Niccolo Ammaniti’s coming of age novel examines how poverty and ignorance can lead to the erosion of moral values, yet also shows how people can act with compassion and love. The kidnapping of Filippo is cruel and inhumane brought about by desperation, poor choices and a lack of thought about the consequences. Many adults act in ways that are ‘immoral’ yet Michele’s moral development, independent to his father, demonstrates that despite poverty and loyalty, compassion and love towards others is still possible.
Through the poverty in the town of Acqua traverse, the small hamlet in southern Italy where the story is set, the adults were forced into desperate measures to provide for their families. They resorted to a quick way to make money by kidnapping a boy named Filippo and holding him for ransom. He is held in a dark damp hole for weeks on end. This shows how cruel and inhumane people can be in dire situations. One of the worst examples comes from Pino, one of the leaders from the kidnapping group, or the “…bogeyman. By day he was good, but at night he was bad.
” He threatens to cut off Filippo’s ears when watching the plea by the boy’s mother showing how cruel he has become. Another character that is corrupted by the poverty of the region is Skull, the cruel leader of the children’s group. His ignorance to the consequences made by his decisions makes him a bad leader. He makes the children who lose his competitions do horrible thing, either extremely embarrassing or dangerous. He only ever picks competitions he knows he will win as he is the oldest at 12, and by far the strongest.
The Essay on Poverty What Makes People Poor
The rich, the middle class, and the poor; are described by the way we live and the amount of money one has. There are many different ways of describing what poverty is, whether it is by how you live, how much money you have, or in statistical terms. Poverty isnt always a bad thing it is just another way of living, another way of life. There are different kinds of poverty that you can measure. ...
After a rock throwing contest he made the loser, Barbara, the only girl in the group, show her breasts to everyone. That was a punishment for everyone else as much as her because they had to look at her breasts which looked like “…the rolls of fat on her stomach. ” He is also twisted in his sense of humour shown when Michele loses a bike race and skull makes him run through a field of stinging nettles. Through these harsh punishments he risks losing all his friends from the group showing how ignorant he is to the consequences of his choices. Despite the harsh circumstances, Michele manages to show signs of compassion and love.
It is shown extremely early in the novel when in the first scene he drops out of the race risking having to take the forfeit to help his sister who fell over in the wheatfield. She broke her glasses and although he was angry as he was going to cop a shredding from his mum he was sympathetic and helped her with her sore ankle. When he finally reaches the top of the hill with his sister and skull makes Barbra do a horrible forfeit. Michele realises that this forfeit is inappropriate and decided to volunteer for the forfeit in her place. He then risks his own welfare by climbing through the first floor of the abandoned house.
This shows even when influenced by misleading figures some people still show inspirational characteristics. ‘I’m not scared’ shows that through harsh circumstances people’s ethics slowly disintegrate and they resort to horrible things. Pino and the adults show how cruel they can become when desperation and loyalty to their families come into play. Skull shows us that ignorance can result in poor decisions and will hurt a lot of people. Although it seems as though the hamlet of Acqua Traverse is completely corrupt, there is hope in a young boy called Michele. He has promise of being loyal to his friends and knowing what is right and wrong.
