The novel commences with a very slow passing of events.. We, as the reader, are introduced into his figment imagination: the exaggerated setting and characterization of the bible. Though the use to re-read many of the passages was necessary, I found it hard to remember all the names of the characters that Findley has associated names, which are additional details contrasting the bible. There is a fair amount of description of Doctor Noah Noyes and his family upon the awaited arrival of Yaweh ("The Almighty God") in the first chapter of the book. Through the point of view of third person omniscient, Findley is proficient to record what can be seen or heard in the novel, and does not try to step into the shoes of one of the characters.
In the development of characters that I comprehended in the first twenty-eight pages, Mrs. Noyes caught my eye by a great deal. Perhaps, like the rest of the characters, she has a first name, but to this point of reading it is not revealed. In the first chapter, Noah seems to be a strong, dominant character, proving that feminine superiority is not likely to be tolerated much in that era. Though she has many strong, valiant opinions of her own, Mrs. Noyes is simply "afraid" (p.21) to play against such a loss cause. She is "afraid of her anger, and she [does] her best to subdue it in the twilight. She [is] afraid of all the things she [wants] to say -- and might: the things she [wants] to do and [cannot]. She [is] afraid of her ignorance: her fear of all the things she [doesn't] know, but [feels]," (p.21) but what I find she is most afraid of herself. Upon the repetition of the word afraid, Mrs. Noyes admits to the fact that she feels alone and worrisome by keeping