The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker does not actually
focus on the mythological aspects of golems and jinn. It is the story of two unlikely friends,
Chava, a female golem made out of clay, and Ahmad, a jinni from the deserts of Syria.
Both characters are brought to New York
City, somewhat against their wills, at the turn of the twentieth century, where
they must learn to blend in and find their own path in life. Along the way they meet many other people in
their separate cultural communities and come to find that their lives are more
entwined than they ever could have imagined.
Instead of
being characteristics that sharply define the main characters and help drive
the action, the supernatural aspects of their beings are treated more like any
other type of backstory that an immigrant to New York City would have. There is little discussion of other golems or
jinn and what happened to them, and there are no other supernatural creatures
mentioned or encountered at all. When I
first decided to read this book, I had been hoping that there would be an
underground society of supernatural beings in New York City that would help
bring these two unlikely friends together, but there is really no talk of what
other supernatural creatures might be out there if golems and jinn can exist.
The fact
that Chava is a golem and Ahmad is a jinni is not the focal point of the story
but the primary vehicle through which the author can inject social commentary
into the story, especially about gender, religion, and societal expectations. Because Chava and Ahmad are not human but are
expected to act like them, they must learn about society and thus the audience
gets to view our strange human customs through the eyes of characters not born
and raised into them. Chava learns a lot
about Jewish culture and customs as one would expect from a golem, which comes
from Jewish mythology, while Ahmad compares what he remembers about Bedouin
culture in the deserts to the Syrian immigrants he meets in the new city. This adds a layer of interest to the story to
help make up for the lack of world-building on the supernatural side of things.
Overall, it
is interesting to see a story where the supernatural does not matter much. It helps to inform some of the action, of
course, and is necessary to the final resolution, but for the most part, the
fact that Chava and Ahmad are mythical creatures does not make much of a
difference in the story. It is a very
modern perspective to categorize such characteristics as just another minor
difference such as race or gender that should not interfere with recognizing
free will and the capacity for love and affection. I was a bit disappointed in how little
discussion there is of the mythology behind golems and jinn, but I think that
this story is a good example of how such characters can be adapted to modern morals
and perspectives. It continues the
tradition of adapting stories to current needs in order to keep the myths
alive.
Wecker, H.
(2013). The Golem and the Jinni. New
York: Harper.
