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Chapter 1: There is a very innocent and fantastical tone
immediately set up by our Protagonist. It’s as if we are
watching a kid’s show and are watching him conquer his fears.
What struck out to me the most was the comforting aspect of the
end of this chapter, as his mother comforts him to sleep. This
feels like a very warm memory that most children would keep.
NICE!
Chapter 2: This chapter serves as a very fluid transition
into the next chapter, as it introduces the magical themes that
will occur in the next chapters. I feel as if it sets up his
mystical “coming of age” arc that continues in the fourth
chapter, as he experiences life-altering moments that are seen
through an impressionable perspective. The vivid scene of the
farmer getting struck by lighting feels as if it’s a nightmare,
and I’m sure that it echoed in the nightmares of our
Protagonist.
Chapter 3: The third chapter takes an odd turn as it
chronicles the legend of a witch (sometimes referred to as a
vampire) in our protagonist’s town. We spend time learning about
the public’s fear of them, as the deaths of babies who do not
recover from illness are blamed on witches. Our narrator is
young and naive and we are subjected to first hand, fairy tale-esque
stories of these creatures. The protagonist embarks upon a quest
with his friend Antonio to kill these witches but fails to do
so. At the end of the chapter, he witnesses a witch eat his
sandwich in front of him before running home. It is at this
point, (and other points of the chapter), in which the witches
are described as beggars who are skinny and deprived. They very
well could be poor beggars who are targeted by the community.
I saw this chapter as an odd coming-of-age tale, as the
Protagonist ventures through a “scary” and “brave” journey to
conquer these beasts, but ends up seeing the harsh reality of
these “witches” towards the end of the chapter. Although he
doesn’t claim that these witches are real people, it seems as if
he’s matured in his own mind by confronting them. Best job by
far.
Chapter 4: The fourth chapter follows this “coming of age” theme
in a much more realistic way, as the Protagonist’s father is
moving off to America. The dramatic tension of the chapter is
translated through the secondhand fears of the Protagonist’s
mother, who is staying in Italy. Our Protagonist seems to
reflect the arguments and worries of his parents, as he
acknowledges the fun possibilities of a new world but the
separation that it will put the family through. The ordeal is
personalized towards our Protagonist at the end of the chapter
when his mother realizes that he wants to go to America and that
he will seldom visit Italy.
This chapter was the most grounded of the four, as it explored
the psyche of our side characters in a very detailed way. Our
Protagonist communicates this by projecting the emotions of his
parents through their various actions; crying, glares, etc. I
think that this is a wonderful narrative tool, as the
Protagonist is acting like most kids when their parents are
arguing. These realistic observations show how our protagonist
has matured from previous chapters.
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