The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Fiction

I really tried to like this book and I had heard a lot of good things about it. In an interview with the New York Times even Malala Yousafzai had said that it was her favorite book. As in Malala Yousafzai, winner of the Nobel Prize. Despite all this, frankly I was sort of disappointed.

            The Alchemist is about a boy named Santiago who leaves his life as a shepherd to try to look for treasure at the urging of a king. Through his journey, Santiago learns the importance of following one’s “Personal Legend.” Coelho talks about one’s “Personal Legend” a lot in the book which he describes as what one’s soul was meant to do. While traveling, Santiago finds a beautiful woman named Fatima. Santiago is tempted to stay with Fatima and stop looking for his treasure, but he eventually decides that he will go and come back for her, because not even love should stop him. Fatima contradicts Coelho’s belief in everyone having a “Personal Legend.” Fatima doesn’t seem to have a “Personal Legend” because the only thing she does during The Alchemist is wait for Santiago to fulfill his “Personal Legend” or she urges him to fulfill his “Personal Legend.” Fatima’s only purpose in the book is to serve Santiago so either that means that 1.) her Personal Legend is to serve Santiago or 2.) she hasn’t realized her Personal Legend yet. Both of these interpretations are problematic and the “woman as muse” or “woman as stay-at-home help meet” are familiar - and terribly annoying -- stereotypes.

If it is scenario 1.) her Personal Legend is to serve Santiago, Coelho contributes to a sexist belief that women were made to serve the men in their lives. This idea takes away Fatima’s autonomy as a person and her ability to make decisions for herself. Given that Fatima is one of the very few women in the novel (the other two being “Baker’s Daughter” and “Tricky Gypsy”), this means that Coelho is implicitly saying that women should be given a sort of second class status without their own personal struggles. But let’s say for the sake of argument that Coelho didn’t mean for Fatima’s “Personal Legend” to be to serve Santiago or for Fatima to be an individual at all.  Maybe he meant for them to be a metaphor for love or devotion so that Fatima-Santiago are actually mirror images of each other and one could just have easily been the other (i.e. Fatima could be the one on the quest and Santiago would be waiting at home for her to return).  That seem far-fetched and it also seems like a less than ideal version of a love story.

If it is scenario 2.) she hasn’t realized her “Personal Legend” yet, Santiago is really exploiting their relationship. Santiago knows how important it is for one to discover his “Personal Legend”, but he doesn’t urge Fatima to find hers like she urges him. Santiago doesn’t support Fatima in the ways that she supported him.  On the contrary, he keeps her dependent on him, waiting for him to return so that she is essentially trapped and even less likely to find her “Personal Legend.”

I realize the book is supposed to be an inspiring fable but the tired old gender stereotypes kept me from appreciating it the way apparently millions of others did.  Go figure.

The Handmaid's Tale

The Handmaid’s Tale  by Margaret Atwood

Fiction

Under the religious military dictatorship, the Republic of Gilead, Offred lives as a Handmaid to serve her Commander (the head male of the household). Women occupy one of five roles in society. Four of the roles available are that of wives, Aunts (teachers), Marthas (maids), and lower-class workers. Pollution and disease has made many of the Commander’s wives sterile which opens up a new position for women in society, as a Handmaid. Handmaids are required by law to have sex with their Commanders once a month in hopes of getting pregnant. The women in the Republic of Gilead are unable to read, write, wear what they want, go outside alone, and they have to obey their Commander. Through a series of flashbacks, Offred tells the story of how the Republic of Gilead slowly came to be as women’s rights were gradually stripped away. Offred laments how passively people accepted their loss of power and didn’t take action until it was too late.

I am Malala

I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai

Nonfiction

Malala Yousafzai obtained international renown when, at the age of fifteen, she was shot in the head by the Taliban for speaking out for girls’ rights to education. In this book, readers are able to understand her origin story. Through her beautiful prose, Malala depicts her serene childhood in Swat and paints pictures of snow covered mountains and trickling streams. We also get to learn more about Malala’s family history, and the amount of support she received from her dad. Malala also shows the atrocities committed by the Taliban with a bit of history thrown in. Driven to fight for her rights and not wanting to stay silent, young Malala delivered speeches and wrote in the diary for BBC, both of which led to the day she was shot in the head. Since then, Malala has continued to fight for education for all, notably having won a Nobel Prize. All of this is baffling when you realize that she is only twenty. Many only know of the time she was shot in the head and that she won a Nobel Prize. Here we get her personal history and some history on the conflict in the Middle East. Malala’s story serves as an inspiration to all, especially young girls, and as a testament to the importance of education.