The story is set in the town of Viscos, a town so laid back it was almost forgotten by the world. The story began when evil visited Viscos in the person of Carlos, a stranger who himself seeks for answers about Good and Evil. He has experienced Evil himself, and now he has chosen this small town to make a conclusion about what happened in his past. His plan started to be realized when he came upon Miss Prym, a young lady, who has her whole life ahead of her - the only young person remaining in Viscos.
The number of characters in this novel can be counted in your hands. There is the mayor, the mayor's wife, the priest, the hotel landlady, Berta (the old woman), the landowner, the stranger who goes by the name of Carlos (and the epitome of Evil), and Miss Chantal Prym. Each of them plays a significant role in depicting the different motives and desires a person may have, to which they might decide to go with the Devil.
To Chantal Prym was first given the choice, and she's torn between reaching her dreams by doing evil, or being the messenger of death and sin. Or also risking her own life by simply keeping quiet.
Another short novel from Paulo Coelho, this book is a story about the battle between Good and Evil. Starting from the story of St. Savin and Ahab, and going through the story of the man with his horse and dog who went to heaven and hell, Ahab's son buying salt, the story about the death of Berta's husband, the story of the priest, the brief background on firing squads, and the last supper's painting, to the whole plot of the Devil and Miss Prym, we clearly see how evil tries to battle against good in each of us. It may be about our desire for power, authority, wealth, a better future, or freedom.
More than being a book about the battle of good and evil, however, this is actually more about choices. True, each of us is visited by evil at a point in our lives, but it's the choice we make that will conclude how things will end. Most often than not, we neglect to see the ripple effect of that one decision we make to give in to evil. We are overcome by our desires and we are blinded by what's shining in front of our eyes, that we sometimes decide and act without thinking.
This book is a must read because more than just being about the battle of good and evil, it's about fear, it's about choices, it's about freedom, it's about..... Each one of us.
As was told by the stranger, and Miss Prym thought in the end,
"The story of one person is the story of all humanity."
"In the beginning, there was only a small amount of injustice abroad in the world, but everyone who came afterwards added their portion, always thinking it was very small and unimportant and look where we have ended up today."
"It was all a matter of control. And choice. Nothing more and nothing less."
"So you see, good and evil have the same face, it all depends on when they cross the path of each individual being."
"Whenever you want to achieve something, keep your eyes open, concentrate and make sure you know exactly what it is you want. No one can hit their target with their eyes closed."
"It isn't the desire to abide by the law that makes everyone behave as society requires, but the fear of punishment. Each of us carries a gallows inside us."
"Perhaps the fight between good and evil is raging all the time in every individual's heart, which is the battleground for all angels and devils; they would fight inch by inch for thousands of millenia in order to gain ground, until one of them finally vanquished the other."
"Man needs what's worst in him in order to achieve what's best in him."
"Words don't matter in the end, let them talk, and life will see to it that they act differently."
"There are two kinds of idiots - those who don,t take action because they have received a threat, and those who think they are taking action because they have issued a threat."
"Because silence does not always mean consent - usually all it meant was that people were incapable of coming up with an immediate response."
"People want to change everything, and at the same time, want it all to remain the same."
"Water: it has no taste, no smell, no color, and yet it is the most important thing in the world."
"Anyone who loves in the expectation of being loved in return is wasting their time."
"You were in paradise, but you didn't recognize it. It's the same with most people in this world, they seek suffering in the most joyous places because they think they are unworthy of happiness."
"She had just realized: there were two things that prevent us from achieving our dreams: believing them to be impossible or seeing those dreams made possible by some sudden turn of the wheel of fortune, when you least expect it."
"Life can seem very long or very short, according to how you live it."
"Fear again, If you want to control someone, all you have to do is to make them feel afraid."
"Death often frees us from a lot of senseless suffering."
"Evil would never bring Good, however much they wanted to believe that it would."
