Novel Analysis - Witch of Portobello

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- VERTEX

Unlike geometric shapes that describes vertex as any angular point of a polygon, the vertex in the story is used to describe the connection point of the human and the Creator. You can compare this to the nirvana of Buddhism, the climax of the story. The vertex is where you will attain the maximum pleasure you cannot get from earthly things. This happens when Athena dances until to the point of exhaustion. This happens we push ourselves beyond the boundaries we thought are our limits.

- BLANK SPACES

These blank spaces represent the moments we stop, the moments we actually think of our life. We are moving so fast that we forget these blank spaces. For the author, it is not enough to know when to move and how to move. We must also master the art of stopping and making those pauses count. Stopping doesn’t mean you’re tired. Sometimes, these moments define the quality of our next move. If we do not master these blank spaces, we will get tired easily and we will be restless sooner or later.

THEME ANALYSIS

Paulo Coelho is known for his unusual way of connecting to his readers. He makes sure he will get his message across: loud, clear and memorable. He always want his readers to think about life and love in a new perspective. For him, the writer nowadays forget that. Writing books is now becoming a source of bread but not a source of inspiration. Paulo is one of the few who still keeps to make the latter happen.

In the book, “The Witch of Portobello,” instead of using the common way of writing a biography, straightforward and a recollection of how the author remembers the person through different accounts… Paulo used the interviews directly. There was no chapter but rather the name of the interviewee and then what they said. It gives us a feeling that we were the ones who asked them who Athena was in their lives and what she did.

The book talks about life, love and feminism. It emanates a strong force on female individuality. It gave a message that women are not made to be just be spectators. Believe it or not, the world is still a patriarchal place. It may have been lessened but this society is still not egalitarian. This book tries to challenge that. In fact, a certain part in the book tells us that religion is very patriarchal and gives little importance to feminine part of the Divine – the “Mother.” And that “Mother” is the very place Athena gains her strength and wisdom.

A central question revolves in the book, quoting it says “How do we find the courage to be true to ourselves- even if we are unsure of who we are? ". Philosophies and own views of the author can be found on the book but still giving enough space to formulate our very own opinions. Like what I said in the summary of the book, it speaks about the four archetypes of a woman based on how she searches the meaning of life: a virgin who search through complete independence; a martyr who learns through pain; a saint through unconditional love; or a witch who learns through complete and limitless pleasure. And Athena being all four at once made me think of the same idea – who am I based on the four and if possible, what if I’m also four at once?

The book is a very inspirational piece for young adults since it takes about the journey to self-discovery. In an unconventional way, the author was successful in delivering the message across. It was not a heavy read, it was a light and indulging journey.