The Elegance of the Hedgehog Has Lost a Part of Its Elegance

A literal criticism on The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

Muriel Barbery, as I’ve read, is a professor in philosophy and also the writer of a fictional but philosophical book, The Elegance of the Hedgehog. So far, reading this book has given me a delicious taste into philosophy and it is definitely a page turner, but more for the fact of its philosophical values and if Paloma will in fact kill herself. I haven’t finished reading the book, so, don’t worry, I won’t spoil the ending, as I’m not there yet. Usually you write literary criticism after you’ve read the book, or that’s what I thought, but I’ve decided to write this piece now because this novel has hit a major turning point and it’s not pleasant.

 

I have nothing against philosophy. In fact, I would call myself somewhat of a philosopher myself. I also have a great appreciation of art and culture, but this is where I

draw the line.

 

When Paloma is writing in her diary about her mother’s ridiculous shopping spree for lingerie she writes that she met one very lonely man in the store and produces a simile so the reader really understands the new character, but the simile that is produced is one that makes me want to get up and strangle the poor author because you can’t strangle a fictional character. Here’s the simile: “I wasn’t alone: there was a man, the only man, and he looked as dejected as Neptune when he’s missed a shot at Athena’s hindquarters.” (Journal of the Movement of the World No. 6, Burbery)

 

Maybe philosophers wouldn’t detect this flaw in writing but I’m absolutely disgusted. Neptune is the Roman god of the sea and Athena is the Greek goddess who gave the city in Greece the olive tree and so the city named the city after her, “Athenai,” which is written as “Athens,” in English. Athena was also one of the most beautiful goddesses in Greece. See anything wrong here? Well let me simplify it for you then: Roman is Italian culture as in Rome in Italy. With me, yet? No? Then let me spoon-feed it to you: POSEIDON IS THE GREEK GOD OF WATER, NOT NEPTUNE! Now do you get it? Muriel Barbery by accident or on purpose has placed a Roman god with a Greek myth and then used a simile as a comparison. There was no Neptune! Ms. Muriel has clashed cultures, gods, actually. If she did this in order to get people enraged, well, it worked. Maybe Elegance was translated incorrectly. I’m not so sure, but this is wrong. What shocks me even more is the fact that Paloma wouldn’t know that she’s combined a Roman god and a Greek goddess together and slaughtered the myth; unless she did know and planned on this or maybe Muriel herself didn’t know. If that’s true, then for that I forgive her. Mixing up myths like this is like mixing noodles into poutine, taking a beautiful Italian dish and placing a McDonald’s hamburger on it, eating sushi in a hotdog bun and calling it “the Chinese way” or even eating a crêpe and saying the Americans created them. It’s not done! And if it is, I have to ask the reason for it: is it an artistic test, someone who is taking risks and seeing what will happen if they drop the penny from the Eiffel Tower? If they know what they’re doing and understand its outcomes, I respect that, but I still would want to know why. Why mix cultures? Why destroy the part that makes them unique from others? Being unique is a great thing and a culture needs it. We are all unique and so are our cultures. Everyone has something that makes them known for it. What makes you, you? Maybe it’s the glasses you wear, the way you speak, your smile, there are endless possibilities. But the point is we’re all unique. WE’RE ALL DIFFERENT. No one else is you, only you are. You can change yourself, adapt yourself, mask yourself, but even if they’re fooled, you can’t fool yourself. You know who you are and you always will be you. You can be subject to change, but you’re still you even under all that makeup. It’s not your friend that’s wearing it, it’s you.

 

I would hope Muriel respects cultural uniqueness as I do because mixing up a myth like that is a literal, cultural, and maybe even historical error. If you want, we can also debate on Hercules and Herakles but that’ll be for another time.