There were many times while reading this novel that I saw myself within the stories. I connected with her nameless male friend in "Portrait of a Friend", had similar relationships throughout my life such as those described in "Human Relationships", and agreed with many of Ginzburg's ideas and related to her emotions. In "The Son of Man", the author reveals what I consider the main cause of melancholia - reality. This is complicated, because reality may also cause the absence of melancholia - for if one has only experienced extreme hardships throughout their lives and never expect better days to come, they will experience no sense of loss for the past, because the past was no better than their present.
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
The Little Virtues
Natalia Ginzburg's The Little Virtues is a novel consisting of several comprehensible short stories. These stories are parabolic in nature, as their purpose is to inform the reader about the causes of melancholia and the importance of freedom. At times Ginzburg contradicts herself - she repeatedly shows that having dreams and hopes that fail to be realized causes melancholy, she also makes the point that when we give up our dreams for more "reasonable" vocations, we produce a cycle of imposing out dreams onto others (our children) and bring sorrow and disappointment into our lives. So which path is wisest? It was not Ginzburg's intention for the readers to obey all of her suggestions, for that would go against everything she stood for! The novel has an aura of hopelessness, at times sending the message that no matter what we do, we will be unhappy and we will cause others to be unhappy. It is human nature for us to behave the way we do, so it is impossible to fix this melancholia even if we make a conscious effort to. Ginzburg also puts an emphasis on the unimportance of money. I sensed her communist ideas coming through during the last essay of the novel in which she gives advice for helping children look at money in a less dangerous and unhelpful way.
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Natalia Ginzburg’s The Little Virtues is made up of a series of memories. Ginzburg’s stories are aimed to show the reader her melancholy, which is a result of her lack of freedom due to the Fascist regime ruling of Italy at the time. Ginzburg argues back and forth on the concepts of reason, vocations, and conformity. At times, Ginzburg praises the ability to conform, and her vocation. At other times she criticizes people of conforming to vocations of “more reason.” This reason is part of an endless cycle of which we pass on to out children, bringing disappointment and sorrow into their lives and ours. Ginzburg’s intentions were not for her readers to follow and conform to all of her ideals because that would go against her main argument. The novel is flooded with melancholy and the never-ending cycle of exhaustion, disappointment and sorrow. The endless cycle is purely human nature, and cannot be stopped no matter how great the effort. Ginzburg’s communist ideals also appear in some of her accounts, especially when talking about money. This concept is especially prevalent in the last chapter of the novel where Ginzburg warns parents of the consequences of incentivizing their children with money.
ReplyDeleteThe reader is often able to place themselves in Ginzburg’s memories. Ginzburg allows this to happen by not naming her characters, specifically in “Portrait of a Friend.” Ginzburg’s emotions are also described in a way that allows the reader to experience and relate to them simultaneously. According to Ginzburg, the cause of melancholy is reality. After establishing the cause of melancholy, Ginzburg leaves the rest of the interpretation for the reader.