Una's Search for Religion in Naslund's Novel, Ahab's Wife
Herman Melville's Moby Dick is a novel filled with references to the Bible and God. In writing Ahab's Wife, Sena Naslund could not ignore Melville's biblical allusions. Naslund's novel is a reaction to Moby Dick, and therefore Una does not accept Melville's omnipresent religion. She cannot bring herself to belief in the basic tenants of Christianity, and is constantly searching for a new community, or philosophy that will embrace her ideals. Una is on a journey and her quest is to find a religion that suits her life and her experiences.
Brought up in Kentucky by a fanatical father who is determined to force her to believe in his religion, Una has is repulsed by his beliefs. From a very young age Una refuses to give into him and accept his doctrines, no matter what the cost is to her. Early on in the novel the reader is exposed to Una's thoughts on religion, "Whether there was God or not, I admitted I did not know, but it was Jesus as God, or the Son of God, that seemed to me highly unlikely" (20). She loves the idea of spirituality and God, and wants to have her own religion, but she cannot find one that is based in humanity. In looking back to the early days of her quest Una readily accepts ordinary objects as G says, "The lighthouse itself became my church, my single tall tree trunk, my faith in stone and earth, and eventually, my conduit to the sky" (23).
As her life goes on, Una tries to find religion through philosophy, then through different churches, and groups. A very intellectual woman, Una discusses her theories, and thoughts with many people that she encounters, first her aunt and uncle, then Kit and Giles, and eventually Ahab. When she goes to Nantu...
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...not see a religion that caters to that. In admitting their shared beliefs together, and Una witnessing Ahab's tirades to God, they have formed their own church of two. Their house on Nantucket is their church, with their bed as the altar, and Ahab is the preacher, though Una has her share of sermons, and the cupola as the steeple, from which they can look out at the stars and the heavens, and be closer to God. They have no need of anything else, they understand each other and their beliefs, and therefore have filled their religious void.
Works Cited
Melville, Herman. Moby Dick. New York: W.W. Norton & Company Inc, 2002.
Naslund, Sena Jeter. Ahab's Wife. New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc, 1999.
Work Consulted
Richardson, Alan. Studies in English Literature. The Quest in English Romantic Poetry. 1500-1900, Vol. 25, No.4. Rice University:1985;
...ke the other Puritans, Hope is able to follow her conscience and trust in her heart. When Nelema is imprisoned for her unorthodox method of healing of Cradock on Hope's behalf, Hope extricates Nelema from the authorities. After Magawisca is taken captive due to a promised rendezvous between Faith and Hope, Hope finds a way to rescue Magawisca from prison. Although Hope loves her sister and wishes to keep her home, she respects the sanctity of Faith's Christian bond with Oneco, albeit Catholic, and is happy for Faith when Oneco rescues her. Hope transcends the Puritan religion and embraces a universal religion, respecting others' differing relationships with God as holy. Hope, unlike her society, rejects strict adherence to religious tenets and follows her own heart.
Ward & Trent, et al. The Cambridge History of English and American Literature. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1907–21; New York: Bartleby.com, 2000
The incestuous nature of story telling which is featured in Ahab's wife is reminiscent of the Anne Sexton's poem, Briar Rose. Una is in a constant search for sustenance. Her mind as cannot exist without the hope of learning and engulfing knowledge. As a child, it was the occupation of her father to appease her insatiable appetite. This was done with stories and the boundless possibilities she was allowed to find within the recesses of her mind. As time progresses and Una grew, her father started to question the conclusions and presumptions that these internal scavenger hunts were building within her.
Ward & Trent, et al. The Cambridge History of English and American Literature. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1907–21; New York: Bartleby.com, 2000
... of Eden: Four Essays on the Design of Old English Poetry. Alvin A. Lee. Yale University Press, 1972. 171-223. Rpt. in Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism. Ed. Dennis Poupard and Jelena O. Krstovic. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale Research, 1988. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 13 Jan. 2014.
3. Ellmann, Richard. Modern Poems: A Norton Introduction. p. 797-803. W.W. Norton and Company, 1973.
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equates her time on the reservation to a spiritual self-discovery that absolutely needed to take
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