IB English HL I

Malashewski

Marxist Literary Criticism:

The Lying Life of Adults

Directions
Break into small groups. Make a copy of this doc and share with your group. Discuss these
questions as a group, working through your annotations and sharing your insights.

Aim to find a few examples for each question (page references / very short quotes fine). Focus
on elements of fiction, diction, and figurative language.

1. How is the industrial district where Vittoria lives described by others, and how does it
reflect class tensions?
a. To what extent does Vittoria take on the qualities of the neighborhood in which
she lives? Why might that be significant?

The industrial district in which Vittoria resides is described as a somewhat wasteland in

which no one wants to set foot in. Its a taboo area that is below and closed off from everyone and
everything. It is basically the summation of all of her qualities, rough, wild, dangerous, and
passionate. Vittoria and the area in which she resides share many qualities that often help to
define the other. It is extremely significant to the idea that understanding the character or the
location will allow you to understand the other one better. The personification of the location
where Vittoria lives also acts as the social dynamic of her and her brother. She is literally below
him, and is viewed as a lesser being.
Vittoria heavily embodies the qualities of her surroundings which is why she is often seen
as brash and somewhat disturbing. It is significant because parallels with her surroundings can
allow for the readers to gain a better understanding of her character through their own
understanding of the setting.

2. How would you characterize Andrea’s feelings about where he grew up? What do you
notice about the moments when he focuses on his past?
a. Why does he feel the need to deny or erase his connection to his upbringing?

Andrea is completely closed off from his past experiences with his family. He despises
his entire correspondence with his sister and family. He was willing to allow his only daughter to
go into an unknown area of town just so that he, himself would not need to go there. He seems to
be wistful when he thinks about his past, wishing as if he could erase it, but alas he cannot. When
Andrea seems to think about the past, he again becomes very withdrawn and he speaks about his
past in a bad light portraying it as desolate and very bare. Andrea may feel the need to close
himself of from his past relationships because of the now prominent class gap between them.
Andrea worked his way up into the upper middle class whereas Vittoria remains ‘down in the
slumps’ from which they were both raised in. Andrea feels a sense of shame when correlated
with the people from the lower class, even if they are his own family as he does not feel that he
lives the same kind of life as they do. Andrea feels as though he is a completely new person
through his new life and living conditions ‘up on the hill’.

3. What is the connection between the use of Italian, Neapolitan (dialect), and class?
a. How is vulgarity and ugliness connected to ideas about class?

While Neapolitan and Italian are both used within the novel, there are some connections
and defining differences between the two of them. The Neapolitan language is associated with
the lack of money, a lower social class, and an absence of education. These are all qualities of
Vittoria as we as readers are often given insight that she speaks Neapolitan. Although it may
have some negative connotations, Neapolitan is also very passionate. While it may not be as
formal as Italian, Neapolitan is something that can be used to emphasize a point and to ensure
that we as readers understand that it is important. Neapolitan is spoken mostly with the lower
class, suggesting their lack of properness and immersion in vulgarity and wildness. It is the
bottom feeder’s language.
Italian on the other hand is what is spoken in schools and in proper settings. It shows a
strong understanding of civil topics and is correlated with the idea of education, wealth, money,
and stability. While Neapolitan is very abrupt and very bold, Italian is seen as the proper
language for when characters are out in public or speaking on higher matters other than family
affairs or everyday discussions. These all seem to be staples of the higher more wealthy classes,
rather than the lower classes that of which are more correlated Neapolitan.
Ugliness in the world of language can be defined as brash, bold, jagged, and loud, which
are all qualities in of Neapolitan. Neapolitan which is a staple of the lower classes as seen
through Vittoria, can then be defined as vulgar and ugly. Her boldness and brash phrases are one
of the many qualities that can make her appear to be ugly.

4. To what extent is “truth” connected to dialect, vulgarity, and ugliness? And why do you
think that might be the case?

If truth can be defined as raw emotion, or raw thought, then it is directly correlated with
the concepts of Neapolitan. No filter, no sifting or picking out of ideas regardless if they are
actually helpful, kind, altered in anyway or opinions is what makes Neapolitan the somewhat
‘true’ language. It can be viewed as the truth because it is simply raw emotion, it is the emotional
counter part to Italian, which is much more focused on proper thought and conclusions.
However, not all truths are beautiful, and in fact the truth is more times uglier than the lies and
sugar glazed half-truths that are normally told. This can be seen as “ugly” simply because of the
lack of filter and the abundance of openness that is portrayed through the usage of raw emotion
and thought.