Does Michele Learn That Adults Are Not to Be Trusted or Relied Upon?

Does Michele learn that adults are not to be trusted or relied upon? At the beginning of this novel the reader is introduced to an innocent and seemingly normal child. The story really starts when Michele discovers a boy in a whole. Michele doesn’t find anyone to help this helpless boy but rather keeps it a secret; something that he has found to keep for himself. This boy in the whole eventually tells a story to Michele (not in words) that people around him are not what they seem. People who he thinks the best of are actually capable of committing terrible acts.

Michele looks upon his parents to be loving caring parents. Even though he felt the chores were a bit overwhelming he thought his parents were doing the right thing by him. He refers to his father as the boss of Aqua Traverse, all this plays a major part in Michele not seeing the truth earlier on. As Michele learns more about who the boy is in the whole is he continuously covers up the possibility that his father is doing something very wrong. “Maybe the boy in the whole is my brother, and he had been born mad like Nunzio”…..(P,67), Michele. When Michele comes across a saucepan at the whole where the boy is, he then becomes suspicious. This evidence in