Throughout “The Story of a New Name”, Nino’s personality becomes more and more prevalent. He is elusive, charming, intelligent, witty, handsome, and most importantly he seems different than all of the other men in the neighborhood, especially his father. He does not concern himself with the neighborhood drama. Nino is able to use his intellectual charm to physically and emotionally attract many women. He has always been Elena’s only love interest and the one person she obsessively desires. Then, Lila spends more time with him and her attraction to him thickens.

Nino is sexually and intellectually intriguing to both girls. He is an equal who possesses access to a wordly knowledge foreign to Lenu and Lila. He is symbolic and vital to the rivalry between the girls. The girls both crave attention from Nino who represents something else that Lila is able to acquire over Lenu. Nino is symbolic in the sense that he is just another controlling factor in the enduring competition between the girls. The fact that Nino chooses Lila is an unbearable betrayal for Lenu. Present-day Elena writes, “Today I feel some uneasiness in recalling how much I suffered, I have no sympathy for myself of that time” (236). In retrospect, it seems that Elena is critical on her younger self and deems her time and effort was wasted on trivial affairs.

What I find most compelling while reading Ferrante’s second volume is that there is always mutual jealousy between Lenu and Lila. The symbiotic envy between the girls continues from the first novel. Lenu is bitter when Lila gets Nino, while Lila remains envious of Lenu’s academic life that grants her an independence Lila can never attain.