Alright, so, I wrote something. I am remarkably proud of myself because I added drawings, and also memes. Please read my work solely for the memes.
Here is an analysis on ASD (autism spectrum disorder) and how it presents in the novel, Not Wanted on the Voyage by Timothy Findley, and it goes over stuff like how:
Several characters in the novel are, to varying degrees of intensity, autistic-coded.
Several recurring themes in the novel would resonate very strongly with an autistic audience (me. I am the autistic audience)
The various environments presented in the novel and their cultural differences are very interesting when used in an autistic reading of the book.
Other books that I wrote about in this analysis are the Pat of Silver Bush books, the Emily of New Moon books, and Anne of Green Gables, all by L.M. Montgomery! I talk about how all three series have very, very autistic-coded protagonists. I love them all.
This read would be useful if you’re looking for character analysis and an examination of the social structures in the setting of Not Wanted on the Voyage. It is published on two platforms, both with their pros and cons.
The academia.edu link is here.
The many Medium links are here:
An introduction.
An overview of NWOTV's setting.
Mottyl.
Ham Noyes (and Patricia Gardiner).
Mrs Noyes.
Lucy (and Emily Byrd Starr).
Hannah Noyes (and Anne Shirley-Cuthbert).
Concluding notes and sources.
On academia.edu:
If you need to cite this article for whatever reason, it’ll probably be easier to cite this link instead of Medium!
It’s! Colour-coded!
Unfortunately, I did not split up my essay at all so if you read on here prepare for a good deal of scrolling.
On Medium:
I could not figure out how to do colour coding on Medium. :( And they didn’t let me upload my colour-coded pdf.
On the bright side, the essay is split up into more manageable sections so it’s easier to read on here.
[EDITED] I HAVE SOLVED THE PROBLEM OF THE PAYWALL. The links attached in this Tumblr post all work. HOWEVER, the links attached within the articles are not as likely to work. (I tested them). I do not know how to fix that yet.
There are content warnings at the beginning of each section. Have fun!
The bird is supposed to be a yellow-legged thrush, but it doesn't really look like one because every time I draw birds they look like strange blobs. It sure does have yellow legs, though.
Here with this drawing of Lucy in her final magical girl transformation, I'm debuting my strangest take (so far) on what NWOTV angels look like. NWOTV angels are already so strange with their angels, given their unexplained webbed hands and feet, so it's not too much of a stretch to make them less humanoid and more Creature.
They're kind of like sheep! They have fluffy ears and green fur! They purr! I asked my friend whether she thought NWOTV angels were reptiles or birds or amphibians or mammals and she said, "mammals, like the platypus" so I'm assuming they're weird mammals now.
The flag on the second version is the queerplatonic flag, which is a headcanon I will hold onto until the day that I die.
At 20 years old, Mottyl is a wise cat who has lived a long hard life. Focused, principled, and conscientious, Mottyl is well-liked by most animals and makes friends easily.
She is an excellent mother.
See, in canon, Mottyl has two eyes but she’s blind in one eye and gradually going blind in the other one. But while drawing her I got so frustrated while drawing the other eye that I thought: “what if I just… didn’t.”
So.
Her moustache also had to go (but thankfully she has a beard). :( I’m devastated but there was just way too much stuff going on with her face already. Next time I draw her, she will also probably have less patterns.
Hannah, the wife of Shem Noyes, is unsentimental and strategic. Concerned with self preservation at all costs, she has become skilled at gaining favour with whoever happens to be the most influential person present at any given time. Past the dutiful front she puts up, Hannah is prickly, withdrawn, and prone to daydreaming.
Michael Archangelis is the model of a perfect angel. Thoughtful, deferential, and serious, Michael is a devoted son and an extremely competent soldier.
Lucy is the definitely human wife of Ham Noyes. Secretly a rogue angel posing as a human to experience life on earth, Lucy is restless (literally, she can’t stop fidgeting), adventurous, and easily delighted by anything interesting or unique. Headstrong and fearless, Lucy does as she pleases and can come across as a bit abrasive.
The book: this character has ‘reddish’ hair. This likely means reddish brown, like an auburn colour
Me: orange
The book: what
Me: highlighter orange
The book: but why
Me: Highlighter Orange
Anyways
Ham Noyes, the second son of Doctor and Mrs Noyes, is an enthusiastic astronomer and ecologist. Insatiably curious, passionate, and filled with wonder, Ham is a very intense person who listens to his heart first and his brain maybe occasionally. Having inherited his mother’s kindness, he wouldn’t hurt a fly- not if he can help it, that is.
He is married to Lucy, a random woman he found roaming in what is essentially his backyard.
Being only 11 years old and married off to Japeth, the youngest son of the dysfunctional Noyes family, Emma can be found either crying or on the verge of tears. Emma is an excitable, affectionate child with an active imagination, who is beginning to show an interest in tinkering and crafts. She is remarkably adaptive, empathetic, and strong-willed. Were it not for her terrifying circumstances, she would likely be a very cheerful person with a perpetual zest for life.
Japeth Noyes, the youngest son of Doctor and Mrs Noyes, is easily the edgiest person in the entire cast. Ever since he was recently dyed blue by mysterious means, he has become surly, aggressive, and unpredictable. He was once a very trusting child.
He is married to Emma, an arrangement which fails to spark joy for anyone.
Mrs Noyes, the matriarch of the Noyes household, has the unenviable job of keeping her family members alive and functional. She's a very nervous lady who tends to doubt her own judgement; she's resourceful and inventive, and clever enough to be very aware of how little she knows. Above all else, she is compassionate.
Her best friend in the whole wide world is her cat, Mottyl, and she loves playing the piano.
Every day I come closer to my wonderful dream of completing a little family tree picture for the Noyes family.
Kira and Thomas, hands down my two favourite characters from the Giver quartet. They were so fun!
…in Gathering Blue.
They break my heart in a very special way because their relationship is written exactly the same way 11 year old me would have written them. 11 year old me would have written a pair of best friends who love each other dearly, only to pair them both off with obligatory love interests and separate them forever.
Anyways
Kira won my heart over so so quickly. Early on in the book when she was having a staredown with the village women who wanted to feed her to wild animals so they could have more storage space, there's a moment when some of the women look away and Kira was like, "Good, that means they're weak" and I instantly cracked up. It's such a small moment but so relatable. I can so clearly see Kira as a little kid being unable to hold eye contact because it's too intense and uncomfortable, but as she gets older she transitions into staring intently into other people's eyes as a flex in order to Win the social interaction.
Unlike with Kira I don't have a specific moment that made Thomas stand out to me, I'm just fond of his general characterization. I like the scenes that made him out to be inventive and a good teacher (his meeting with Jo, him helping Kira study), as well as the ones where he's characterized as good with kids, but more stern than Kira. Also extremely fond of how whenever the plot demands that the characters notice an interesting noise, Thomas keeps being the first one to point it out. I just think it’s cute.
Kira has blue eyes in canon. So I first drew her with blue eyes. Then for some reason I hated it so I decided: never mind. She no longer has blue eyes. Canon may say that she has blue eyes but I will ignore that. I do not see.
The thought process behind the colours was: Kira has a purple pendant so Thomas wears purple because they're best friends who match. Thomas has green eyes so Kira wears green because they're best friends who match.
...at least Thomas is SUPPOSED to have green eyes. They don't look very green here.
It’s the last day of pride month so I must post this. Also included is a list of every single queer Not Wanted on the Voyage headcanon that I can think of off the top of my head right now. The headcanons listed in bold get a long rambly entry dedicated to them.
Mottyl: aro, trans
Japeth: bi
Doctor Noah Noyes: bi
Mrs Noyes: ace. my english teacher said that she thought Mrs Noyes was ace and I was like sure why not.
Michael Archangelis: ace. homophobic and gay, so deep in the closet he’s maybe two steps away from finding Narnia. Shoutout to my friend who said that she ships him with the NWOTV universe's version of Cain so that they can bond over wanting to kill their siblings.
Shem: aroace. See page 235.
Hannah: so homophobic that she circles back around to being gay again.
Lucy: trans (CANON), aroace
Ham: aroace, whatever he is he’s probably not cis
Crowe: lesbian. I’ve decided this for no reason but just trust me guys I’m correct
Mottyl
I like the idea of Mottyl being aromantic because of… vibes. And I like the idea of Mottyl being trans because there’s this one scene where Mottyl wonders why she has never seen a calico male, and Mrs Noyes responds:
“‘There can’t be any calico males,’ Mrs Noyes had said. ‘Don’t ask me why; it simply isn’t possible. Doctor Noyes said his experiments have proved it- and furthermore, he says, if there were to be a calico male, it would be a miracle. And we all know how many ‘miracles’ there are. Real ones, at any rate’” (Findley 197).
The funniest thing Mottyl could have done in response is go, “wanna bet” and come out as trans. I think this idea could also be really sweet, with Mrs Noyes saying that a calico male’s existence would be a miracle, since so far in the novel her associations with the concept of miracles is A) her husband’s poor attempts at fraud and B) Actual Literal God using magic God powers to drown everyone. Mottyl being a calico male would be a little reframing of miracles of sort; there is no trickery or magic or authority from Actual Literal God involved, it’s just a random cat who is trans. Sometimes just existing can be a miracle. Miracles can be found in the mundane. That’s already a theme in this book actually so it could work quite nicely.
Also this book is severely lacking in good dads. I count one (1) good dad in this book, he’s Emma’s dad, he shows up for like, two minutes and then dies immediately. If Mottyl is trans he can be the obligatory One Good Dad. Mottyl would be such a good dad. She’s already a good mom but she would also be a good dad, she can be both. Whenever I picture her I picture some middle-aged balding man wearing a cap and khaki shorts and he’s standing over a grill and posing for photos holding fish larger than his head.
Japeth
Does Japeth like boys? Yes. I don’t need to come up with any original ideas I can just start citing things here.
“Japeth had his mind on Michael Archangelis- a figure of glory unlike any he had ever dreamed could exist. The great angel’s height- his strength- his golden hair- and his armour presented the most dazzling images of manhood that Japeth had ever encountered” (Findley 71). -> From the book
“Even more problematic are the implications of Japeth’s obviously homoerotic attraction to Michael Archangelis; Japeth’s infatuation leads him to emulate the most violent and life-denying traits of the warrior hero” (Lamont-Stewart 122, emphasis mine). -> Androgyny as Resistance to Authoritarianism in Two Postmodern Canadian Novels. https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA465696093&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=00271276&p=LitRC&sw=w&cookieConsent=true&analyticsOptout=false&userGroupName=anon~6689fa2c&aty=open-web-entry
“This worship of Michael Archangelis is couched in erotic terms: ‘a figure of glory’ and a ‘dazzling image of manhood’- but this yearning is disguised…” (Martell 108). -> Unpacking the Baggage, “Camp” Humour in Timothy Findley’s Not Wanted on the Voyage. https://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/canlit/article/view/193376
Japeth’s infatuation with Michael Archangelis- who I will call Mikey-A from now on because I refuse to just call him Michael and I’m tired of typing out his full name- keeps cracking me up. On one hand it’s kind of cute, it brings to mind the image of some kid watching Mulan for the first time and immediately falling head over heels for General Shang. On the other hand this is the most inconvenient crush ever, imagine falling for the brother of your sister-in-law who is also your sworn enemy, and also you’re both boys and your crush is homophobic.
“Does Japeth like girls” is a much harder question to answer because uhhhh. There is one scene which implies that Japeth has some interest in Hannah, he’s described as staring at her with “open longing” (Findley 233). So that’s it, right? Hannah is a girl, Japeth likes Hannah, case closed.
The problem with this scene is that it is narrated by Noah, who frequently lies, projects his own feelings onto literally everything, and is incorrect about most things. Every single time he narrates a part of the book I start doubting everything. I think my theory of Noah being incorrect gets more likely when you look at the scene that comes immediately after:
“‘Take your eyes off that woman,’ Noah said.
Japeth had not been aware that his father was staring at him and he sat bolt upright- his soup spilling down into his lap and bits of fish laid out along his lower lip.
He drew his hand across his mouth: confused. ‘Sir?’ he said.
‘Keep your eyes where they belong. In your head.’
‘I don’t understand you, father.’
‘You were feeding on that woman’s shape. I saw you.’ Japeth swallowed hard and started to choke. Noah ignored this- and turned to Shem.
‘Haven’t you noticed your brother’s attentions to your wife? What sort of husband are you?’
Shem looked at Japeth and shrugged.
‘He’s a child, father.’ (Noah’s attentions to Hannah had by no means gone unnoticed- but Shem could not mention these.)” (Findley 234).
I’m a big fan of how every time Noah says anything, everyone on the Upper Decks is like:
Seeing as how no one but the famously unreliable Noah thinks that Japeth has any sort of interest in Hannah (not once in Japeth’s perspective do we ever get any hint of anything), I think it’s safe to say that Noah is wrong. Also in my mind Hannah is like… Japeth’s mean older sister figure.
This has been a long and rambly way of saying that there is no textual evidence of Japeth liking girls- but headcanons don’t need textual evidence! I still think that he’s bi! …mostly because I looked at the colours on the bi flag and then I thought, yeah! Japeth would like those colours. I like those colours… I love this flag. That’s how I decide most headcanons actually I just stare at various flags and assign them to characters based on how well the colours fit.
Noah
“Yaweh said; ‘We have no truer friend on earth than Noah Noyes- and We thank him for his hospitality…’
Noah nodded and waved his hand as if to deprecate the compliment.
‘…and We thank him for his friendship…’
More nodding; more waving.
‘...We thank him for his loyalty…’
Again.
‘...We thank him for his love.’
Noah rose to his feet and touched his forehead and his lips in honour of his guest.
‘Hear, hear,’ said Michael Archangelis.
Sarah stared hard at Noah and Noah sat down” (Findley 82).
Sarah:
After the whole flood things happens Noah spends allllll his free time pining over his buddy God and misinterpreting random weather events as Yaweh speaking to him. And it’s like, no buddy, he’s not going to text you back. Because he's dead.
I believe that everyone in this book would be much happier if Noah and Yaweh simply started dating, it would be like this I think:
If the whole flood ordeal didn’t exist, Lucy and Ham would not get married. Instead they would team up and orchestrate an elaborate Parent Trap plot to get their two horrible fathers to marry each other. I have never actually watched the Parent Trap, I don’t know what happens in it.
Hannah
Hannah and Lucy hardly ever interact but every time they mention each other it’s… bizarre…
“IN THE MEANTIME, during all this hectic and furious activity, Ham and Lucy were married. Doctor Noyes rebelled against it- Hannah would not speak of it and Japeth was furiously jealous” (Findley 114).
“‘It means we’re alone down here,’ said Lucy. ‘That’s what it means. Us and the animals. And if you want my opinion, frankly I don’t give a damn. Better alone down here than ‘together’ up there with Highfalutin’ Hannah’” (Findley 208).
“Just about the time Lucy settled, another figure as white- though bloodied- appeared from the Castle and walked towards the side of the ark about ten paces from where Lucy sat.
Nothing was said. Lucy evinced neither anger nor surprise that one of her prisoners was walking freely on the deck, and Hannah gave no sign that she was alarmed by the presence of so many bees. Neither woman greeted the other- both maintaining their long-established coolness. It was barely obvious that one existed for the other, so discreet were their reactions- a tilt of the head- a pause before movement: nothing more” (Findley 331).
And to all this I say: what on earth happened offscreen? Why do these two girls have a “long-established coolness”? These two hardly ever interact and whenever they do they always have beef with each other! Normally when two female characters hate each other for no reason I get very annoyed but in my opinion the relationships between most of the female characters in this book are really interesting, so Lucy and Hannah’s weird baffling tension is so out of the norm that it’s baffling to the point where I can’t even be annoyed with it. And why is Hannah so invested in Lucy’s marriage? Noah and Japeth both have motives for getting upset about the whole marriage thing but I was under the assumption that Hannah was so far removed from the drama that she would be ambivalent at best to the whole situation. But for some reason, the concept of Lucy and Ham getting married is enough to upset Hannah to the point where she can't even bear to speak of it.
In conclusion: Hannah is in love with Lucy and upset about it. This, alongside Hannah’s actions and general personality, makes her generally unpleasant to be around.
In conclusion: Mr. Brightside
My headcanon for Hannah is that she is a lesbian who is adamant that straight people don’t exist. There has never been a single person in the history of the earth who is attracted to the opposite sex and every single married couple is only married to fulfill their duties of, like, having children or whatever. Hannah has also never had a single experience that might cast doubt into this worldview because during this book she never meets a single straight couple with any semblance of romantic chemistry. If you sat down with her and spent a good long while debating with her, you might be able to convince her that straight men exist. The concept of a straight woman would short-circuit her brain.
