Not Wanted on the Voyage
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Not Wanted on the Voyage is a novel by Canadian author Timothy Findley, which presents a parody of the Great Flood in the biblical book of Genesis. It was first published by Viking Canada in the autumn of 1984.
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[edit] Plot summary
The novel's central character is Noah Noyes, an authoritarian doctor and father whose obsession with God's law leads him to neglect his family. His wife, Mrs. Noyes, is an alcoholic who talks to animals (including Mottyl, a blind cat who narrates part of the novel) and trains a chorus of singing sheep.
One day, an exhausted Yaweh visits Dr. Noyes. Yaweh is depressed to the point of willfully allowing himself to die, until he's inspired by a magic show Noah puts on to raise his spirits. Noah puts a penny under a glass bottle then fills the bottle with water. Due to refraction of the penny's image, the coin appears to vanish, but Yaweh becomes obsessed by the idea that the application of water can make things disappear. In fact, it can be argued that it was Noah who gave Yaweh the idea of killing the human race in the first place, when he thinks that Yaweh was going to say "'we throw ourselves upon your…' mercy" (p. 90, Penguin 1985 edition).
Soon Yaweh tells Noah to build an ark in preparation for the flood. Noah is resolutely obedient, but some in his family react negatively: Ham quickly marries Lucy, a mysterious seven-foot-tall woman with webbed fingers (a trait found only in angels, according to the novel) who is eventually revealed to be Lucifer in drag. Mrs. Noyes tries to save Mottyl, who Noah has decreed must stay behind since he's chosen Yaweh's own two pet cats to represent felines on the ark.
In the novel's telling, Noah is ultimately responsible for the loss of innocence and magic in the world. He fails to collect the Faeries and throws the demons off the ark. In a particularly gruesome passage, he sacrifices one of the unicorns in a ritual meant to force Japeth's young wife, Emma, to submit to her husband sexually. As a result of Noah's viciousness, animals lose the ability to speak.
[edit] Major themes
Some themes in this novel are:
-patriachy (Mr. Noyes)
-abuse of power (The way Mr. Noyes, and Japeth treat others..)
-feminism (Through the outbursts and rebellions of Mrs. Noyes)
-loss of innocence (The sexual ritual performed on Emma, as well as the murders that take place...)
-some form of homosexuality (through Lucy; a male angel disguised as a woman)
[edit] Characters
- Dr. Noah Noyes - the tyrannical patriarch who is also Yaweh's best friend and confidant.
- Mrs. Noyes - the gin drinking, piano-playing, subservient wife of Noah. She constantly rebels against her husband.
- Yaweh - old and irritable, Yaweh is angered and depressed at the state of humanity and seeks out Noah for hospitality.
- Japeth Noyes - the Noyes' youngest son, sex deprived and stained blue from a traumatizing encounter with outcast ruffians while on his journey to the City.
- Ham Noyes - the Noyes' middle son, intellectual and immature, completely unlike the rest of the Noyes family.
- Shem Noyes - the Noyes' eldest son, also known as the Ox, for his physical strength and dearth of thought.
- Hannah - the pregnant wife of Shem, who finds favor with both Noah and Yaweh due to her willingness to serve.
- Lucy - the seven foot tall geisha who mysteriously appears in the forest and became Ham's wife. She is secretly a male, fallen angel who diguised himself as a woman in order to save himself from the flood.
- Emma - the young and reluctant wife of Japeth.
- Lotte - Emma's sister, an "ape-child".
- Mottyl - Mrs. Noyes' loving blind calico cat, who was unfortunately the subject of many of Doctor Noyes' experiments.
- Crowe - Mottyl's best friend and later savior.
- Sarah and Abraham - Yaweh's cats, who are chosen as the two cats to board the ark.
[edit] Canada Reads
The novel was selected for inclusion in the 2008 edition of Canada Reads, where it was championed by actor Zaib Shaikh.
