Why does Elphaba say she does not have a soul?

This is the discussion question at the back of my book which bothers me from time to time.

It seems like one I should be able to answer; an important insight into the main character’s psyche.

And yet, I don’t really know. She doesn’t tell us, outright. It’s an offhand remark she makes out loud, twice, to another character. Her internal monologue does not perseverate upon the issue.

I am forced to the conclusion that it stems from her childhood.

Perhaps internalized self-hatred plays a part. It doesn’t seem to hold her back, she stands up for herself in many ways, and follows a passionate drive for justice for others, for Animals and Quadlings and Winkies. She holds her own, and does not spend time on self-loathing. Yet she says clearly and repeatedly, “I don’t have a soul.”

What is a soul? Elphaba spends seven years in a nunnery, yet does not appear changed in a religious way from this experience. She takes up magic, and the religious complexities of Oz seem to mirror real-world way that Christianity overlays Paganism.

As a child, Elphaba would travel around with her father, who was a traveling preacher, spending much time in the poor Quadling country, similar to a missionary. Because Elphaba was born green, her father would tell his congregates that she was punishment for his sins. The author does not describe him addressing this statement in private with his daughter, and so assuming he did not, I imagine that this way Elphaba was talked about rather than to made her feel like an object. Maybe she even really believed that she was a punishment from God.

Elphaba makes her way in the world, following her own moral compass and not caring a whit for the opinions of her peers. I can only think that the matter-of-fact way she states she does not have a soul must be a deeply ingrained belief from her childhood.

Have you read Wicked by Gregory Maguire? What do you think?