Tales of Naples: Male characters in female-dominated stories

I used Matters as the starting platform for writing before, and I have been in the habit of writing "weekend talk" for the past six months, making an integrated "narrative" about my reading, watching movies and life throughout the week. I don't know why I always put it on The stories read or the films watched are analyzed from the perspective of literary creation - until the analysis is so serious, the appropriate words cannot be thought of at the moment. And this series is called "zatani" because it is not a systematic analysis, it is just like what I personally think about, but I have a very rough generalization in my mind.

The above explanations are only to illustrate the meaning of "miscellaneous talk" here.

First of all, the Naples Story is written in depth, but I'm only discussing the male characters in the story from a more mundane perspective. At that time, the image of boys in southern Italy was something that most of us would definitely hate. As long as they "wanted", they could discipline their wives and children in the name of love at will, and even if a woman was beaten, she would continue to love her husband - "Bible" "The Curse of the Woman in Genesis. A man may beat a woman at will because the woman says something unpleasant, the housework is not done well, or for various reasons. These are all things that can be done on the table.

Embellishment of male characters

The "Naples Tales" quartet is a story about two women's friendship spanning decades. It tells more about the emotions between women, with very subtle competition, very delicate emotional transitions, and a story that grew up in the 50s of the twentieth century. At the end of the 1990s, Napoli women’s perspective on the world, I have discussed several topics in separate articles, but the one that touched me included the “man” in the story, which is the topic I want to write about today.

A man's role might be the neighborhood boy in the city, the dad of his classmate, the street bully, the shop owner, and of course his own father.

It is rare in the real world to have the drama of "suddenly what", which is what the story has always emphasized. There are many secret "deals" in the living rules of the old town of Naples familiar to the protagonists that predate them. Before birth, including personal, family, and social interpersonal relationships, those tacit understandings that cause people to reach a food chain-like relationship are almost from men. It may be that a man in a certain family lends usury, has ties to the mafia, and trades on the black market. ...wait.

The male characters in Tale of Naples are just right. We already know that the social atmosphere in southern Italy at that time was "dark", and women's status in the family was still subordinate to men, but at the same time, the image of Italians "Mamabao" still existed. Women seemed to be at a disadvantage, but In important moments, men listen to women, whether it's out of a man's vulnerability or tenderness.

Male tenderness under machismo

Dad at the dessert shop on weekends

This is the first thing I noticed. The richest family of street bullies in the old town is called the Solara. They started with their grandfather running a bar in the basement, and then the business got better and better and became the richest people, but one side said they got rich by lending usury. , and opening a dessert shop should give people happiness, but they have a fierce image.

And what I find interesting is that in a suburb where maybe 90 percent of the population is abject poverty, the richest people make desserts, not grocery stores. The story also mentions that the dessert shops on weekends are filled with men who buy desserts for their wives and children.

Maybe it's just a cutscene written by the author, but I think that men in those days were like heaven at home, but they would buy desserts on weekends. In those days, it was also rare for the poor.

Brother eating ice cream with sister

Similar to the previous point, according to the author's description, the "brothers" have the right to discipline their sisters, and sometimes they even do it, but the opposite sisters or younger girls ask to go to the city to eat ice cream, and they are also brothers. Can't refuse.

When they get to the city, they will protect their sister (the younger girl) from being eaten by other boys, and other boys may get punched if they look at it more. In addition, they can't stand girls in their own city being slandered by others, and there will be a bigger "tragedy", in which the other party is severely injured and their car is burned.

The man who prepares everything for his fiancee

The protagonist's best "genius girlfriend" married the second-richest young man in the city at the age of fifteen, and that relationship helped her improve her economic status. Perhaps she was trying to balance her situation in the neighborhood. Talented and intelligent, she already understands that she cannot change her fate simply by doing business or writing. She accepts a proposal from a man who does not have to worry about money in the hope that he will protect herself and her family.

The Italian men I know or I see in movies and literature seem to pay for women, not to mention their fiancées? Being able to pay for the woman you like is a very direct masculine dignity, and helping your fiancee to prepare all the best things you can get is a very primitive favor-for a man with a low level of education, he is just pure hope Your own woman can have the best of everything because she is valuable.

While the protagonist's friend was engaged, the protagonist was dating a technician who only read elementary school. Once, she and her boyfriend met a friend and her fiancé at the seaside. They went to a restaurant by the sea for dinner. The poor boyfriend has paid the bill first.

It was a competition between men. He could imagine that the other party thought he was richer and should pay, but the protagonist's boyfriend said to her, "Because you are the best girl." A man knows his woman has value too.

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