Independent Determined Athena’s Character

28 before me and repeated the usual gesture: she closed her eyes and opened her mouth to receive the body of Christ” p. 44. After that she bravely criticized that Christian rule. “A curse on this place” said the voice. “A curse on all those who never listened to the words of Christ and who have transformed his message into a stone building. For Christ said: ‘Come unt me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.’ Well, I’m heavy laden, and they won’t let me come to him. Today I’ve learned that the Church has changed those words to read: ‘Come unto me all ye who follow our rules, and let the heavy laden go hang’ p. 45 She learned and adapted quickly. “When I returned to London, I immediately told Athena about this invitation, and she accepted at once” p. 72. She also had a strong will to learn caligraphy even though she had to drive to the desert, “You shouldn’t drive alone in a place you don’t know, and you shouldn’t come here without a guide” p. 73. She determined to learn a way to get closer to God. “But I can’t continue on my own; I need someone to teach me” p. 74. “I was quite simply terrified when Sherine told me that she’d decided to go in search of her birth mother” p. 85. In her journey to find her birth mother, her determination led her to a restaurant owner who knew her birth mother. She went on a journey to Romania and met the retaurant owner whom also the leader of the gypsi tribe. When a stuck-up, intellectual young woman appears, smiling and claiming to be part of our culture and our race. I’m immediately on my guard. She might have been sent by the Securitate, the secret police who work for that mad dictator—the Conducator, the Genius of the Carpathians, the Leader. p. 103 29 At first the restaurant owner felt suspicious to Athena. The young woman insists; she smiles, as if she were saying something highly amusing, and tells me that her mother is a gipsy and that she’d like to find her. She knows her full name. How could she obtain such information without the help of the Securitate? p. 104 “I can believe that the government kills, steals, and lies, but it wouldn’t risk handing out false certificates, and so she really must be Liliana’s daughter, because the certificate gives her full name and address” p. 105. Later, he was sure that Athena was really from his tribe. I look at the certificate once more and wonder whether or not I should tell her where her mother is. Liliana deserves to meet this intellectual, caliming to be “one of us.” Liliana deserves to look this woman in the eye. p. 106 Finally this determination made him agreed to take Athena to her birth mother. “I’ll take you to see Liliana tomorrow” p. 107. Athena was also determined in accepting challenges. “I was sure she would listen to me, mainly because she was the kind of person who never refuses a challenge” p. 134. She believed that “yes” was better than “no”. “And whenever my feet drove me onward, I said yes instead of saying no” p. 233. When things were getting worse, she showed no fear “I’m not afraid of death. If I were to to die today, I would carry with me moments that few people my age have had the chance to experience” p. 254. In the end of the story, she decided to disappear by pretending that she was murdered. She believed that it was a right decision. Her boyfriend helped 30 her “I used a syringe to take some of her blood. I cut off a lock of her hair and singed it slightly. Back at the scene of crime, I scattered this “evidence” around” p. 266.

4.1.4. Charismatic

Her charisma made many people follow her, and she was aware of it. “Athena was conscious of her own charisma, and she made all those who loved her suffer” p. 10. When she was working in a bank in London, her boss saw her leadership improved the whole employee’s productivity “The young trainee with no previous work experience, who up until then had seemed to veer between shyness and aggression, had become a kind of natural leader among my workers” p. 60. She also led a relaxation exercise for a group of theater players. If it hadn’t been for me, Athena would never have come to the teather that morning, gathered us all together, asked us to lie down on the stage and begin a relaxation exercise involving breathing and bringing our awareness to each part of the body. p. 160 Eventually her followers grew bigger, as one of the newspaper stated: “The reason behind this pitched battle, which lasted nearly two hours, was a demonstration organized by the Rev. Ian Buck to protest about what he called “the Satanic cult at the heart of England.” p. 223. However, her followers kept following her. “We left to the same shouts and applause as when we had arrived” p. 248. 31

4.1.5. Motherly

As a mother, Athena loved her only son - Viorel. Before she got divorced, she was afraid that her quarrels with her husband could brought bad effect on Viorel “Our arguments became more frequent, and she threatened to leave because she feared that Viorel was picking up the “negative energy” from our quarrels” p. 37. Even when Athena went to the desert she took her son with her and play together “They could have been the same age; they ran about the desert, laughed, threw sand at each other, and rolled down the dunes” p. 74. In daily occasion, Athena also showed her love to Viorel “Viorel’s hungry, and I’m sure he’s not the slightest bit interested in Greek myths, so hurry up and finish Hera’s story” p. 180. Athena’s motherly instinct was very strong. ““Don’t you think I should be prepared to do anything for Viorel too?” “I think that’s a mother’s instinct, but instinct aside, it’s the greatest proof of love there is.” She continued eating. p. 242 When Viorel was about to be taken over from her, she could kill someone “That’s why I’ve bought a gun. I know what it means for a child to be removed from his mother, because I’ve experienced it myself.” p. 254. Her son was the most important thing in her life. “Until, that is, I understood my fate, when I saw that I might lose the most important thing in my life.” “Your son.” “Exactly. He is the most complete manifestation of Love. p. 257