Marine Biologist Sally Hunter Takes Us Deep Into The Open Sea With Transfigured Sea

Arroe Collins Unplugged and Totally Uncut

Sarah and Martha are women who live in the sea and on the coast. Their journey takes them through all aspects of the sea as they explore themselves and their relationship.

Transfigured Sea is a work of literary fiction, written in prose with a few poems included. Minimal use of dialogue facilitates its dream-like atmosphere. This relationship undergoes many difficulties, as they travel. In the deep seabed, they face themselves and discover the healing light of bioluminescence.

When Sarah finally walks back out onto the beach, she is full of stillness and silence. She is now self-sufficient and no longer dependent on the relationship with Martha.

The major characters include Sarah who is a poet and a biologist. She has problems with her mother, who believes poetry to be morally wrong. Her mother also dominates and stifles Sarah. Sarah finds a shell on the beach which has a visionary quality.

The other major character is Martha, sometimes known as the Sea Sprite. She was raped years ago, on land. She is gentle, but also self-centred. She makes sarcastic remarks and uses her wit to sidestep issues.

The third major character is the sea itself. The plants and animals in the sea often parallel the lives of the two women.

Themes include the role of the sea as a place of change and difficult personal growth. Another theme is the natural history of the ocean. The third theme is Ancient Greek mythology in terms of Nereides , or sea nymphs. They represent everything kind and beautiful about the sea and offer protection to those in distress. The settings are the various aspects of the sea, including the coast. These range from the beach to rocky coast, estuary, mangroves, shallow water, coral reef, open waters, Antarctica, a storm and the Deep.

On the shores of the ocean, Laura and Daphne fantasize that they are mother and daughter, mother and Sea Spirit. They both have problems in their past, which they need to resolve. They set out to explore every aspect of the sea, from an estuary and mangroves to Antarctic waters and the deep ocean. Mother Sea is a whisper of emotion and a memory of intuition. She dwells in the subconscious. Sea creatures abound, from sea urchins and stingrays to dolphins and sharks. Some of these parallel the behavior of the women. Sea nymphs accompany them and they are assisted by a special conch shell. While they are exploring the sea, the women also explore their own make-ups. Laura remembers interactions with her own mother. Daphne needs healing.

However, they have no idea of the profound changes which will come to them.