One theme that I found interesting in the novel was the theme of transition. Agostino is often caught between childhood and adulthood and expresses the want to enter the next stage of his life by doing more “adult” things. I think the moment when he isn’t allowed into the home at the end of the novel with Tortima and is kicked out for being too young really exemplifies the fact that he’s adopted this older or more mature attitudes from the boys he hangs out with over the summer, but that these things he’s learning might not apply or be put into action in his real life because he’s still a child and not physically at the adult stage. As well, he’s away from his regular life and is trying to come to terms with his identity as he grows into being a man, but we have no idea what his life will be like after this brief vacation period.
I’m really not sure how I feel about this novel. I don’t think I liked it as much as the other ones. I anticipate there being some discussion over Agostino and his mother’s relationship. I’m not sure what my opinion is or how to interpret it. I think because Agostino is young and still figuring things out, his curiousity about his own sexuality was something he was trying to explore, and he was trying to come to terms with all this new knowledge during this summer in the only way he knew how – by relating it to the primary female figure in his life.
As for his group of friends and buddies, I think their teasing and bullying and treatment of Homs really detracted from my reading experience. I think it depicted the often brutal aspects of the main group of boys, but I just felt sad that Agostino felt pressure to change and that he lost some of his innocence in that way, and that they treated Homs terribly. I guess that loss of innocence was one of the main themes, but it made me think about young friendships in general and how there’s a lot of pressure to say certain things, like Agostino does when he’s trying to have the same attitudes as his friends, even if he doesn’t mean them, to fit in.
My question for the class is what did you make of the setting? Did having Agostino outside/away from his regular life contribute to the themes of transition and change in the novel?
Memorable quote: “So he found that he had lost his original identity without acquiring through his loss another” (78).
Peace,
Maia
Hi! I think the setting of being on summer vacation is connected to this large transition that is occuring. Likewise to the emotions and experiences he is having, he is also exploring a new landscape, which is what led him to find the boys in the first place.
I really loved your post and was nodding along as I read. In response to your question, I actually touched on place in my post as well. I noted how beautiful the surroundings were, it was almost described like paradise, and in my opinion, it made all the things that happened during the novel worse. But in relation to the theme of transition and innocence, I think being away from home probably did attribute Agostino’s change. I feel like he wanted to “try” on a new life, but he became lost in it and didn’t know how to or want to go back to his old one. See you in class!
Hi Maia! I agree that Agostino adopted attitudes much too mature for his age because of the boys he hung with in the summer, it is hard to believe that he’s only thirteen. In response to your question, I think the setting was picked in the summer time at a beautiful beach because it delivers the story much better. In the summer is when him and his mother goes swimming, and where people wear swimming suits and expose more skin. This helps the author convey the struggle of the protagonist’s sexual awakening better compared to a setting in the wintertime in the city.
“it made me think about young friendships in general and how there’s a lot of pressure to say certain things”
On re-reading the story this weekend, one thing that struck me was that one thing that changes (and really changes, whereas as you point out he doesn’t yet fully become a “man”) is that Agostino learns to lie, to pretend, to dissimulate. He learns to say things… but things that he doesn’t really mean, or doesn’t really understand.
Hey to answer your question…Yes, i do believe that having Agostino outside/away from his regular life contribute to the themes of transition and change in the novel. It showed identity switch and how young adults are influenced by peer pressure.