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Weight: The Myth of Atlas and Heracles
In Greek mythology, Atlas was punished to hold the universe forever. In this book, the universe becomes a metaphor for our fears, the burden that we carry as life’s luggage, which inhibits our choices. At the same time, the author explores the metaphysical truth of who we are, where we come from, of space and time and the parallel between our emotional and scientific reality. Atlas always had the choice, as beautiful Goddess Hera tells him, to escape his fate by choosing his destiny. Yet he does not. But instead of making us pity him, Winterson demands respect. When cunning Heracles asks Atlas to get the three golden apples from his garden for him and agrees to hold the universe until then, Atlas does not dupe him by not coming back, even though that would be what Heracles would have done if he were Atlas. Atlas does toy with the idea, but when Heracles fools him into holding the universe back, Atlas does not shrug his responsibility. He takes it on with humility. Winterson uses Atlas to ask personal questions about her past, her personal conflicts and reconciliations. And she is right in doing so because like Atlas and the author, each of us bear the reality of our own truth. The author makes us consider the hypothetical and optimistic possibility of what happens when we shed our weight, be free, be who we want to be. Towards the end of the book, she shares the polemics with the reader of how she should end the story of Atlas. What if he lets go of the universe? He does. In a twist to this modern myth, Atlas does. And nothing happens. He stands up and turns back to look at his burden, and there is no burden. There is just "the diamond-blue earth gardened in a wilderness of space". Winterson’s writing, like Weight, is studded with gems. You can open any of her books to any random page, read any odd sentence and feel the power of her words. She has the unusual knack of linking several otherwise unconnected subjects —in Weight, she most interestingly interlinks the Greek myth with the physical evolution of man, the advancement in space technology, and the emotional and spiritual nature of humans. Atlas, for example, has a companion towards the end of the book—Laika, the dog that the Russians sent into space in 1957. According to the author, Atlas saw this strange pod buzzing round him. When he saw poor Laika inside, he broke it open and the dog became his pet for life. Like all myths the world over that need to be read and re-read, so does Weight. It is a brilliant piece of fiction, a story worth being re-told. Winterson proves that she does not just excel in how to tell a story but in telling any story. That’s what makes her one of the world’s leading authors.
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