And it was only then that I realized what I had let myself in for, and only then I realized how bloody thick I had been not to have predicted it. It would seem that the combination of elements--woman, desert, camels, aloneness--hit some soft sport in this era's passionless, heartless, aching psyche. It fired the imaginations of people who seem themselves as alienated, powerless, unable to do anything about a world gone mad. And wouldn't it be my luck to pick just this combination. The reaction was totally unexpected and it was very, very weird. I was now public property. I was now a kind of symbol. I was now an object of ridicule for small-minded sexists, and I was a crazy, irresponsible adventurer (though not as crazy as I would have been had I failed). But worse than all that, I was now a mythical being who had done something courageous and outside the possibilities that ordinary people could hope for. And that was the antithesis of what I wanted to share. That anyone could do anything. If I could bumble my way across a desert, then anyone could do anything. And that was true especially for women, who have used cowardice for so long to protect themselves that it has become a habit. .Robyn Davidson
About This Quote
"a kind of symbol" is a quote from the book "Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert. The main character of the story, Liz Gilbert, is a successful author who travels to India in search of her soul and in search of something she can't find in New York City. This quote describes the role that Elizabeth Gilbert puts herself into in India and how she views herself as a symbol or a person that everyone looks at when she goes to the desert. She also states that she was not very happy when she first arrived in India because there were so many people looking at her and making fun of her. She states that when she realized this was what she wanted when she went to India, when everyone took her with such importance and looked at her like an icon.
Source: Tracks: A Womans Solo Trek Across 1700 Miles Of Australian Outback
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