ground having now dwindled to all but microscopic size" (3)
and other examples, passim. From the outset the novel has juxtaposed
different (ie macrocosmic and microcosmic) 'levels' of representation. In
the current section, the "we" of FV's narrative implicitly precludes the
ship's crew: the "picnic" with which the chapter opens (138) has an
ideological function, to establish the refinement of the participants, to
create a 'world' without 'menials'. The choice here of Journal--a
first-person narrative in which the author 'speaks to himself'--helps to
make this point about class prejudice.

And so "we" are exposed to the song, followed by the loss of stature implied
by "interchangeable insects scurrying": not just "insects" but
"interchangeable", so a loss of stature and a loss of 'individuality' both.
And then, "we" speak as one in "reassur[ing] them repeatedly" (139). 

Once aboard the airship FV brings "scientific objectivity" (138) to his
meticulous description of the setting (140-141). His Journal also allows the
reader to 'meet' Chums as though for the first time; and Chick for one
appears 'older' than heretofore (the airship itself continues to 'grow').
"Dr Counterfly" monopolises the conversation; although there is an
interruption from "Mr Suckling", still "a junior officer" (140, the age
stratification of the opening chapter still in place). If the Inconvenience
has increased in size, its reliance of the latest technology has also
increased. Cf: the moment when the "new Tesla device" arrived (106), or even
the way orders "had arrived with the usual lack of ceremony" (113).

Chick's announcement continues to undermine the earlier--and
short-lived--certainty of FV's narrative: "{Y]ou could have chosen no site
more perilous" (139). Again, we might recall the sailors' song: "For we
sail/With no sure returning" (126); and we might recall the repetitious
nature of doubts cast regarding the Captain's sanity, a lack of 'faith' in
leadership. Recalling Blinky's advice to his captain (M&D, 35), one might
conclude that those in charge here have indeed "fuck[ed] up". Given the
descriptive detail when aboard the airship, what is striking, perhaps, is
the lack of observation outside: "Did none of you suspect an artificial
structure?" (139). And then, top of 141: "At this point, Science Officer
Counterfly advised us that the Special Ray Generator had come up to speed,
enabling us to view the 'nunatak' in a different light, so to speak." That
concluding "so to speak" announces a pun that, perhaps, embarrasses the
author by bringing him 'into' his text; it also confirms that the certainty
of a singular vision has been undermined.