Elphie a wicked childhood by Gregory Maguire
We frequently view movies and stage shows and rarely question the back story of the characters. In Gregory Maquire's latest book Elphie we have the imagined childhood and coming-of-age story of Elphaba (Elphie), the most iconic witch of Oz who we know so well from Wicked, Maguire's internationally bestselling novel that inspired the hit stage show phenomenon. Wicked, as with many of Magire's young adult and adult novels, is inspired by a classic children's story; in this case Frank Baum's The wizard of Oz written in 1900.
The cleverness and wit of the author, the subtle and not-so-subtle undercurrents of religiosity when different cultures and belief systems collide, the gut-wrenchingly powerful portrayal of disability(or otherness) and the growth of a child's (Elphie's) awareness of the world (of how people operate and of personal identity) are the hallmarks of this novel. Throughout Maguire perceptively depicts the interiority of Elphie as she processes the world around her.
Other characters are well developed. Readers will enjoy Elphie's beautiful, spirited mother, her pious, hopeless, dreamer missionary father, her saintly sister Nessarose and the hilarious droll Nanny. Maguire, when conjecturing directly to the reader, places the characters in their role in history and memory and muses about how they will be seen by later descendants, historians and readers. Perhaps Melena, (Elphie's mum) will be viewed as solipsistic and arrogant, Nanny may be seen as oppressed, Severin and Snapper may be seen as opportunistic and venal, the chieftain and his tribe as noble defenders of their land but "...the moth in the tapestry"..."Pacing out of the reeds on her own two green feet, hardly three green feet high..." is Elphie - perhaps she will not be changed throughout time...
The novel is divided into four parts- the first three of which finish with a "Passim" that serves the authorial purpose of grounding Elphie's life (future, present and past) into a continuum. It gives the author, who has adopted the third person point of view, the opportunity to point to how the present has sprung from the past and what the future might bring. This results in a gratifying unfolding of story line for the reader where time, memory and ancestry matter. Much of what Maguire concludes in these "Passims" is profound eg. "Some memories disappear around the bend and die while others link arms and make movements into episodes so firm it feels you could...walk upon them across time itself." (p. 58) Maguire talks about shuffling through memories, beginning to have a history, impressions of the past and how from a certain age memories slot ..." more or less chronologically in the library of her mind." Elphie realises on her mother's death that she is no longer immortal.
The first part of the book is "The Encounter". The reader encounters Elphie's missionary family, the missionionaries encounter the Quadling tribe (..."the last stand of doomed animism") and we encounter a strange power in Elphie, the four-year-old green-skinned girl. Gut wrenchingly sad, brutal and telling is the encounter with the crocodrilos variously described as a "vile creature", "familiar and deformed at once", "waterlogged hedgehog", "defective specimen", "editorial objection", "biological bravado", "...so it smells bad and looks fierce. So it's a bizarre instance of its own kind. Does that justify judging it a mortal threat?" The crocodrilos can be read as a metaphorical example of disability and otherness and the cruelty and sadness that can often be experienced by people with disabilities when encountering others. Elphie is shunned and scorned because of her green skin; her sister Nessarose has no arms. The book continues, charting Elphie's childhood, with Maguire, the omniscient and at times chatty author, drawing the reader in as a confidante, speaking in asides and scattering hints about the future. Elphie grows to "... adolescence, spare us all."
Setting the story mostly in the dismal marshlands and neighboring wild countries that border Munchkinland or Oz with its yellow brick road, Maguire depicts the imperial nature of Oz versus the primitive state of the lands outside. His description of setting are powerfully evocative and engage all of the reader's senses. "War in the air, and yet the air is soft. Rotting jasmine and ripe skunk cabbage, Frogs in the sawgrass marsh..." Over and against the physical settings, scattered through the text are many organic allusions to Biblical and other sources eg, baby Nessa found floating in a burnished shield amongst the cat-tails (ref. Moses in the bullrushes) and "There was a snake in Lurline's garden, no doubt..."(ref. Genesis, the snake in the garden of Eden) making for a rich cross-referenced work.
This book contains a wealth of highly powerful quotes. This reader could share many more quotes but urges others to read this book... However, this reader begs indulgence to include just one more - Maguire on disability, "...a hobbled swan on the water may not be able to wheel aloft with her sisters. But she is no less beautiful, and she is doubled by her reflection in a way she can never be doubled in the air."
Reader, take your time with this book. For a powerful, unputdownable read with a plot that tracks the growth of character, for important themes, interesting characters, evocative settings and very clever, thought-provoking writing, Elphie is highly recommended.
Themes: Otherness, Disability, Magic, The outcast, Ancestor worship, Christian missionary life.
Wendy Jeffrey