Not Wanted on the Voyage

The world introduced as the setting is not limited by the expectations or assumed natural order associated with the time period traditionally ascribed to the flood. Instead, the Noyes family live in a world where animals talk and dragons, unicorns, fairies, and giants exist alongside novel interpretations of angels and demons. In order to understand the boundaries of this world steeped in magical realism, the reader must suspend both disbelief and expectation. The story begins in an afternoon in August following, some disturbing happenings, both natural and supernatural, which leave most of the characters unsettled and anxious.

The book begins with a palpable sense of urgency provided by the perspective of a “messenger”—a pink and ruby dove carrying a message from God himself to his old friend, Dr. Noah Noyes. After delivering her message, the dove flies over Noah’s head, cries out, and falls down, dying at his feet. Included in the message is the announcement that God himself is coming for a visit. Noah plans a sacrifice and his family sets about the preparations.

The Noyes family is a motley crew of individuals with little in common beyond their familial ties. Dr. Noyes is painted as a self-important, arrogant, mad scientist—quick to anger when he perceives disrespect, unpredictable in his propensity for abusive “punishments,” and taking sadistic enjoyment from conducting lethal experiments on newborn kittens. Mrs. Noyes is his counterpart, considered simple where he is thought to be brilliant, and dutiful and hardworking, where he is self-centered. Their three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japeth, are notably distinct in personality and interests. Shem, also known as the “Ox,” is a man of action, with nothing filling his mind beyond an immediate to-do list. Ham is a sensitive astronomer with a reverence for life his father does not respect. Japeth was once a friendly, trusting boy, but has recently experienced a mysterious traumatic event leaving him permanently blue. Shem’s wife, Hannah, works in the Orchard and is generally considered useful by Noah. Mrs. Noyes is less pleased with her, wanting more help than she receives from Japeth’s child-bride, the 11-year-old Emma. Emma is Mrs. Noyes’s assistant in the kitchen, longing only to play with her obnoxious dog, Barky, and be invisible—safe from both her husband’s sexual expectations and the reproaches of her in-laws.

Noah reads the letter in private, terrified by the ominous message: “WHAT HAVE WE DONE THAT MAN SHOULD TREAT US THUS?” (17). Beyond the horror and rage towards humanity that the missive implies, Noah worries at the question of why God would ask such a thing when he is God—why would God feel the need to explain his actions? 

Despite his reverence for life and vow not to harm a living thing, Ham is ordered by his father to perform the sacrifice, killing a lamb. Ham flouts the demands of the ritual by cutting his arm as well as the lamb, so that the blood that fills the ceremonial basin is equally his and the animal’s. This succeeds in saving the lamb, a feat Mrs. Noyes longed for but dared not attempt herself, and thereby risk her husband’s wrath.

Japeth, the youngest son, is quick to blame the women of the family when it appears that his wolves have not been given the water they need. In fact, they have water, but refuse to drink it. The toads and frogs are cleared out and water is replaced, but the wolves are strangely fearful of it and refuse to drink the clean water no matter what their master does. Meanwhile, Hannah, the wife of Shem, finds a bronze feather with curious properties—it displays different colors and will hover at any height it is tossed to, unencumbered by the laws of gravity. These events add to the growing list of the bizarre and worrisome happenings.

When Mrs. Noyes is finally is able to take a break from her preparations for Yaweh’s visit, she sees the fairies come towards the house. They buzz about, then tell her “watch,” before forming the shape of a knot. She practices making the symbol with her fingers so she will not forget it. Mrs. Noyes forgoes telling her husband of the events as she is certain that her experience would be dismissed and that she would be considered a fool for placing any significance on the actions of the fairies.

Mottyl, Mrs. Noyes’s beloved cat, seeks relief and distraction from her heat in the shady woods, where tales can be traded with other animals. On her journeys, she meets runs across various animals: Whistler, the hedgehog; Bip and Ringer, the lemurs; the Unicorn; and an unfamiliar cormorant. The animals in the woods alert Mottyl to “a presence,” which is considered to be a potential “rogue angel”, smelling of rotten eggs and boiling mud pots. They also announce that Barky the dog is dead. The Unicorn (a shy, goat-like creature) leads Mottyl to his body. A crown of flies—the sound and sign of certain death—is found on the corpse as expected, but underneath it lies curious bronze feathers, just like the ones that Hannah has been secretly keeping. The cormorant that Mottyl had seen proves to be an angel, who admits to killing Barky as she is afraid of dogs, foxes, and wolves—even dead ones. She turns Barky’s corpse to ashes with a ball of fire. Ham arrives soon thereafter, expressing familiarity with the angel. Mottyl quickly realizes that even though he’s the seen the entity before, he somehow has no idea that the seven-foot tall beauty with webbed fingers he calls “Lucy” is an angel. Lucy threatens Mottyl into keeping it that way. 

Dr. Noyes continues to receive ominous messages from God: “WE ARE IN A TOWERING FURY… WE ARE SPEECHLESS WITH HORROR… OUR HEART IS BROKEN AND WE WEEP WITH SORROW… WHAT HAVE WE DONE THAT MAN SHOULD TREAT US THUS?...” (47). 

Yaweh arrives with his retinue—a shuttered, black carriage, winged horses, and cages of animals the Noyes family has never seen before. The carriage, great as it is, is visibly damaged. God himself appears as a phosphorescent flower in the carriage accompanied by the pungent smell of “old, doused fires” akin to what one might find in a very old house (66). He takes 30 seconds to materialize and another 30 to acclimatize himself to his environs. The Almighty God, traditionally viewed as omnipotent and omniscient, is characterized here as arthritic, depressed, unkempt, and visibly confused. 

To Mrs. Noyes’s horror, she is humiliated after a well-meaning but presumptuous attempt to groom Yaweh. Hannah quickly gains his favor, remaining at his side throughout the course of his visit.

Yaweh is moved to tears at the sight of the beautiful garden, having been exposed to the ugliness of the world outside for so long. The weary God informs Noah that he has been ruthlessly attacked and killed seven times. The process of self-reanimation is one with which Noah seems familiar, and even well-practiced in, as the doctor makes an off-hand reference to “the Book,” which presumably contains the secret rituals for immortality. To his horror, Noah listens as God retells of the indignities he has suffered on the journey—the violent attacks, the murders, and the flinging of feces.

The family goes to work, leaving only Noah and the favored Hannah with God and his accompanying servants, much to Mrs. Noyes’s chagrin and jealousy. Exhausted and morbidly depressed, Yaweh slips into an afternoon nap as Hannah washes his hands and feet and sets about removing the smell of decay from his person with potpourri. Michael Archangelis and his two minions sit, perpetually ready for a battle, oiling their weapons and whispering of “the populace,” “decadence,” “disrespect,” and “harm.”

Ham reappears at the house with Lucy, professing his love for her and intention to be married to her, and asking his mother to speak to his father on their behalf. Despite her mixed feelings, Mrs. Noyes speaks to Noah to aid the happiness of her sensitive son, but Noah dismisses the idea out of hand, calling Lucy a whore and blaming Mrs. Noyes for Ham’s apparent inability to recognize her as such. Initially, Mrs. Noyes disagrees with the assessment, but appears easily convinced of his opinion. Meanwhile, Mottyl finds there to be something concerning about Lucy—specifically Lucy’s desire to hide her nature from Ham and her suspiciously-timed appearance just as Yaweh is visiting. Also intriguing is the fact that Lucy easily recognizes the 15 animals Ham had never seen before.

The horrifying story behind Japeth’s blue skin is revealed. Japeth displays symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in the form of involuntary vomiting, shaking, and crying spells. He had recently journeyed to the Cities in order to learn about sex so as to finally prove himself a man by consummating his marriage to his 11-year-old wife, Emma, upon his return. Before reaching the Cities, he had run afoul of the “Ruffian King” and his terrifying gang, who promptly prove to be cannibals, forcing him into a tub to marinate and trapping him there with the use of a lid. During a thunderstorm, Japeth nearly drowns as water finds its way into his lidded coffin through the air holes. He narrowly manages to break free of the tub by rocking until it falls over and open, spilling him and the soup of he’s marinating in onto the ground. As he makes his escape, Japeth finds the group eating the chef, who has apparently been struck by lightning. The horrible image of the Ruffian King sucking the flesh from the woman’s fingers spurs Japeth to ask Michael to make him into a warrior like him, so that Japeth will not have to fear again.

In addition to the coachman, footmen, and angels, Yaweh has brought Abraham and Sarah, his beloved cats. Despite their obvious affection for one another and the comparative calm brought on by his nap, Yaweh grows increasingly agitated by retelling the events of his journey, stating that he has only experienced love from Noah and his family. He contrasts the loyalty, reverence, and love of Noah and Hannah with a speech detailing the evils of mankind. Yaweh goes on to say that he must “throw himself on [their]”, then pauses in mid-sentence (90). Filling the gap with the assumption that he was about to say “mercy,” Noah interrupts, saying: “Tell us only what You would have us do. But do not speak of our mercy. Only show us Thine.” (90)

This pleases Yaweh, who had only intended to ask for hospitality while he recovered from his recent attacks. Meanwhile, Michael discovers one of the bronze feathers, and cryptically states, “so this is where he’s been hiding” (93).

In an effort to buoy the depressed God’s spirits, Noah performs magic tricks. While they amuse the other members of the party, Yaweh is unmoved, until Noah performs an illusion in which a penny under a glass bottle seems to disappear when the bottle is filled with water. The sheep sing praises to God, their song referencing a “river,” as Yaweh is transfixed at the disappearance caused “by the sheer application of water” (96). 

In an impressive show of skill, Noah goes on to recreate a telling of the Creation of the world. Towards the end, Ham appears in the role of Adam, with Lucy as his Eve. Michael immediately has suspicions as to Lucy’s identity but dares not disturb Yaweh’s newly-cheerful mood with his circumstantial evidence. The pleasant mood is not to last, however, as God tells a story about four wise men in an orchard. In the story, despite the warnings as to the power in words and the importance of avoiding their misuse, only one wise man emerged from the orchard intact. God becomes increasingly upset again, fixating on the end of the story and reiterating his laments that only one was able to emerge unscathed: “Only he, who knew not to reach out with his hands; who knew not to dwell upon the word; who knew not to fall upon the ground and eat—only he—only he…”  (100).

During the tale, Mrs. Noyes notices God using the word “me” instead of his usual “us.” She also finds herself making the shape of the knot the fairies had shown her with her fingers. Sarah, God’s cat, recognizes it as the symbol of infinity, and “knowing it to be among the Holy of Holies,” attacks her (100). The story disrupted, Yaweh asks to see the trick with the water and disappearing penny again.

The ever-vigilant and undefeated warrior, Michael Archangelis, is unsettled, as his intuition suggests that there is something sinister going on beneath the surface of the events in the pavilion. He recalls the outcome of his battle with Lucifer and the fact that he had lied to Yaweh about them. When asked where Lucifer’s star had fallen, Michael had answered “in hell,” rather than to earth. He suspects his brother has now become the woman known as Lucy, but does not have the heart to tell Yaweh of the possibility of this while he is “enfeebled and distraught,” fearing that the knowledge would push him over the edge (102). Michael is resolute that he can save God, presumably by killing Lucifer before he ever finds out the truth.

Michael finds a dragon so beautiful he believes it must be Lucifer and kills it, in a mix of wonder and horror. His belief that the matter is over is quickly corrected by Lucy, now confirmed to be Lucifer. When Lucy expresses concern for God after seeing him look so “old,” Michael informs her that Yaweh is dying. Lucy is quick to argue that such a thing is impossible, but Michael reminds her that Yaweh is God and if God wants to die, he can and quite possibly will. The two go on to argue about the cause of Lucifer’s fall, with Michael saying that Lucifer had the hubris to believe he was equal to God. Lucy insists that she had done no such thing, but had only dared to ask “why.” This, to Michael, is a crime enough of itself. As they part, she reminds Michael that only he can kill her and meets his departure with “a mixture of relief and regret” due to their shared bond of siblinghood, finding a form of devotion and even love in their antagonism (109). The narrator reveals that Lucifer had reportedly joined the human race for the pure purpose of survival, “to survive the holocaust in Heaven. In order to prevent the holocaust on earth” (110).

Meanwhile, Yaweh is still tearfully retelling the story of the orchard in the hopes that Noah understands the message—that it is monstrous for even the wisest to ask “why” or “how,” as doing so is trying to usurp God. Noah understands, but Yaweh continues to cry and pour the water in the glass bottle. At the end of this, he states that the true moral of the story is that “only the single chosen of the Lord may hear the Word,” and Noah is met with the chilling realization that he has just been chosen (110). Yaweh leads them to the orchard to reveal his plan to Noah. When they emerge from the orchard, Yaweh is smiling, but Noah is pale, drained, and sweaty.

Yaweh leaves his animals, including his cats, with Noah. Mottyl hears the sound of the crown of flies buzzing in the carriage. God is heaved into the carriage and the door shuts “with a hollow bang” (112). Only Mottyl realizes the significance of God entering the carriage with the crown of flies—he has just consented to his own death.