The juxtaposition between Agostino’s summer as an Italian boy compared to the crudely honest  and undeniable thought processes of a growing boy were evident in this reading. The boy who is so incredibly reliant emotionally on his mother has been catapulted and ridiculed into a no longer sheltered reality when he meets a gang of boys around his age. They all welcome him as one of their own in the most brutal and hesitant of ways while his curiosity in a domain so foreign of his own compels him to stick around. His mother accepting the love and embrace of a man besides himself brings out a freudian-driven mindset as he starts to see his mother in the way the rest of his explicit-minded friends do. He slightly resents her for it as he comes to the realization that he is growing into a man who has failed him time and time again.

There was so much to unpack out of this reading. At first it was sheer disgust from the fact that Agostino was looking at his mom in a certain way to a frustration in the way the boys dealt with him. I was frustrated that he wasn’t fighting back or standing up for himself but then again no matter how strongly his anger drove him, he was raised in a setting where his masculinity wasn’t praised or entertained. i think the gang of boys had picked up on this seeing as they had believed he fell victim to one of Saro’s boat ride activities. Homs had also seemed a victim of Saro’s grooming in the way they teased him, possibly because he was seen as the weaker of the litter as well. I also wondered why Homs was his name and even had a passing thought that it was a nickname given to him by the boys, short for homosexual, but that could very well be a reach. Then in the end, with the brothel scene, he had thought that this new-found bravery and sense of assertion into this gang accompanied by his new perspective on his mom would be his merciless catapult into manhood. But the second he clutched his money and approached the lady, she said he was too young and ought to be back home. This scene just shows that no matter what goes on in his head or what experienced might make him feel like a man or otherwise, it will not always coincide with what others think.

Reflection Questions:

Do you think Agostino would have had an alternate ending if his father were still alive?

Did you think at any point in the book that his mother was a bad parent? If so, why?