For many Children their childhood is a time of fond memories. It is a time for freedom and innocence from their cares. They felt very secure in their community. This innocence I displayed when Michele says, “We could do whatever we liked.
No cars ever went by. There were no dangers” (6). However this sense of innocence developed and altered greatly as the narrative progressed. The first example of this sense of lost innocence is an incident involving the glasses of Michele’s sister, Marie. When she drops her glasses whilst competing in a race, considerable damage is caused. Instead of Marie being blamed for her irresponsible behavior for not only competing in the race in which Michele advised her to do otherwise, but also damaging her glasses, the blame is placed upon Michele. Michele is expected by his family to be a father like figure when most other nine year old would be doing usual child like behaviors. Often when he does not carry out these father like responsibilities he is often on the receiving end of abuse from his parents.
It is not only Michele who is the subject of abuse from the adults of the small community of Aqua Traverse; Fillipo Carducci is the main example of the affects caused by the at times evil adults of the small Italian town. Fillipo, the son of a wealthy Milanese industrialist, was kidnapped by the Aqua Traverse parents in order to start a new and better life with the ransom money. Fillipo is placed in a hole in which the conditions are nothing short of inhumane. With minimal food and insect infested water, it is evident that Fillipo is on the receiving end of deprivation and adult cruelty. This cruelty towards Fillipo is not as a result of one single adult in the community but in fact the result of the adults as a collective gang.