"The Days of Abandonment" by Ferrante: Spiraling
Upon reading this story, the first thought that came to mind is: have the books we've read so far essentially been intense depictions of what many individuals experience in daily life? In the case of The Possession, don't we all get a little jealous after a finding out about our ex-partner's replacement? And in the case of this novel, don't we all start to feel a little down after someone abruptly leaves us? Notice how I say little - as I do believe these books are extreme illustrations of the emotions than many humans experience in their lifetime.
Right when the book opened, and I read the line "One April afternoon, right after lunch, my husband announced that he wanted to leave me" (p.9), I thought to myself, here we go again, another story of doom and despair. And that's essentially what I got: to watch a woman experience one of the lowest points of her life. It hurt to read, honestly, as I watched Olga's life spin into a whirlwind of misery. Her son's sickness, animal neglect (Otto), ant infestation, physically attacking her ex and his new girl, her broken phone line, and sexual failure with Carrano - it just kept getting worse.
I think the line "Daddy wouldn’t have killed it, he would have taken it by the tail and carried it out to the park" (p.29) was sort of representative of how both the children, and Olga, felt about the situation. On the one hand, the children are young, and lack the ability to understand the complexity of what their mother is going through. But to see her kill a creature, and contrast that action with that of their father, implies that they understand something has gone wrong? And I can imagine from Olga's perspective that a comment like this would only make her feel worse, and push her lower than she already is.
Overall, I can't help but draw quite a few similarities between The Possession and The Days of Abandonment. Both capture the "female rage" experience, both are written in a raw style, and both trace periods of intense despair, then eventually develop into the protagonists' moving forward from their tragic eras. I actually enjoy this type of story, as it is direct and dramatic. If the rest of the books we rend take on similar characteristics, I am excited!
The photo that I have chosen to represent this novel strives to represent both Olga's suffering and her internal overcoming of pain. In the image, we can see the arrows as illustrating the hardships that ensued following the end of her relationship with Mario. However, we can also see the glowing flower that she is holding, representing the power she possesses to take her life back.
My question for the class: do you think that The Possession and The Days of Abandonment serve as "extreme" representations of ordinary emotions that are experienced by numerous people?
Hi Sydney,
ReplyDeleteI had the same initial reaction as you. The Possession in comparison to this book does seem like everyday, relatable problems. What Ferrante depicts is a much more devastating downward spiral of a woman who has completely lost control of her own life. To answer your question: I think The Possession isn't an extreme case, as most of what was depicted in that book was just in the narrator's mind, and don't we all have thoughts like that? However with The Days of Abandonment, I would say that is an extreme representation of how one would feel in this situation.
- Kajla
I didn’t realize the depth in that quote where the child compared Olga to their father. I assumed it meant the shallow comparisons of children who are irrate but now that I think about it, it sheds light on how much the father was actually involved in the process of caring for these children and also how much children actually pay attention to things that happen in the house
ReplyDeleteI love the photo you chose for this novel! I think it’s a great representation of how Olga feels. I agree that both of the novels we’ve read so far are exaggerated versions of real life emotions and situations and that is the case for a lot of books. I think it goes back to relatability like we talked about in class.
ReplyDelete