Elena and Lila from the T.V. show “My Brilliant Friend” based on the first novel of The Neapolitan Quartet of the same name
The Neapolitan Novels have finally come to a close and it is quite saddening to have to be separated from the story of Elena and Lila. Elena concludes this quartet with the final words that many have been anticipating and fearing: “…now that Lila has let herself be seen so plainly, I must resign myself to not seeing her anymore.” (473 Ferrante) In a friendship where two women have been bound so closely to each other in every aspect of their lives from early childhood late into adulthood, it seems almost impossible and suspicious that they will not reunite at least once more, later on in their lives. Even when Elena had attempted to avoid the inevitable influences of Lila, physically and mentally, the latter always found a way to push herself back in. Whether Elena felt grateful or numb to her perseverance, it is evident that Elena has been just as stubborn, herself. Lila has endured numerous unimaginable traumas and perhaps, for this reason, she begins a journey of erasing herself completely, so that she would not have to, one day, recall or read the memories of her ugly past. Perhaps, this is why Lila may feel as if she has been betrayed, for when Elena releases the book on their story of friendship, even after Lila severely denies wanting to have any of it written down, she must feel exposed to the world, knowing that the ugliness and violence of her life will become available in the hands of strangers across the world. But if Lila were a real person, at this very moment, I would like her to know that she need not be afraid of being exposed to the world because, as a reader, I have come to admire her in certain ways, despite her flaws, and I believe that although Lila has said that she is incapable of truly loving anyone, Elena is a person that her heart will always be bound to no matter what.
Enduring an earthquake does not only shatter the ground on which Lila and Elena tread upon, but their lives and the lives of those around them are ironically brought to a stand still, forcing them to focus on the present moment to put the pieces of their homes and families back together. The terror that envelops Lila during those tumultuous moments are more than just her constant nightmare of dissolving boundaries coming to life right before her eyes. Furthermore, it is a rude awakening that signals to Lila that despite her efforts to transform violence, hatred and corruption into a world of magnificent peace and beauty, there will always be outside forces present that will destroy those endeavors. Lila, in her constant energetic movements, helps friends here, creates a flourishing business there, destroys some of the corruption at its Solara roots, and attends to her family, reflecting her never ending attempts to escape the perilous rabbit hole of her neighborhood and discover a light at the end of the tunnel. In her desperate rants she admits to Lenu, “You remember when I married Stefano and I wanted the neighborhood to start again from the beginning, to be only beautiful things, the ugliness of before was not supposed to be there anymore. How long did it last?” (Ferrante 178). In Lila’s desperate period of terror, she now sees the earthquake as evidence that goodness is always overshadowed by malevolence and catastrophe, taking apart her good intentions and kindness, thread by thread. Her admiration for Stefano stemmed from his supposed desire to start peaceful relations among the families of the neighborhood and give up ancient resentments. Lila’s obsession with perfecting the grocery stores and the shoe store, aiding her friends with job placements and financial necessities had been reflections of her attempts to bring justice and peace to all the problems of her home. Yet all of this soon started to fall apart at the seams, from her marriage to her pregnancy to her familial relations. The unpredictable catastrophes that followed seemed to erase every good deed that Lila carried out and dissolve the goodness that she had seen in Stefano. At this moment, even as Lila has been able to acquire yet another position in which she is in control and is able to help her friends and family, yet again, mother nature retaliates as if to remind her that her intentions are useless, for instability will always triumph in the end. The world is an amorphous and unstable place and Lila is still struggling to understand that the goodness of the world cannot exist without the evil that constantly strives to silence it. If Lila is to triumph in ensuring that her neighborhood will not always remain a place of ugliness and tragedies, she must learn to accept that these malevolent forces are simply natural and do not guarantee a complete unraveling of the home she is knitting back together.
After multiple pregnancies and much physical and emotional separation, Lila and Elena begin to experience a synchronization in their bodies that allow them to endure new life together. Elena recounts this tumultuous period, “But our bodies, although undergoing the same process of reproducing life, continued to experience the phases in different ways, mine with active collaboration, hers with dull resignation,” (Ferrante 154). Although their delight and excitement become evident in their ability to reinforce their friendship, Lila’s fear of dissolving boundaries and misshapen people and objects begins extending to the rest of her body. Lila’s desire to constantly be in control of the flow of events and the people around her is no different for this pregnancy. She plans for it and yet her mental state of constant turmoil sends signals to her body as if it’s struggling to comprehend and to give in to the physical changes taking place on the inside and outside. Her body, just like her mind, has no desire for unpredictability that could potentially have disastrous results. This is also a reflection of Lila’s unwillingness to leave her neighborhood, let alone Naples, itself, a fear of leaving the mental boundaries that she has created for herself. On the other hand, Elena’s body is very welcoming to the new life growing inside of her, a reflection of her willingness to expand her world beyond the neighborhood, Naples and Italy, as a whole. Each time that Elena travels abroad, her heart swells with pride at her broadening horizons. She is striving to not limit herself to the expectations of her inner circle, the neighborhood and her motherly responsibilities, slowly beginning to understand that she is capable of doing a multitude of things outside of the small yet complexly dangerous world of her origins that keep pulling her back into its abyss. Unlike Lila, she has an ability to control herself, regardless of the disastrous situations she finds herself in, working through the obstacle course with steady determination. While Lila has determination, as well, her’s is an obsessive desire to maintain control without giving much thought to her well being, her thoughts or her own body, knowing that her mind will distort everything around her, regardless of her efforts, if she stops for even a moment.
Although I did not get a chance to write a post this week since I was behind on reading, I would still like to contribute to the posts. I find it appalling that at the beginning of The Story of the Lost Child, Elena makes a comparison between her and Lila’s style of parenting. She goes on to criticize, “Had Lila worried about Gennaro when she left Stefano, when she abandoned the child to the neighbor because of her work in the factory, when she sent him to me as if to get him out of the way? Ah, I had my faults, but I was certainly more a mother than she was.” (Ferrante 24) Although Elena goes on to explain herself, revealing that such sentiments were the result of bitterness and confusion, seeing as how Lila paid little attention to Elena’s children before, it seems as though Elena is attempting to lessen her own feelings of guilt. She knows perfectly well that the circumstances in which Lila committed each of those actions were done out of necessity and desperation rather than in carelessness and neglectfulness towards Gennaro. The abuse, rape and violence that Gennaro witnessed at home with Stefano towards his mother, the necessity to provide for her child and the desire to keep him out of harm’s way due to Naples’ political catastrophes were all motherly and shrewd decisions on Lila’s part. Although Elena should be given the benefit of the doubt in the sense that she’s aware of these facts, it seems as though Elena lacks any pride on her part knowing that her children do not have to fear the same things that Gennaro does. This, in itself, is definitely one of her successes as a mother and grants her the ability to escape the neighborhood, at least physically. However, having known Lila all her life in the context of the neighborhood, she should have realized that what constitutes a “good mother” in Naples is a spark contrast to this concept in Florence. Even so, Elena is in denial, choosing to put off the idea that her children will be harmed mentally by her running off with Nino, and that, in doing so, she is inevitably bringing herself back to the neighborhood where, until that point, she had managed to avoid almost wholly. She is reversing her life by giving in to old desires and forgetting that the future demands her moving on from her past insecurities and pettiness towards Lila.
Adaptation from the page to the big screen was an all encompassing theme for most of the posts this week. The keen attention to detail to ensure that the emotional expressiveness of the novels are preserved is an arduous task that requires an understanding of the in-numerous threads that hold Lila and Elena’s relationship together. As Ariana describes this admirable endeavor, “The amount of detail put into creating the scene is fascinating. It makes me want to re-watch and analyze the series.” Although I was unable to attend the series, the highlights of Professor Lombardi’s lecture also sparks my curiosity to rewatch the show with shrewd attention to its parallel symbolism to the show.
On the other hand, other posts remained focused on the interview with Ferrante that gave a fascinating insight into her characters’ developments, their inability to escape the instability of the neighborhood and even the symbolism of some overlooked characters who, nevertheless, have spontaneous appearances throughout Elena and Lila’s lives. Subtle details such as Lila’s effortless ability to teach Elena a simpler way of learning Latin, as Jacqueline points out, and the use of Italian versus the Neapolitan dialect, as Paraskevi discusses, are notable because their importance may escape the readers upon first reading. Irini alludes to Ferrante’s words that particularly reflects the importance of the theme of writing: “Writing is an act of pride.” As she goes on to analyze this quote, she focuses on the advancement or lack thereof that the protagonists experience in different aspects of their lives in relation to the act of learning and engaging in active writing. Meanwhile, Julie’s post takes on the natural instability that attacks the lives of Elena and Lila. Julie points out, “And every time Elena resolves to break with Lila- and she’s done this 3-4 times so far- she can’t.” The truth of this statement ties together the other themes, reflecting the protagonists’ inability to escape one another and not just the neighborhood, itself. All these posts, although they discuss different points of the interview, have one thing in common: they highlight Ferrante’s un-accidental process of choosing details as she laid out the lives of our protagonists, knowing that there would be a precarious thread to hold it all together in a delicate yet elegant manner.
The vacation on the island of Ischia marks many transitional moments for both Elena and Lila. From the beginning, the beauty of their friendship would emit from the stark contrast they expressed between the two of them: Elena, the timid and thoughtful one. Lila, the bold and fearless one. They have both evolved immensely and at a certain point, it now seems as if Elena has come to yet another realization about Lila. Elena’s boundless love for both Nino and Lila make her suffer, without a doubt, in a self-contradictory manner. She cherishes being their confidantes, desperately trying to ignore the pain of not being Nino’s object of love. However, she now comprehends, or at least, suspects, what had been the root cause of hindering a real relationship. Elena boldly proclaims, “I didn’t possess that emotional power that had driven Lila to do all she could to enjoy that day and that night. I stayed behind, waiting. She, on the other hand, seized things, truly wanted them, was passionate about them, played for all or nothing, and wasn’t afraid of contempt, mockery, spitting, beatings. She deserved Nino, in other words, because she thought that to love him meant to try to have him, not to hope that he would want her.” Elena is often deep in her thoughts, keeping them to herself, never truly revealing their real nature to anyone, not even Lila. One could pinpoint this moment as Elena being envious of Lila’s intense sensitivities and her ability to make everyone fall head over heels for her dangerous and intellectual beauty. However, Elena’s admiration for Lila seems to have grown and matured. She has gained valuable wisdom from this passionate affair between Lila and Nino. She now understands that there is a hidden beauty behind the mask of scandal that uncovers the fear of being found out, punished severely and banished for their adulterous crimes. Unless one takes a dive into their emotions once a while, there is no way to truly understand why a certain person, place or even idea can tug at one’s heartstrings and pushes them to act upon it in a ‘perilous’ manner. Lila understands this and, refusing to consider the reality of the consequences, instead chooses the passion of the moments she spends with Nino, pure happiness, security and newfound respect for life. Elena feels that Lila, unlike her, is able to grasp at opportunity when it comes, while Elena is more cautious. Perhaps, one can say that Elena is Lila’s safety net, protecting her at all costs, even when they’re separated. Verbal defense and emotional connection are part of the knot that ties them together. By involving Elena in the affair, Lila proves that even her boldest adventures cannot be accomplished without her most brilliant friend’s help. Even if it turns out that Nino’s love for her wanes, it will not matter because she has seized him at the most crucial moments in her life and pushing her love past the limits that nature allows.
What’s important to remember, however, is the deeper insight the reader is given into Lila’s mind from, yet again, her notebooks and how it plays into Elena’s new perception of her. Prior to meeting Nino, Lila had felt that her life had been simply a slow but sure marathon towards the finish line of death. Mentally, physically and spiritually, the burning flame that once blazed inside her was slowly being blown out. She had felt as if things were moving at a quick pace that she could not keep up with. Lila, having been surrounded by disturbing events such as family corruption, constant discussions on money, the miscarriage, the beatings from Stefano and her loneliness, had been slowly reaching her boiling point. She had felt trapped, unable to escape from an abyss that captured her independent spirit and placed it far from her own grasp. It is inevitable that, for anyone, when things move at a blinding pace, bringing stress and misfortune one after the other, especially after a change of environment, it can be quite shocking. This makes it plausible that Lila had been experiencing a kind of culture shock, despite remaining in the same city. In Nino, she had found a genuine escape, a real love, instead of a facade and perhaps, new meaning and purpose in her life. It is now clear to her why her own marriage is revolting to her and constantly seems to be falling apart at the seams. While the relationship between Lila and Nino is also tense, it is filled with tenderness and intimacy instead of resentment and hatred.
Based on these analyses, there seems to be a common denominator. Both Elena and Lila are searching for a means to escape in any manner they can the traumatizing stresses of their neighborhoods, new or old. Elena is beginning to find it in this newfound sense of what it means to live life passionately and bravely, while Lila is discovering it in the depths of Nino’s soul that has taken her own as refuge. Regardless of the ugly and dangerous elements of Elena’s and Lila’s adventures, there will always be an element that will tie the two young women together, making their friendship one that cannot be disturbed by the evil outside forces.
Lila from the T.V. series My Brilliant Friend: The moment she witnesses Stefano’s betrayal on Marcello’s feet.
The narration of the story is tricky when one considers that for the most part, the reader is placed inside the mind of Elena and is not often allowed a genuine glimpse into Lila’s complicated thoughts. However, when Elena is invited to a party by one of her professors and Lila decides to tag along, the reader is given a painful insight into the humiliation in Lila’s heart that Elena later reads from her private notebooks. Elena marks the significance of this event for her friend by noting, “That evening for the first time it had become clear to her that her life would forever be Stefano, the grocery stores, the marriage of her brother and Pinuccia, the conversations with Pasquale and Carmen, the petty war with the Solaras…There, for the entire evening, she had felt irrefutably lost.” (Ferrante 161) Up to this point, Lila feels a sense of regret regarding her marriage to Stefano and everything related to it. She is a force to be reckoned with and cannot nor will not allow herself to be controlled and limited by anyone in any respect. Upon hearing of this party, her hopeful excitement that she would be able to escape her repetitive, demanding and sorrowful marriage life is put off balance by Elena’s hesitancy to bring her there. Evidently, Lila believes that her mysterious and dangerous aura would be a source of attraction to everyone she meets at the party. When she realizes the festivities are fulfilling the opposite of her expectations, the humiliation becomes too much to bear and she feigns boredom. Although her intelligence is boundless and her capacity to learn is admirable, her insecurities and the disrespectful treatment she receives are a reflection of her lack of schooling and awareness of everyday international events. Her pride and ego are damaged heavily at this event and she begins to realize where she is destined to belong.
Even upon realizing this, her attempt to humiliate Elena to conceal her own shame is evidence of denial on Lila’s part. Perhaps, the same stubbornness that does not allow Stefano, her in-laws nor the Solaras to control her every move, is the same sentiment that prevents her from understanding that the marriage trap she has placed herself in is more permanent than she believes. Whatever the extent of her knowledge, according to Elena, Lila is beginning to accept that she belongs to a certain group of people: those who are content with wealth, luxuries, marriage and children. In other words, in Lila’s eyes, a comfortable life that limits a woman’s freedom and persistent efforts of business deceptions that help to increase those lifelong comforts. The vulgarity with which Stefano and everyone around Lila are constantly attempting to pursue the utmost wealthy success, including her own brother, is so far from the world of education and academics of Elena’s world, that it seems as though Lila feels intimidated and unable to catch up with the mental marathon that Lila, herself, has pushed Elena to pursue. She does not wish to be left behind yet does not seem to realize that she, herself, is ahead of Elena in many other aspects of life. It is a matter of comprehending that, in reality, there is a balance to Elena and Lila’s friendship that reveals that intelligence and education take many forms.
The novelty of such an episode stems from the weakness that Lila expresses. From the beginning, the reader becomes intimate with a Lila that is ferocious and indestructible both physically and mentally. However, the humiliating reality of her situation and the decision of placing herself under the hand of Stefano has revealed her human side. The constant mental and physical pressure at home, whether it’s working at the grocery, her husband’s beatings or her miscarriage and the mental pressure of the party has thrown her off balance. She is finally beginning to realize that she cannot control everything. This time, instead of being able to step on the brake to place herself where she deems suitable, she is swerving out of control, unable to understand that she is being led down a dangerous route.
Lila Cerullo and Stefano Carracci from the T.V. Series My Brilliant Friend
Like Lila’s episodes of ‘dissolving margins’, these crucial moments merge into one another from the first novel to the next. Primarily, this occurs when Lila realizes her brother, Rino, is expressing his true colors or rather, the darker, more violent side of him during the fateful night of New Years Eve. She begins to feel nausea, terror and blurriness all at once, unable to comprehend what had possessed her brother and the newfound bestiality of his mannerisms.
Unfortunately for Lila, a similar sentiment returns to her heart after her marriage to Stefano. First of all, it is important to recall the reasons that lead her to marry Stefano in the first place. Similar to Rino, she had noticed generosity, kindness and ambition. She had fallen in love, believing the spectacle that Stefano had put on for the entire community, including her own family. Despite the neighborhood conflicts, Stefano treats everyone around him with courtesy and benevolence, determined to initiate the waves of change and rid of the tense relations of their home unlike the bitter past generations. She becomes filled with admiration and expresses appreciation for the initiative he takes in pushing her father’s shoe business to the top.
However, on her honeymoon night, as she dines with Stefano in an elegant restaurant, the reality of the situation she had placed herself in becomes clear as day, after a series of unfortunate events: “He was a being, now, with whom she felt she could share nothing and yet there he was…He had little or nothing to do with the seller of cured meats who had attracted her, with the ambitious, self-confident, but well-mannered youth…something in and around him had broken,” (Ferrante 37). Similar to the atrocious behavior of Rino on New Years Eve, Lila’s eyes are now able to vividly see the man she has married. He has finally secured his grasp on her and the inner horrifyingly fleshy and selfish man is now in the spotlight. All the positive traits that have previously made up his being have faded and disappeared into nothing. Whatever element has held him together in one piece during his courting period of Lila is now completely and utterly ‘broken’. The margins have given way and the greed and horror that had been hidden in his heart and soul and had been inherited from the feared Don Achille is slowly beginning to pour out.
In analogous terms, prior to the wedding, Lila had seen a figure that had been colored within the lines with gentleness, care and without any errors whatsoever. Now that she has bound herself to him both lawfully and morally, his ‘human’ form is beginning to morph and the carefully chosen theatrical colors are starting to melt away into reality.
This moment of a rude awakening is a sickening reflection of the importance of the physical elements of Lila’s and Elena’s poverty stricken neighborhood as well as the outward appearances of Naples’s women. The confusing maze like trait of their home is an abyss for women who are constantly under the watch and care of their fathers, brothers and husbands. Their beauty or lack thereof are constantly judged and ridiculed, being deemed as prizes for the most ‘manly’ of men. Under such standards, Stefano is now perceived as a real man because he has successfully obtained the most prized and envied female of all under his control. This creates both physical and mental constraints on Lila, further entrapping her into the violence and despair of her neighborhood, unable to find her way out of the maze of wedding vows and empty promises made in her own personal coloring book.
1950s Fruit Market in Santa Lucia, Naples https://www.alamy.com/travel-to-naples-italy-in-1950s-fruit-market-in-santa-lucia-naples-obstmarkt-im-viertel-santa-lucia-in-neapel-italien-image-date-1954-photo-erich-andres-image238538713.html
Benjamin introduces the notion of Naples’s characteristic grayness, a color that indicates lifelessness, lack of vigor as well as a lack of ferocity that entices and enchants outsiders in a gentle rather than fearful manner. He goes on to point out that, “Fantastic reports by travellers have touched up the city. In reality it is grey: a grey-red or ochre, a grey-white. And entirely grey against sky and sea. It is this, not least, that disheartens the tourist,” (Benjamin 169). He begins this section of the article by making it clear that Naples should not be regarded as an animated city, as false advertising might say. Furthermore, Benjamin views this city as being entirely embraced by this gray color that sets the mood as one cruises through its mazes. The use of the words ‘sky’ and ‘seas’ is an allusion to the organs of a city that reflect the health and happiness of the people and animals who inhabit it as well as the places themselves, with their unique foods and styles. According to him, these elements as a whole create a disappointing and downtrodden image of a forgotten city in the eyes of a curious and eager tourist who may have simply read travel brochures and read about the most wonderfully wealthy and touristy spots, yet did not and will not wish to become exposed to the city’s realities.
This seems to have an element of truth to it, according to Elena’s inside perception. After returning from a month long vacation in the island of Ischia, which had been both refreshing and heartwarming, aside from the traumatic and horrendous assault during the last night, she not only notices physical differences on herself but the ‘grey[ness]’ of the city is highlighted before her eyes. She makes a note, “As long as I had been immersed in the colors of Ischia, amid sunburned faces, my transformation had seemed suitable…The people, the buildings, the dusty, busy stradone had the appearance of a poorly printed photograph, like the ones in the newspapers,” (Ferrante 233). There are two important points here. Primarily, although she is now satisfied with her outward appearance, having rid of her physical insecurities thanks to the sea and sunshine, she still feels out of place. The clean and healing sea air combined with the never-ending sunshine and the healthy appearances of people who enjoy such natural luxuries every day, had made her feel at home. While she now has a renewed sense of health and beauty, the return to her old neighborhood invokes a sense of being an outsider. The familiar neighborhood of her childhood now appears, before her eyes, to be an ancient and ruined ‘photograph’. Such a description indicates that it is both a forgotten and unnecessary city, not only to her new healthy self but to the outside world in general. It is a harsh observation that implies a longing on Elena’s part to return to the peaceful, carefree and clean atmosphere of the Ischia sea. She even uses the word ‘dusty’ which gives an ill demeanor to the city while its business and activities do not signify livelihood but rather repetition and mindlessness: a collective forgetfulness that a happier outside world exists. In summary, Elena’s description is reminiscent of her old desires to escape the neighborhood and supports Benjamin’s perception of a cohesively grey Naples. However unfair it may seem, as an outsider, as well, it is hard to distinguish between whether the city, itself, is grey or the grayness flows within Elena or even Benjamin, creating a river of yearning for an unfamiliar city.
It’s evident from the beginning that Elena holds an admiration and fearful respect for Lila, engaging in terrifying adventures that she would otherwise never attempt, not only because Lila does so, but also for the sense of excitement and thrill that comes along with them. Up to this point, beginning a new chapter in their education had been something that stimulated both Elena and Lila. Lila’s persistence and intense and even violent arguments with her father eventually results in him giving in to her demands and allowing her to attend middle school. Afterwards, to Elena’s great surprise, although Lila begins attending school, she ends up skipping classes repeatedly. Lila even expresses relief when she becomes ill, simply because it prevents her from attending school. She ultimately ends up failing and afterwards, when Lila’s family decides that she will work alongside her father and brother in the shoe shop, to Elena’s disbelief, she witnesses a newfound pride and delight in Lila whenever she discusses the art of repairing and making shoes. This is emphasized by her deep concentration whenever Elena watches her at work from the shop window. The passion of Lila’s words and actions has several tremendous effects on Elena. Formerly, she would brag about her academic excellence to Lila, expressing an underlying insecurity ever since she had become second to Lila’s extreme intelligence and abilities. Now, not only is Elena struggling to keep up with the difficult and faster pace of middle school education but she also finds herself questioning whether or not this education is necessary or even desirable. She expresses her doubts and sorrow when she narrates, “…seemed to me the best people in the neighborhood. Above all, I came home with the impression that, not spending my days in a shoemaker’s shop, having for a father a banal porter instead, I was excluded from a rare privilege. I began to feel that my presence in class was pointless” (99). She wonders if anything fruitful can result from the constant studying and even when she attempts to apply herself, she does so without a hint of passion and purpose. She now believes that Lila and her family are or should be the most respected and esteemed people in the entire neighborhood because they hold a talent for creating something not only beautiful but also of use to everyone, regardless of status, with the added promise of comfort. Elena desires to be included in having this rare ability and opportunity to learn the ins and outs of shoemaking. However, her own father, unlike Lila’s father does not have an exciting job, according to Elena. These thoughts, however, stem not from a desire to become a successful shoemaker but rather from the wish to discover the brilliance of every occupation that grasps the attention of Lila. In other words, if Lila decides that she has an interest in something, whether it’s to discover a new place, advance her education, or making shoes, Lila’s rollercoaster of passions takes Elena along for the ride.
Yet another effect that this newfound enthusiasm of Lila has on Elena is her overwhelming ‘unhappiness,’ (99) as she calls it. This becomes evident when, almost as a side note, Elena begins describing Lila’s physical traits as she watches her at work from outside the shop. She recounts, “Coming out of school, dazed by unhappiness, I passed Fernando’s shop only to see Lila at her workplace, sitting at a little table in the back, her thin chest with no hint of a bosom, her scrawny neck, her small face,” (99). Elena now not only lacks a yearning to grow in her learning but also has a hint of envy. Instead of solely mentioning how she watches Lila at work, she outlines Lila’s tiny stature and lack of physical maturity, implying that, at the very least, Elena feels superior in this respect because she has, in fact, developed a bosom, and grown in weight, giving her the appearance of a healthy and developing young adolescent. This is a defense mechanism for Elena because she continuously alludes to Lila’s physical characteristics, especially at her lowest points of insecurity throughout the novel. Although not ill-intentioned, this quote expresses Elena’s attempt to undermine the many talents of Lila. As mentioned before, ever since Elena discovered that Lila is intelligent and bold whether it comes to academics or everyday life, she has struggled to keep up with her everchanging interests, realizing that the only aspect of her life in which she feels superior is a physical one.
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