Dysfunctional Relationships

Dysfunctional Relationships The novel Lives of the Saints by Nino Ricci is story narrated by a 7 year old boy named Vittorio. Throughout the book Vittorio learns many lessons but ultimately loses his innocence. He starts to feel alienated because every relationship around him is falling apart. He tries everything to fit in but even his relationship with his own mother is weak. Nothing seems to ever work out for poor Vittorio.
At the start of the book Cristina gets bitten by a snake in the barn, but Vittorio is first to realize that is not the only thing that went on in the barn. As everyone else is informed of what went on the barn it starts to isolate Vittorio and his family from the rest of the town. “was it for my sake that you behaved like a common whore? … I’ve suffer every day of my life, per l’amore di cristo, but I’ve never had to walk through this town and hang my head in shame … You’ve killed me” (pg. 145) Cristina sleeping around in the barn isolates them from the rest of the village. This quote shows how her grandfather was affected and that he has taken the side of the villagers. Their relationship has been torn apart.
Vittorio is also starting to feel isolated from everyone at school “I was alone now, without friends, and it quickly became clear what my status was with the other boys … I was merely shunned, and could not make out with the insults which they whispered to each other in class …” (pg. 107) This shows that Cristina is not only causing problems for herself and the grandfather but also for her son. Vittorio feels alone, due to his mother’s actions Vittorio gets abused physically and mentally by his peers. She ruined what little relationship he had with the other boys at school. “It’s that woman’s fault, all of this, she thinks she’s free as a bird, she doesn’t think about other people. Who did this to you?” This quote proves that the reason for Vittorio getting beat up is his mother’s fault.
Vittorio and his father never