Unas Search for Religion in Naslunds Novel, Ahabs Wife...

Unas Search for Religion in Naslunds Novel, Ahabs Wife Herman Melvilles Moby Dick is a novel filled with references to the Bible and God. In writing Ahabs Wife, Sena Naslund could not ignore Melvilles biblical allusions. Naslunds novel is a reaction to Moby Dick, and therefore Una does not accept Melvilles 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.†¦show more content†¦And here was a road that went off at right angles, that could bend and double back, that was open to whatever sheep might wander into it (338). She appreciates the unconventional because she is not a typical person, or leading a normal life. Margaret Fuller later introduces Una to Transcendentalism, which is more like a philosophy than a religion, but that Una finds even better than Unitarianism. As the novel continues, and Una endures more tragedy and experiences more, her search changes. At first she views the lighthouse as God in the microcosm of her island. She and Frannie idolize the lighthouse and worship it, I allowed Frannie to kiss the lichen-crusted stone with her lips, as though he were an holy icon, the mighty thighbone of God, and I stood beside her and sang a hymn, such as they sang in my fathers church, God of Wisdom, God of Power, changing the words to suit me: Sign of Safety, Sign of Silence, Sing we to Thy Speaking of the Light, and thanked him many times for his palpable being (44). Here Una can relate the lighthouse to God because it is tangible, and earthly. She does not have to picture some abstract being, or create dogmas to accompany it, the lighthouse is merely a great object that represents a higher power. Una then begins to see God elsewhere. When she goes to Boston with her family, she sees religious icons in a shop, I imaged and prayed to them