Postmodern female consciousness in Paulo Coelho’s The Zahir

Abstract

This thesis explores the power of female character in The Zahir (2004). It looks at Zahir as a courageous and bold woman who reverses the prevailing male conception of male superiority and shows the universal dependence of male upon female. Zahir creates a kind of thunder in the narrator’s mind. The unnamed narrator, husband to Zahir remains submissive to his wife and accepts what she says. In her absence, he makes a quest for his own identity, but does not get it without Zahir. She is able to show the power of being a female individual. She stands as a role model of female empowerment. It is a redefinition of women’s role and it dismantle the male’s power. The Zahir reflects the violation of a lady, for her subjectivity, consciousness and for her choice.