My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante is a novel about the friendship between the narrator Elena and Lila. This novel follows many themes that we have noticed in previous readings such as childhood and memory. Although it seems like Elena is in competition with her best friend Lila, I believe Elena does care and looks up to Lila and even fears losing her. Lila is extremely brave like at the beginning of the novel when she and Elena went to Don Achille’s apartment and confronted him about taking their dolls and when she had a knife at Marcello’s throat to protect Elena. I really enjoyed reading this novel because you can observe the character development among the characters. For instance, how Elena and Lila had dreamt of becoming wealthy and as they got older, that dream, especially for Lila had faded. Elena went on to succeed in high school while Lila didn’t receive the same opportunity and stayed with her family in the shoemaking/ fixing business. We can also see Rino’s character develop. At the beginning of the novel, he seems like a nice boy who just looks out for his younger sister Lila. But later on in the novel, he becomes abusive to his younger sister when he becomes greedy about the idea of their shoe factory.
Some parts of Ferrante’s novel reminded me of The Shrouded Women by María Luisa Bombal. I found the male gaze to be a part of the novel many times. It makes sense since the main characters are going through puberty. But for Elena, the way men view her seems to be significant while Lina doesn’t seem to care. For instance, when Elena begins to fall in love with Pasquale Peluso but he only seems interested in Lila who does not feel the same back. And now to think of it, there is a lot of jealousy and most of this jealousy comes from Elena. Elena is jealous when the boys find Lila more attractive and when she beings dating Stefano because she has more money now. It seems like Elena compares her life to Lila’s a lot. Elena compared her relationship with Antonio to Lilas and Stefanos and even wondered what they do and don’t do.
Overall, I really enjoyed reading My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante. It was interesting and dramatic while being still relatable. My question is, Elena often doubts her and her ability in school, near the end she says in reaction to Lila and Stefano’s marriage that “studying is useless” she doubts that she can make it. Have you ever had doubts about being in Post-secondary?
I like your question about enjoying post-secondary. I definitely had my doubts about it when I was still in high school, and because of that I took some time off before attending university. I’m so happy I did because I figured out what I wanted to study first and now that I’m in it, I love it.
Hi! I think the themes that you analyzed in your post were really insightful, as well I really liked your connection to the Shrouded Women. To answer your question, I think a lot of post-secondary students, including myself, have had doubts at some point. Personally, my doubts mostly make me doubt how my studies are going to be relevant/help me in the future.
To answer your question, yes! Absolutely, I doubt being in post secondary all the time but then I think about what else I would be doing right now and end up just continuing with university. I honestly have no idea what I want to do with my degree.
Hi! I totally agree with your comparison to The Shrouded Woman! As for your question, I’ve definitely have had doubts about university! My first year was in 2020 and during the pandemic so I considered differing for a year! However, I also wasn’t sure about what I wanted to do during that year since travelling wasn’t an option and there were a lot more restrictions back then!
Hey!
Thanks for an interesting read. I never really thought about comparing the book to The Shrouded Woman but now, upon reading your comparison, I think I have to agree with you about the male gaze throughout the journey of womanhood. Great blog post!