Elena Ferrante Sparknotes

Journal 1 Ferrante chose to distort time to make the narration more human-like by having flashbacks and to give background knowledge in order to highlight a significant event, which keeps the reader aware of it when they see it later on. To begin, Ferrante’s decision to distort time makes the narration seem more human. The narration feels like it’s a memory. When events are out of chronological order, the events become a flashback. This choice adds character and makes the events more personal and real. In the Adolescence part of the novel, Elena recounts Lila’s dissolving of margins before going back to when Lila got her arm in a cast (Ferrante page 81-91). Elena then continues to tell her story, the events leading up to Lila’s episode of the dissolving of margins. This is similar to the way a human mind works. People sometimes would remember an
important event and their minds would trail off, remembering the events leading to it. For an example, if someone had a flashback to their late husband, that person would recount how they met, their first date, their engagement, their wedding, all the way to their late husband’s death. This is exactly what Ferrante does. She writes how Elena remembered Lila’s dissolving of margins, then all the events building up to it. Her decision makes Elena’s narration more human-like. In continuation, Elena Ferrante chose to disrupt the chronological order of events to give the readers background knowledge to warn readers an important event is going to take place.
For example, “Lila had her first episode” of dissolving margins on New Year’s Eve of 1958 (page 89). The fact that Ferrante included that it was “her first episode” implies that there will be more and thus warns the readers to look out for more instances (page 89). Elena Greco continues to talk about how Lila’s revelation disturbed her and how it had “deeply shaken her.” (page 91). This also helps warn the readers to be aware and it gives them background knowledge as to why this instance disturbed Lila so much, highlighting the event’s importance. In addition, it wasn’t until Chapter 22 that the event was retold. The event was so significant that it “was then that her first inner change took place.” (page 178). In summary, the distortion of time hinted to the readers of an important event that is coming and the background knowledge of the event that will later take place, casts an ominous presence that will make the reader more
aware. In conclusion, Ferrante’s choice of distorting time is strategic in the sense that it makes the narration a more human-like and realistic character and it gives a solid foundation that makes the audience cautious about the significant events that are coming.