The Unworthy
Imagine if The Handmaid's Tale happened during the apocalypse. You'd have "The Unworthy," which features strong female characters who'll do anything to survive.
I was instantly hooked by the premise of this book — an apocalyptic book involving a secretive cult surviving the end of days? Sign me up.
But as soon I got into it, I realized this book was so much more than simple woe and despair. It invokes powerful, potent storytelling and fervent language to weave a world that feels alive.
The main character, who goes unnamed throughout the novel — perhaps representative of the everyday woman — pens her memoir at night in forbidden inks. She’s a member of a religious cult that only accepts female members. But this isn’t a convent full of Jesus-praising nuns. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. The women are controlled with torture and pain, and the more they can inflict upon others, the more respect and honor they gain.
While this might sound less-than-ideal, it’s one of the only choices for these women in an apocalyptic world where natural resources are slim. There’s nowhere else to go. And so she feeds into this life, falling prey to the hate and the jealousy that govern everyday interactions in this place.
The moments she captures are scattered, and sometimes fleeting, but the overall effect is like a person pouring out their soul. There isn’t much in the way of plot, so if you don’t like wandering narratives, this won’t be your favorite. But if you allow yourself to buckle in and slip into our narrator’s life, then you’ll feel her pain, her sorrow, her lust. She is both physically and emotionally trapped, haunted by her memories and disgusted in her waking hours.
In this place, pleasure and happiness are forbidden. While the women have a safe and comfortable existence, it’s not really living if you can’t be your true self.
Then, everything changes. But you’ll have to read to find out what I mean.
I love the visceral, biting language that comes from a translation. Foreign authors have a unique way of turning language into colorful melodies, and translating their words creates true magic. Even though the prose in this book is English, it feels otherworldly, with combinations of words and phrases I’ve never seen before, or even thought of.
But for me, I think something that’s getting lost in translation is the meaning behind the words. I think it’s clear the author is using these women and their confinement as a metaphor for something, but the cultural disconnect made it a little hard for me to connect the dots. At least, we’ll say it’s that and not that it all went over my head.
Here’s my take. In this cult, there are different levels. As part of the unworthy, our narrator constantly strives to be chosen as one of the Chosen — or better yet, one of the Enlightened. This constant desire for more is what keeps them all under control. Their insatiable appetites to ascend keep them strictly under the thumb of Superior Sister and the mysterious He. He is never named, but I’m assuming He’s a symbol for the patriarchy — for the man who pits women against each other and laughs as they fall under his control.
Whatever the true meaning of this tale, I’m glad I read it. It was a journey of self-discovery, loss, and the struggle for genuine connection that felt like a true glimpse into the human experience.
