Wicked #4

Throughout the entire book, Elphaba has a strong aversion to water, saying that it burns her skin. I believe that this is a metaphor for her aversion to being baptised. Elphaba's Family is extremely religious. Her father is a holy man who preaches about the Unnamed God, and her sister grows up to be a follower of the Unnamed God, going on long rants about morality and religion to anyone who will listen (she eventually becomes a religious leader for all of Munchkinland). Elphaba always questioned religion and claimed that there was no Unnamed God, though not speaking of this to her family. Her aversion to water is her aversion to religion and her family forcing religion onto her. Because water is the symbol of baptism, the first step in becoming a religious person, Elphaba feels a biological fear and hatred towards it.