“Agostino” by Alberto Moravia

Moravia’s short coming-of-age novel Agostino was a very interesting yet slightly bizarre read. I had previously read another one of Moravia’s novels, Gli Indifferenti, in high school. Although I read Gli Indifferenti in Italian, I found many similarities between the two novels, and the overall mood conveyed by Moravia was the same in my experience. Moravia’s realism when writing stories about a few characters and their internal development is captivating but easy to misinterpret. In other words, it is easy to get weirded out by some aspects of Moravia’s stories. However, the message beyond the events he narrates is often meaningful and teaches the reader about personal growth, family, sexuality, and society.

Moravia’s characters are often passive to their lives, alienated by society, and overall overwhelmed by the discomfort they feel around others. Agostino fits this description perfectly well. Throughout the whole novel, the thirteen-year-old boy is in a state of unease caused by his transition from adolescence to adulthood. Seeing his mother in her new relationship, discovering about sexuality, entering a friend group that doesn’t respect him, and being the victim of Saro’s pedophilic attitudes are events that add to the main character’s distress. As readers, we see Agostino being the subject of these uncomfortable events but also being unable to react. It’s as though the main character was trapped in an imaginary prison and couldn’t properly react to what happens around him. This is very similar to the behaviors of the characters in Gli Indifferenti. It’s almost as if Moravia’s goal was to show us how frustrating it is to not take control of one’s life through his characters. Everything that remains unsaid throughout the novel is almost louder than what actually is being said. When Berto and the other boys make fun of his mom, “Agostino [wants] to say, “Don’t talk about my mother.” But he [is] so confused by the swarm of sensations and dark memories aroused in him by the question that he [is] left speechless.” (17). His inability to act is discouraging for the reader who is aware of everything that happens in the main character’s head. Even when he is overwhelmed by the embarrassment of discovering some of the worst aspects of sexuality, the main character doesn’t express his frustration. He is an object of life, not a subject if that makes sense.

After writing these reflections on the main character and his development/role in the novel, my question for the class is the following. Does Moravia portray Agostino as a passive character as a way to show the importance of taking charge when needed? Or does he simply paint a picture of an awkward thirteen-year-old without any instructive purpose?

– Bianca