Feminine Side of God
Sat Down And Wept emphasizes the obstacle of human being that sometimes is
trapped from a sin. Geraldo Galvão Ferraz
as quoted in Morais‟s A Warrior’s Life a Biography of Paulo Coelho
states that The critic Geraldo Galvão Ferraz, of the São Paulo Jornal da Trade,
branded By The River Piedra I Sat Down And Wept as „a poorly mixed
cooktail of mediocre mysticism, religion, and fiction, full of clichés and stereotypical characters who spend the greater part of their time giving
solemn speeches ‟. The author‟s approach to what he calls ‟the feminine
side of God‟ was ridiculed by another journalist as „a Paulo Coelho for girls‟ Morais, 2009: 517.
Ferraz‟s statement above criticizes the novel is a disapproving combination of religion and mysticism which shows stereotypical character. He argues that the
novel is an old cliche, it is seen from the way of man character , Pilar‟s lover
delivers his speech by giving an old fiction and religion. Another journalist also adds that „the feminine side of God‟ which is used by Coelho only represents the
feminine side to picture a woman. As Ferraz‟s criticisms shows his contradictory
statement that the novel By The River Piedra I Sat Down And Wept is a mediocre combination of mysticism and religion, the writer has different point of view of
certain religion scope revealed in this novel. Anna
Hassani also
states her
opinion in
bookreviews.nabou.comreviewsbytheriverpiedra.html that In this best-selling novel Coelho talks about a long-forgotten aspect of
God: His feminine side, the so-called the Goddess ”. The feminine face of
God has been, as Coelho explains, present in every religion on the face of the earth: paganism Great Mother, the ancient fertility goddess, Isis, the
Virgin Mary. This Goddess presented as generator of all life, is present in the love the two main characters feel for each other. It is as if Her presence
haunts their realtionship.
The above quotation shows that Hassani‟s analysis focus on the relationship between Pilar and her lover provides the feminine side of God like Great Mother,
Isis, and Virgin Mary. Hassani has analyzed the love relationship to reveal the feminine side of God.
The writer focuses on how Pilar and her lover learn the feminine side of God in Catholic religion through their journey. The feminine side of God is raised
in Catholic religion. Meanwhile, that religion stands on patriachy. Besides, the writer‟s focus here shows that this undergraduate thesis has different topic with
some students who have taken Coelho‟s novel By The River Piedra I Sat Down
And Wept as their thesis before. The writer positions this undergraduate thesis as
the progress of Anna Hassani‟s opinion. If Anna Hassani analyzes the love relationship between Pilar and her lover to reveal the feminine face of God like
paganism Great Mother, the ancient fertility goddess, Isis, and the Virgin Mary. Then, the writer more explores the characterization of Pilar and her lover to reveal
the feminine side of God.