An Analysis of Niccolo Ammaniti’s I’m Not Scared

1. “It’s men you should be afraid of, not monsters”. Does the text show this to be true?
Niccolo Ammaniti’s “I’m Not Scared” is a novel that explores life in Italy in the 1970’s, with emphasis on kidnappings and the cruelties in the towns as well as themes including family, friendship, crime and fear. “its men you should be afraid of, not monsters” is shown to be true throughout the text. Michele is often scared of ogres or witches attacking and killing him but nothing ever goes wrong. Felice is feared by many children in the community, and it is wise to be scared of him. Throughout the text Skull inflicts fear into the children. The way that the kidnappers treat Fillipo shows that men can do more damage than monsters.
The state that Fillipo is in when Michele finds him demonstrates how much more damage men can do compared to monsters. They had treated him like rubbish and like he was an animal. He believed that he was no longer human, he didn’t feel as if he was alive and he was acting “like a dog”. They had let him rot away, “clotted blood had sealed his eyelids. His lips were black and split. His nostrils were blocked up with snot and scabs.” The fact that men could do this to a child is outrageous. It suggest that they are immoral and are inhumane, but more importantly it shows why it is more important to fear men instead of monsters. As well as fearing grown men, it can be intelligent to be scared of children.
Skull Natale scares all of the children of Acqua Traverse. From Barbara who he constantly picks on to Michele and salvotore who he may decide to hit at any moment. Barbara is always forced to do harsh and horrible forfeits throughout the book. Skulls general behaviour shows that is sensible to be frightened of him. Michele fears him because he can “suddenly flip and decide to pull you off your bike and beat you up” (103). Skull can attack you in a split second, meaning it is logical to fear him, instead of fearing a monster which is non-existent. As well as Michele being scared of skull for the way he treats his friends, all of the children stay away from felice.
Felice causes hell for the kids of acqua traverse, and they all try to avoid him. He is “a thousand times worse” than skull and he, like skull, can hurt you for no reason, or hit you just for the sake of it. Michele is helping fillipo and felice walks in and sees him. Instead of taking him back to his father to deal with him he decides to torment him with threats of death, and then bash him. “felice grapped me by the shoulders nad through me against the house like a sack”. He is cruel in the way he treats michele, and has no mercy even though he Is nine years old. The fact that Michele is hurt by felice shows why it is important to fear men, rather than monsters, considering that monsters didn’t hurt anyone.
Michele fears monsters during the novel, but never does he ever get harmed by one. His innocence is shown when he fears that a witch will kill him, or an ogre will eat him. It is a realistic fear for a 9 yr old considering he hadn’t seen much of the real world. None of the creatures he fears hurt him in anyway, and considering that men do it is smarter to be dread them. As the story progresses and he loses his innocent he lets go of the fear of monsters and starts more to fear men, such as Sergio and felice. Due to the fact that he changes his fears, it proves that the story shows “its men you should be afraid of not monsters” to be true.
“its men you should be scared of, not monsters” is presented to be true throughout. It is displayed through the characters of felice and skull who bully and hit other children. It is demonstrated through the way the adults treat Fillipo and how they let him live like an animal. It is shown by the fact that Michele doesn’t get harmed by any of the monster he is frightened of, but instead it is the men who cause him more pain. All in all, the text demonstrates that monsters are only fears of those who are guilt free and young, but once the innocence is lost, the real fear of the world is men.

2. ‘I’m Not Scared tells a deeply moral tale of lost innocence and adult cruelty’. Would you agree?

3. ‘I’m Not Scared shows that there is nothing wrong with being...