Alberto Moravia’s novel, “Agostino,” follows the story of a young boy transitioning into adolescence while exploring themes like identity, loss of innocence and sexual awakening. While many adolescents struggle with a sense of identity during their journey of self-discovery and growth, Agostino seemed to have matured much too fast in the span of one summer. From the very beginning, I took notice of Agostino’s pride and weirdly intimate descriptions of his beautiful mother during their swimming trips. It reminded me of “Combray” by Proust, how the protagonist was obsessed with attaining the warmth of his mother’s night kiss. Agostino took joy in being the only man his mother paid attention to, but that changed when a young suitor entered the scene. Pushed to his mother’s periphery, Agostino felt a sense of betrayal and abandonment as his mother formed a new romantic relationship with the suitor. After a quarrel with his mother, Agostino met Berto who introduced him to the community of working-class kids who resided on Vespucci beach. This is where Agostino’s life and understanding of intimacy and relationships took a pivotal shift. Firstly, it appears that Agostino grew up in a wealthy family with a sheltered lifestyle, so the behaviour and language used by the local kids came as a shock to him. It also came as a shock to me as well, how they made such disturbing comments and asked such intimate questions about his mother. When the boys found out that Agostino “knows nothing (p. 30)” about what a man and woman do together, they were crude with their explanation of sexual intimacy, using harsh words and vulgar gestures. After the loss of childhood innocence, Agostino grew even more confused about his emerging sexuality and the relationship between him and his mother. The admiration and love he once had for his mother turned into something distorted and cruel: “He couldn’t say why he wanted so much to stop loving his mother, why he hated her love (p. 46).” I think that the sudden dump of information about sexuality confused and shocked him, making him feel repulsed, lonely and even more susceptible to thoughts like this. It was also mentioned that Agostino’s father passed away, leaving him and his mother to form a close and affectionate mother-son relationship without the presence of a father figure. Therefore, it must’ve been even more overwhelming for Agostino to face his sexual awakening without a trustworthy adult to answer his questions or guide him through his adolescent journey. Agostino also struggled with his self-identity; he didn’t enjoy the company of the kids from his social class and gravitated toward the presence of the local working-class kids by “deliberately pretend[ing] to appreciate and enjoy the behaviour and manners that still horrify him (p. 73).” 

Question: 

Agostino always had an intimate relationship with his mother, how did this relationship affect his emotional and psychological development and alter his perspective on romantic relationships?