The "Sweetest" Sin
Paradoxical in title and ironical in plot, the novel, The Sweetest Sin bears out useful lessons on the dynamics and complexity of modern society.
Full of suspense, humor and satire, the novel is, undoubtedly, one of the latest campaign tools against parental neglect of sex education, sexual exploitation, abortion, deceit and ignorance; and all classes of readers- parents, teachers, students, politicians, and the clergy- would certainly glean a lesson from its contents.
Philomena is from a family background where sex education is considered a taboo. Consequently, she grows up never hearing anything on menstruation. It is therefore not surprising that she feels devastated when she first notices blood coming out of her. In her confusion and naivety she runs to John for explanation. John exploits her ignorance, deceives her and gets her pregnant. In the drama that ensues, she becomes traumatic and therefore begins to contemplate the advice of her two senior friends, one of whom is already ripping the repercussion of wayward living. United in experience, the set shares a secret, and may also share a common destiny.The novel bears out useful lessons on the dynamics and complexity of modern society. There is on one hand the picture of a society that has gone berserk with the frenzy of moral perversion; there is on the other, the symbol of a generation whose moral depravity serves as the code of its entanglement and self-destruction.
