Question 1:
One of religious symbols in this book is the Sacred Heart of Jesus located on the gypsy's wall." The old woman asked him to swear again while looking at the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus." Pg. 14.Also, before the gypsy was about to read his palms, he prayed, he said Our Father under his breath. This makes him Christian/ Catholic as well as the gypsy, because she has Jesus on her wall. Having Jesus on her wall makes him question her being a gypsy; gypsies are supposed to be evil people, but if she is religious, she must have some good in her. Another religious symbol is God. When the boy meets the old man, he talks to him about how God clears a path for everyone to follow." God has prepared a path for everyone to follow. You just have to read the omens that he left for you." Pg.29. This is saying that even if you have no idea where you are going, God will show you somehow. Another religious symbol is the Pyramids that he is told to go to. They were symbols of religion because they were very ornately decorated and were places of prayer. They also took very long to create so they were highly thought of. When people were put into them, they had lots of power before they died, so they had ceremonies.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Good observations. It seems that during the time period that Santiago was brought up in, christianity served as a bridge between people. If one was labeled as a christian then they automatically were conisedered kindred spirits by other christian. I, aswell as Santiago, find it baffling that a gypsy woman would have such biblical artifacts decorating her home. Based on Coelho's tone when he described the gypsy woman, it was clear that Santiago thought of gypsies as foreign creatures and some of them could be considered heretics. This gypsy woman defied the stereotype which makes her very intriguing.
ReplyDelete