The Earthquake of November 23, 1980 is described in the text as this long lasting experience when in reality, they only a last a couple of minutes and even less than that. Lila and Lenu are both pregnant and must seek out safety while it seems like everything around them is collapsing. it was clearly a life-changing experience for the two women especially, Lenu.

“The Earthquake, with its definite destruction–entered into our bones. It expelled the habit of stability and solidity, the confidence that every second would be identical to the next, the familiarity of sounds and gestures, the certainty if recognizing them. A sort of suspicion of every form of reassurance took over, a tendency to believe in every prediction of bad talk, an obsessive attention to signs of the brittleness of the world, and it was hard to take control again. Minutes and minutes and minutes that wouldn’ t end (The Story of the Lost Child, 172)”.

Lenu’s account is that the destruction is something that entered her bones. Obviously there is a much deeper impact as there is the presence of both physical and emotional destruction. She goes on to state that as scared as she was, she wasn’t as scared as Lila. The woman she saw in those moments was the Lila that was stripped of the ability to precisely calibrate her thoughts, words, gestures, tactics, and strategies. She sees Lila as a useless suit of armor (TSOTLC, 173). As she is experiencing the earthquake she is hyperfocused on what is seemingly, Lila’s loss of believing solid connections. The most intriguing aspect of this experience is Lenu’s focus on Lila as they attempt to get themselves, and ultimately their unborn children to safety.

Lenu’s decision to be with Nino was shocking considering the fact that she had no problem voicing her distaste of when Lila did the same thing. In the third novel of the series, “Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay”, we see Lenu struggle with the balance of being a Mother and Writer. Eventually she decides to devote her time to being a Mother but we can see that she is not being fulfilled as she is writer. In the final novel of the series, “The Story of the Lost Child” we see that she has decided to devote her time to Nino, being let down when he decides to spend the holidays with his family.

“I vented on the telephone while Mariarosa listened to me in silence. I asked: Am I wrong about everything, do I deserve what is happening to me? She took a serious tone, but she was encouraging. She said that I had the right to have my life and the duty to continue to study and write. Her words soothed me, yet I couldn’t sleep. I turned things over and over in my breast; anguish, rage, desire for Nino, unhappiness because he would spend the holiday with his family, with Albertino, and I was reduced to a woman alone, without affection, in an empty house.” (The Story of the Lost Child, 60)

It seems that Lenu has invested so much into Nino, studying, and writing that she is feeling guilt over not prioritizing her role as a Mother. This is emphasized when Pietro shows up to Lenu’s door stating that because of her lover she does not have time for her children (61). This offers insight into how her feelings of guilt have come forth as her actions not only affect her but those around her as well.

Something that has fascinated me while reading the first 3/4 of Ferrante’s series is the way in which a scene from the text can be interpreted and imagined in the mind. Since the series has been translated to screen in the form of a T.V series, the reader can see how that particular director has envisioned the characters in order to transform the texts into another medium. This can be applied to the emotionally charged moments of the texts that more often than not involve Lenu and Lila.

An interesting interpretation from page to screen can be taken from a particular passage in the third novel of series. The text states , “I began to have some ugly thoughts on the beach. Lila, I said to myself , deliberately pushes away emotions, feelings. The more I sought tools to try to explain myself to myself, the more she, on the contrary hid. The more I tried to draw her into the open and involve her in my desire to clarify, the more she took refuge in the shadows. She was like the full moon when it crouches behind the forest and the branches scribble on its face (The Story of A New Name 310)”.

This passage makes me think about what Professor Lombardi said during his lecture in regards to how scenes are interpreted by the Director. In particular how he pointed that in the HBO series of Ferrante’s series, there was a scene where Lenu was a child and Lila clearly in adolescence, can be seen extending her hand toward Lenu and telling her to look deeper, in the dialect of course. He pointed out that while this depiction was not realistic, it would provide the necessary reaction and depth of the overall story being told. It most certainly did. This passage and in particular, the descriptive imagery used made me think of Professor Lombardi’s words in respect to this aspect of storytelling. I more specifically thought about how a director would bring this scene to screen and the creative way that they would approach the scene while keeping its emotional intensity.

The setting of the novels taking place in 1960 onwards allows for Ferrante to incorporate real historical elements within her texts. When Authors do this, we as the audience are able to see how real life and fiction can connect with one another. This also allows for showing a different point of view of a historical event from the perception of the character(s) and how the Author incorporates it into the story. An example of this is in the third novel of the series, “Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay”. Ferrante references one of the many terrorists attacks that would follow after this attack that occured in December 1969; The bombing of the Banca Nazionale dell’Agricoltura in Milan’s Piazza Fontana (CNN).

“I traveled a lot in those months. I was invited here and there not only because of my book but also because of the articles I was writing, which in turn forced me to travel to see close up the new kinds of strike, the reactions of the owners. I never thought of trying to become a freelance journalist. I did it because doing it I was happy. I felt disobedient, in revolt and inflated with such power that my meekness seemed a disguise. In fact, it enabled me to join the pickets in front of the factories, to talk to workers, men and women, and to union officials, to slip out among the policemen. Nothing frightened me. When the Banca di Agricoltura in Milan was bombed I was in the city, at the publisher’s, but I wasn’t alarmed, I didn’t have dark pre-sentiments. I thought of myself as an unstoppable force, I thought I was invulnerable. No one could hurt me and my child.” (Volume 3, pg. 235).

In this excerpt we can clearly see Lenu’s point of view of this historical event as she was present when it happened. While this is occurring, we see that she is progressing in her writing career as well as taking part in protests. This event was incorporated to show a different side of Lenu as well as give more insight to her feelings as she states that being a participant in the pickets seemingly enhanced her resolve and made her feel free and untouchable.

Throughout her Neapolitan Novels, one of the many themes that Ferrante focuses on is female friendship. More specifically, the relationship between Lenu and Lila. However, we as the audience can see that their respective families and upbringings have played a vital role in the way that Lenu and Lila are characterized. Motherhood takes much more of an emphasis as we reach the end of The Story of A New Name. It started with Lila’s transition following her marriage and Lenu attempting to find her own path by her individual experience(s). In her Essay Dixit Mater, Van Ness references the symbolic significance of Lila and Lenu’s dolls. As stated in the text, Lenu’s doll is described as beautiful while Lenu’s is ugly. Van Ness then goes on to state that the girls in their playing, have the dolls mimic their lives which consists of an unhappiness that exists not only within themselves but their mothers as well. To me, this is indicative of generational maternal relationships that exists not only in the confines of this text, but in other cultural apects as well. She then points out that Lila seems determined to break away from this generational “curse” so to speak.

In the second novel of this series we are introduced to Lila as a Mother. Following the difficult delivery of her son and seemingly having a C-Section as a last resort for a safe delivery, Lila and Stefano fight in the clinic about the baby’s name. While Stefano wants to name his son Achille after his Father, Lila is adamantly against this choice; the child is ultimately named Gennaro. Her not backing down in what she wants to name her child shows that she is determined to be headstrong in her motherhood. The text states, “I don’t know why, but at certain point she began to take care of Dino, her nephew. It’s possible that it began because she needed to compare Gennaro to another child. Or maybe not, maybe she felt a qualm that she was devoting all her attention to her son and it seemed right to take care of her nephew as well. (383)”. Lila is not only dedicated to her son’s well-being, but his intelligence as well. Her motherhood also extends to her nephew which exemplifies just how nurturing she is in her maternal role.

“But Lila knew how to draw me in. And I was unable to resist: on the one hand I said that’s enough, on the other I was depressed at the thought of not being in her life, of the means by which she invented it for herself. What was that deception but another of her fantastic moves, which were always full of risks? The two of us together, allied with each other, in the struggle against all…, Here was a new adventure, together. Here was how we would take what life didn’t want to give us. Here. Or would I rather that she be deprived of that joy, that Nino would suffer, that both should lose the light of reason and end up not capably managing their desire but being dangerously overwhelmed by it? There was a moment, that night, when, by following her along the thread of her arguments, I came to think that to support her in this undertaking, besides being an important milestone for our long sisterhood, was also the way of manifesting my love–she said friendship, but I desperately thought: love, love, love–for Nino. (Ferrante 274).”

At the very beginning of this passage, Lenu acknowledges that Lila has a way of convincing her to aid her in her “undertaking”. This once again is just another reference to the complex nature and dynamics of their friendship. So often it can be seen that in a way that may be considered unhealthy, a friendship between two people is strained because of the power dynamics that are present in the relationship. Lenu seemingly is reminiscing on how she would feel without Lila in her life and immediately wants to get back to another “adventure” so that she could be reminded of their “partnership” of taking on the struggles of the world together. Supporting Lila in this task is what she considers an important aspect for their relationship. Lenu having the mindset of her and Lila being against the world reveals another layer of their challenging and ever changing sisterhood.

“Money gave even more force to the impression that what I lacked she had, and vice versa, in a continuous game of exchanges and reversals that, now happily, now painfully, made us indispensable to each other. She has Stefano, I said to myself after the episode of the glasses. She snaps her fingers and immediately has my repaired. What do I have? I answered that I had school, a privilege she had lost forever. That is my wealth, I tried to convince myself. And in fact that year all the teachers began to praise me again….I displayed my successes as if they were my mother’s silver bracelet, and yet I didn’t know what to do with that virtuosity. (Ferrante 259)”

Not only does this passage give insight to Lila and Lenu’s relationship, it also brings up the question of what people truly consider valuable when they are living in poverty or any other unfortunate circumstance. Benjamin’s piece on Naples puts emphasis on the poverty that the residents live under. Often times it is seen that individuals that live under unfortunate circumstances often find something to make them feel grateful for the livelihood they do have. In this case, Lenu does not have money so she attempts to find virtue in scholarly praise, chance at education, and good grades. When examining all the things she listed, you can clearly see that what she considers wealth is her education and the experience that comes along with it. Ultimately, while it is a great thing to find the good in everything despite adversity you may face, Lenu is stuck wondering what to do with what she considers her wealth.

“The Interest shown by Professor Galiani naturally filled me with pride, but it had no great consequence; the school routine returned to normal. As a result, even the fact that, in my first year, I was a student with a small reputation for being clever soon seemed to me unimportant. In the end what did it prove? It proved how fruitful it had been to study with Lila and talk to her, to have her as a goad and support…, I began to expect new praise that would prove my autonomous virtuosity” (Ferrante 188).

In this portion of the text we are moving towards the childhood aspect of the storytelling. childhood is the one of the most important development stages in a person’s life. In post 1 I wrote about how it was relatable to real life that the characters wanted to pursue an education in hopes of a better life. In my chosen excerpt for this week’s readings I chose to focus on Lenu’s experience in school. it is obvious that she is trying to find her place as she refers to her “autonomous virtuosity”. She is seeking this sort of approval by a Professor and in doing so displays a desire for wanting to prove herself as more. This is just another example of how this story can be related back to the very real struggle of carving your own path and finding your identity.