I’m Not Scared -This Is a Profoundly Moral Tale of Lost Innocence and Adult Cruelty.Do You Agree?

This is a profoundly moral tale of lost innocence and adult cruelty. Do you agree?

Ammaniti’s novel I’m Not Scared set in Acqua Traverse, Italy 1978 is a powerful text, which explores relevant social themes and issues. Besides being a tale of adult cruelty and lost innocence we cannot ignore the role in which loyalty and betrayal play in the novel. These central themes make this novel a compelling text.

In the novel Michelle journeys from a joyful innocent child into a perceptive and wiser youth. Initially we view Michelle as a child who is very compassionate, willing to “do the forfeit” for Barbara to exempt her from Skull’s cruelty. As the story progresses qualities namely courage and loyalty surface in Michelle. These two qualities are most noticeable when he states, “I’m going to see Fillipo… Who’s Fillipo? He’s a friend of mine”. Michelle’s actions show and justify a belief that he has in a sense “lost his innocence”. Michelle also shows maturity when he acknowledges that his father may not be a loving man, stating, ”Papa was the bogeyman. By day he was good, by night he was bad”. He realises that the adults are cruel and is astounded when he notices his father stating “two ears we’ll cut off. Two!”. Michelle loses his innocence after witnessing the cruelty displayed by the adults as well as being tested by the notions of loyalty and betrayal.

The adults with the exception of Michelle’s mother can all be seen as having key roles in the kidnapping. The treatment inflicted on poor Fillipo was inhumane; the text draws parallels from his treatment to the treatment of the dog Togo. Fillipo like Togo struggled when forced to wash and like Togo, Fillipo was very dirty. Fillipo had to live in his own excretion this can be seen when Michelle lifts the mattress to the hole “A terrible stink of shit was released”. The treatment of Fillipo is appalling, this act is magnified by the fact that the adults in the village have children of their own yet are capable of such cruelty. The author portrays Fillipo as identical to Michelle in age and height, the intended effect is to draw parallels with Michelle and show that Fillipo is like any other nine year old.

Loyalty and betrayal occurs frequently in the text. Michelle