space
Reader Reviews | |
Review by Amina Malik (130409) Rating (6/10) Review
by Amina Malik One of these 'participants' is Palinor an admirable character who is staunchly true to himself yet his incredible stubbornness is an attribute that ultimately leads to his downfall. A blatant atheist, he finds himself a rare breed on the shores of this conservative island, where he soon discovers that his views are unacceptable and punishable by death. Portrayed implicitly by Jill Paton Walsh as a Christ-like figure, he will not conceal his ideology even if it means his life is in danger. The second 'participant' is Amara, a wolf-child, taken care of by kindly nuns who encourage language acquisition and human development from meagre beginnings. Amara, however, serves a purpose - she is used to discover whether knowledge of God is innate or taught. On her answer hinges the life of another, a fact unbeknownst to all but a few. The dangerous experiment is observed by three men; one a man of morality and intelligence; the second a priest who loses his faith and the third a man who kills in the name of God, but who justifies this with the idea that "any blood guilt is on the hands of the civil power". His evil, unmerciful tortures and killings are cloaked by a 'mask of piety'.
A strictly patriarchal society, it is a group of men who are in
charge of the experiment, however, it is a woman who ultimately
wields the most power. She, one of the moral touchstones in the
book, is the one to unknowingly affect the balance of the scales,
which hold the two stranger's fates. Knowledge of Angels is thought-provoking to the point where one continues the debate long after the writer finishes. However, one drawback is that the fable-like backdrop can only be embraced if the reader is able to suspend disbelief and accept the minor contrivances. The great debate between Beneditx and Palinor for example, in which imagery and allegory are poetically utilized to create argument, is unsatisfying as Beneditx's arguments are unrealistically too weak, simply because this suits the author's intentions for the outcome of the plot. However, it is easy to overlook these flaws, as overall the book is unique in its combination of concept and style. Jill Paton Walsh has, like many writers, used numerous references and taken ideas from various sources, which many readers will take delight in discovering. These include The Maid of Chalons, Epitre II Sur l'Homme, and ideas from the New Testament. Even Palinor's name holds an implicit reference to another great work as he is named after Palinurus, the pilot of Aeneas, from Vergil's The Aeneid.
This is a Pandora's Box wrapped up in theological debate and bound
by the threads of two separate, yet intertwining, lives. It is
at the end of the book that we realise what is in the box - or
Jill Paton Walsh's core message - the importance of tolerance. |
|
Column Ends |
space