Finally, it’s the last book! Luckily, I personally liked this book đ
Well, this book is full of the dilemma and helplessness of women in a patriarchal society, but also showing the awakening of women’s power. Lila and Elena form a complementary and mutually redeeming feeling to me, and they find in each other the state they aspire to be in. Unfortunately, fate has a way of making things difficult, and life is always accompanied by all sorts of regrets and hardships. We can see that Lila and Elena’s relationship started with a courage contest. I liked the following passage:
“She thought that what we were doing was just and necessary; I had forgotten every good reason, and certainly was there only because she was. We climbed slowly toward the greatest of our terrors of that time, we went to expose ourselves to fear and interrogate it.”
The exposure of fear and terror really bound them together. They are willing to present their weakness, grow and learn from each other, TRUE FRIENDSHIP!!!
In Elena’s eyes, Lila is a gifted girl with an innate sense of wildness and resistance that Elena admires and envies. Lila’s resilience inspires Elena’s sense of independence. As a result, Elena instinctively draws closer to her, follows her, and shares her sorrows and joys. In school, the two compete and inspire each other. In life, Lila takes Elena to skip school and asks the cranky and rude Achille for her rag doll. Lila is the other side of Elena’s repressed life, and Elena’s following of Lila reflects her desire for a life of freedom and independence.
At the same time, in Lila’s point of view, Elena is also the one that she aspires to be and become. Lila, as the daughter of a shoemaker, stops her educational path at the end of elementary school because of her family’s financial burden. She dreamed of making an amazing pair of handmade shoes, but was repeatedly struck by reality and ended up getting married in a young age (16 is pretty young đ ). Lila’s experience reflects the suppression of women’s personal value in the subordinate position by the male and patriarchal ideology of that era. Women were often in a position of exploitation. Although Lila learns through a lot of reading and self-study; at the bottom of her heart, she still longs and yearns for school life. Just like the quote below:
âNot for you: youâre my brilliant friend, you have to be the best of all, boys and girls.â
This quote is full of Elena representing Lila’s unfulfilled dream, the need for women to become independent and improve their social status through education. How ironic that when it comes to profit, women are often the ones who are exchanged.
Lila and Elena are supporting each other, as well as competing with each other; being a united front and at the same time at opposite poles, growing in opposite directions. The two see themselves in each other, and never free from each other’s influence and dependence.
Question for Discussion:Â
“They were Cerullo shoes for men. Not the model for sale, not the ones with the gilded pin. Marcello had on his feet the shoes bought earlier by Stefano, her husband. It was the pair she had made with Rino, making and unmaking them for months, ruining her hands.”
Oh no…tragic ending…Poor Lila tried her best to get rid of the misfortune brought by her destiny, only to step into a “betrayed” marriage again. If you were Lila, how would you rewrite your life story?
Hi Cici! I really loved your analysis on the effects Elena and Lila have on each other. And yes – the ending is very tragic considering what happens in the beginning of the sequel… The problem with Lila’s story is that she needed the marriage in order to hopefully ascend her family’s reputation and to a higher level of wealth. Hypothetically if I were Lila, and it took place in a more modern era – I would simply just refuse marriage since I’m personally very content with staying single for the rest of my life. I’ve just seen it to be a very expensive way of letting the public know you like someone until you get a divorce (or until death separates another pair).
Hi, Cici,
I really enjoy your description of the friendship between Lila and Elina; your portrayal is very detailed! Regarding your question, if I were Lila, I think I would choose to leave this marriage and seek out Elina. I feel that Lila lacks some courage, and the courage she once had has been worn away by various events. If she were still her younger self, she would surely have bravely stepped forward.
Jialu Xu
Sorry, Elena* for the typo
Hello! I am glad you enjoyed the novel! I had a some issues with it, but I loved your analysis on the friendship I deemed to be rather toxic in many aspects. To touch on your discussion question, I do not think I could rewrite Lila’s life story, because I do think she would rewrite it herself. Lila is very strong-willed and I think she believes Stefano is her best opinion no matter what. I do think if she divorces Stefano (if that is an option), she will heavily rely on Elena. It would be interesting to see how Elena would deal with Lila relying on her.
“the awakening of womenâs power.”
I wonder… as you point out, Lila seems to be screwed (to use a technical term!) at the end, immediately betrayed by her new husband, who has passed on those shoes to her worst enemy. And LenĂš is hardly in a better situation, as she feels she can never quite escape the neighbourhood and its logic. I mean, yes, these are strong women–perhaps Lila especially–but they still seem destined to defeat, however much effort they put in.
And to be honest, while gender is important, sometimes it’s as though class is even more important. The problem is not only that Lila and LenĂš are women (or girls becoming women), but they are working-class women, whose options are as such even more circumscribed.