Sena Jeter Naslund seems
to be presenting a new type of Ahab, in order to match his wife Una in
Ahab's wife. If brought back into Moby Dick's context, I would say that 'gentle-loving'
Ahab would not quite fit the profile drawn out of Melville's portion of Ahab.
However, Una might fit the blur character of the wife who is awaiting him back
home. I would imagine Ahab's wife would be at least patient if not loving. She
has to be patient, in order to wait for a husband who is so obsessed with
travelling and with such a specific long-distance target (i.e. Moby Dick). I
would also assume that a wife who has realized her husband is searching a 'needle
in a haystack' (i.e. within the vast ocean) must be understanding, perhaps
even still somewhat loving, as Naslund seems to have chosen to portray. Una is
presented as one still enfatuated by her husband's power, wondering "does
one question the genie?" (Naslund 361). This may indicate a wife who is
eagerly, blindly perhaps, still drawn by her husband's charisma. Una's 'genie'
reminded me of the charismatic unquestionable genie in Disney's Aladdin
(1992), and one of the memorable quotes "Pateince Iago, patience"
suggesting all eventually comes down to being patient.
Still, I'm not sure
about the 'macho' husband kind of character who has invested in Melville's version, all his energy and
emotions into someone other than his human wife, now being so tender and sympathetic. I personally sense
that this kind of Ahab would be inconsistent with Melville's Ahab. There are
some aspects felt right though, for example Naslund Ahab's notion of hope,
being like a sinking whale, making the sailor thinking he has lost his prize,
only to realize at last minute he has risen back from the depths granting him
his deserved prize (Naslund 362).
Nevertheless, reading Ahab replying to
Una "but now I'm with my love" (Naslund 363) when she reminds him
of his duty to the waiting ship, sounds quite unreliable to me. This is not a
kind of dialogue I would expect from Ahab's wife, as patient as she still might
be.
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