Isn't it meant to be an allegory? I thought the writing was beautiful.

Must confess that I've always hated passive voice myself, and keep it active by using first person wherever possible. Tends to remind me of twee neo-biblical forms of language: "It so happened that..." or "It came to pass..." - that sort of thing. Sets my teeth on edge and is totally contrary to my literary ambitions. In my professional life (I'm a freelance management consultant and also lecture to MBA students), I also avoid passive voice. In reports to clients, use of passive voice would indicate that change would occur without any direct human intervention or cost - always a dangerous assumption to make.

However, as a little exercise I did once write a short story composed almost entirely of passive voice, and found that it can be effective if things are happening that your narrator either cannot explain (as if they believe the actions are the result of supernatural forces), cannot assign to another character, or which happen as if by magic without awareness of the human element causing them (eg. buildings shoot up when you've been away for a few months, grass in the park is cut, a letter arrives)...but then, much of that is cliched too, to be avoided where possible. The story itself was crap and therefore met the trashcan with a little help from its owner, but that was almost incidental to the experiment!

Andy

Andy, I rejoice to hear that you fight against passive voice in your professional writing and teaching! Long may you do so.

Emma

Moby Dick rules, and so does Melville!

Joe