"Soroche" in Ship Fever (1996)
By Andrea Barrett
An anecdote about Darwin's travels prompts a widow to alter her lifestyle.
When her husband dies, Zaga begins to shed her upper-class lifestyle, one with which she never felt quite comfortable. Early in her marriage, Zaga, her husband and her stepchildren had gone to the Andes; while there, and suffering from both morning and altitude sickness, Zaga encountered Dr. Santiago, who told her an anecdote from Darwin’s Voyage on the Beagle. York Minster and Jemmy Button are two Fuegians brought onto the Beagle during the first stop in the region; one year later, after they have been “civilized” in England, they are returned to their tribe along with several trunks of consumer goods. Shortly after their return, Jemmy despairs of successfully reintegrating with his community, yet within a year, he is wearing the native garments and speaking their tongue. Although Zaga does not understand the significance of this story at the time she hears it, its meaning becomes clearer after her husband’s passing; she begins to shed the marks of “civilization,” giving away her inheritance until she is forced to care for herself.
The anecdote of Jemmy Button is often regarded as a moment in which the English shipmen attempt to impose a cultural hegemony, through their distribution of British goods and the reconditioning of the island natives. It may also be considered a sort of victimization of the natives, who seem initially unable to cope when returned to their tribes. Yet Zaga’s story offers an alternative perspective to this well-tread subject, in that if the experiences of Zaga and Jemmy Button parallel, then Zaga’s personal sense of triumph may better explain Jemmy’s transition. Jemmy claims to be content when Darwin revisits him, and although Darwin doubts this account when he finds Jemmy in native garb and without possessions, Zaga learns that by unfettering herself of the wealth that separated her from her family she is better able to return to her “tribe.” The wealth makes her unequal, one who is ironically more indebted to her relatives than she would be if she were poor and unable to provide them with money. Like Jemmy, Zaga chooses not to be a double outsider – an outsider in her native culture (her family) and an outsider in the adopted one, in which she is conspicuously different.
Evaluation: The relationship between science, scientists and those who study the discoveries is subtly illustrated in this collection. Rather than focusing on specific genetic issues, Barrett forces us to consider the impact of these theorists in nontraditional, seemingly non-scientific scenarios.
– Natalie Champ