In Alberto Moravia’s Agostino, the titular character of Agostino spends his childhood days surrounded by his Mother and his world is dominated by his relationship to her. Agostino’s life growing is complex as he has his Mother’s love, however there is only so much love that she can give him. Agostino’s growth in society never matures as he has none of the experience required to create social bonds with other people. Because of his abandonment by his mother and lack of social skills, Agostino is unable to progress in society.
Agostino’s future is left ambiguous at the end of the novella, however I find it hard to believe that a happy future lies ahead for the youth, unless he manages to find the right social group in society, on that treats him as a member of society and if Agostino can adapt to society. The dance with his cousin and the game of cops and robbers with the gang of young boy shows how Agostino is willing to partake in social activities and his desire to create social bonds, but rather than getting to know what kind of person Agostino truly is, they instead immediately decide upon his character, not by judging “who” he is, but rather “what” he is. For Agostino’s cousin, he is a small boy who is very uninteresting and unworthy of attention, for the group of boys, he is an annoying outsider who can be ignored and taken advantage of.
As the gang of young boys eventually learn more about Agostino and treat him with a little understanding, they come to accept Agostino as a member of their group. The actions that Agostino takes during this time is highly influenced by the older boys and by doing everything that they tell him to do, Agostino effectively surrenders his any agency and independence within this group. It is in Agostino’s nature as a curious child to seek social interaction and acceptance, however instead of being encouraged in his nature, instead Agostino is nurtured, in some ways very harshly, into behaving as a quiet respectful and obedient young boy. Agostino’s displeasure at this state of affairs is finalized at the very conclusion of the novella when he is reunited with his mother, in this, he points out that his mother always belittles him and treats him as a child, his mother responds that he will have to wait until he becomes a man to be treated differently and it is here that Agostino realizes how society and the people around him truly function.
“the titular character of Agostino spends his childhood days surrounded by his Mother and his world is dominated by his relationship to her.”
Except that we see, very early on, this closeness to his mother is broken and he is forced to forge new relationships, right?
(NB please also add the tag or category “Moravia” to this post, and use tags to indicate other key concepts or themes.)
I really enjoy what you have to say in your blog post, especially the line about how the gang determines “what” Agostino is. Now that you’ve pointed it out, it has me thinking about when they first started to get to know the boy and asked him all about his wealth. Although that isn’t necessarily the main thing they pick at him for, but its something that I thought about. I wonder how the book would have been if they had written the gang of boys differently. I think something even slightly different than how they were written could have significantly changed the trajectory of the novel.
I agree with you that Agostino basically lacked any male archetypes in his life and looked to these boys and Saro as male figures and role models. Since we are not given much details about his family and male relatives, one can assume that his mother is the main caregiver and influence in his life during this time. Being a young woman, she desires companionship but it never occurred to her that her son also needs company and thus she is to blame for the way things unfolded in the story. Also, being young, innocent, and weak compared to those uncouth boys, it is natural that Agostino would have to give up his agency and also lose his dignity in order to be accepted by those boys. This is an alpha-male power dynamic that is common both amongst humans and animals.
I absolutely agree with you Agostino seems to be slowly navigating the social world and in that journey, he seems to be making a lot of compromises with regards to his friends.