Magic Realism Illuminates
Painting of Kemp’s ridley by Barbara Paleczny
by Timothy Paleczny
A Life on Water is Ardis Lowney’s story of sea turtle research in WWII Portugal and her extraordinary discovery at sea. While the story and the interactions between characters are realistic, the characters conjure up fairy tale-like, enigmatic elements that tilt reality to reveal a deeper understanding of the human condition.
A newly-graduated marine biologist, Ardis dreams of an ancient turtle that talks to her in a dream. This existential dream transforms her obsession with sea turtles into a quest to locate their nesting grounds and help them survive extinction. In this way, her bid to become an environmental steward who saves sea turtles is synonymous to saving the planet.
In times of uncertainty and fear, Xisco conjures the Adamastor, an ancient sea monster from Portuguese literature. He finds courage to fight the monster, a growth process that is emblematic of what a young person must do to find the inner strength that is needed to assert one’s agency as an individual. On learning of his heritage as a Marrano Jew, he seeks knowledge about his ancestors' faith. He learns about the unity of God, which reinforces the inner strength he has gained already from fighting monsters.
Carlos, a Catholic priest, is obsessed with the absurdity of life he discovers in the Old Testament books of Ecclesiastes and Job, the myth of Sisyphus, and the miracles of Fatima. Thwarted by his obsession with the absurdity of life, Carlos seeks answers from God on the beach at Santa Cruz but gets no reply.
Sam Meyer, a Jewish mining engineer, accuses Prime Minister Salazar’s fascist Estado Novo government of conspiring with Lisbon’s head of the Catholic Church, Cardinal Cerejeira, to use the Fatima miracles to distract and manipulate the Portuguese people. Sam claims the Fatima miracles are a hoax.
What are Salazar and Cerejeira afraid of?
As a nation, Portugal delivers a deep injury to its long-time ally Great Britain when it sells wolfram to the Nazis while the Nazis are bombing London. That wasn’t the issue. Salazar and Cerejeira were more concerned with the rise of communism, which could eat away their power base with the Portuguese people. Hence, the “secret” message of the Lady of Fatima was a warning about Russia and the communists.
Does Ardis save the planet?
Ardis’s involvement in spying, wolfram, the war, etc. become symbols of the distractions and weaknesses of humanity and the human condition that thwart her from saving turtles—as the turtle had predicted.
Ardis's efforts do lead to an amazing discovery of a particular sea turtle nesting practice that occurs in broad daylight—an en masse nesting that overwhelms predators. But she does not see the hatching.
Her voyage home becomes an allegorical voyage on a ship captained by Charon, who in Greek and Roman myths ferries souls to the afterlife. During this voyage, Ardis seals her induction into the underworld of spying, but doesn't arrive home.
A Life on Water sets the stage for a subsequent quest to find wisdom and articulate the human condition.
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