Preview

The truest evil in I’m Not Scared is poverty and what it forces people to do

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
942 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The truest evil in I’m Not Scared is poverty and what it forces people to do
The truest evil in I’m Not Scared is poverty and what it forces people to do
The novel “I’m Not Scared” illustrates the harsh, brutal and dangerous lives of people living in
Acqua Traverse. Author Niccolo Ammaniti reveals how people in Acqua Traverse overcome their strongest adversary, poverty. Individuals who are poverty-stricken are motivated to act against their moral code to achieve a higher standard of living. Some will overcome this malicious force by acting against their moral conscience. In many circumstances, humans are often given the choice to decide but in “I’m Not Scared,” poverty has sparked the ambitions of many in Acqua
Traverse to become immoral.
Evidently, poverty victimizes everyone in Acqua Traverse, “a place forgotten by God and men.”
Poverty portrayed in Acqua Traverse is one having insufficient materials or one lacking family genuine relationships. In comparison to Salvatore’s wealth, protagonist Michele lacks a number of valuables. When Michele visits Salvatore’s villa, he is overwhelmed by Salvatore’s soccer team toys and become deeply jealous. From this, Michele concluded that “my father doesn’t love me” which demonstrates poverty can cause impecunious people to blame others for their hardship. Although
Salvatore’s opulence dominates everyone else in Acqua Traverse, he does not often get cordial love from his family. His parents force him to play piano and just buy him presents. Moreover, he does not talk with his parents in the house and just plays with toys by himself all day. Salvatore’s father is not often at home and his mother talks with other adults in Acqua Traverse. Poverty victimizes both characters where they both question their family’s love.
Individuals are never forced but are given the choice whether to follow or act against their moral conscience in any circumstances due to poverty. Pino Amitrano, a man too stricken by poverty is driven by full of aspirations. Pino wanted the best for his family and

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Phil 1600 Ch 3 Questions

    • 683 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Moral decisions are made based on “what’s in it for me?” Basically you need a reward system to have order.…

    • 683 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Deborah Samson’s child and teenage years were rough because she lived in poverty. It didn’t make anything any better when her father left on a expedition at sea and never came back. She was taken from her mother and was in the care of her grandparents. When her grandparents passed away she moved in with a farmer living in Middleborough. She was only ten years old and was expected to work as an indentured…

    • 316 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “I’m Not Scared”, written by Niccolo Ammaniti, is a tale about Michele, a nine year old boy who lives in the small Italian town of Acqua Traverse where he stumbles upon a hole which has a shocking discovery in it. This unknowingly throws Michele into a world of danger. How great is this danger? It’s dangerous enough that everyone becomes a victim of one type or another. Filippo, the kidnapped boy, is a victim of kidnap. Michele, the protagonist, is a victim of bribery and violence. Papa, Michele’s father, is a victim of poverty. These are just a few examples of people that are victims. Everyone in the novel is a victim though.…

    • 836 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Next month I will publish a book about poverty in America, but not the book I intended. The world took me by surprise--not once, but again and again. The poor themselves led me in directions I could not have imagined, especially the one that came out of a conversation in a maximum-security prison for women that is set, incongruously, in a lush Westchester suburb fifty miles north of New York City.…

    • 526 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    If we look from philosophy point of view, every person has a chance to choose what to act or…

    • 1630 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    that he can help support the family to improve the family’s standard of living. However, what…

    • 1438 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    'Michele learns that loyalty and trust are far more valuable than money or objects.' Discuss…

    • 603 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Niccolo Ammaniti demonstrates in his popular novel, 'I'm Not Scared', the role fear plays in people’s lives and their respective decisions. He discusses how fear is able to manipulate key character's moral instincts and distort their interpretations of what is right. Fear is shown to be an extremely powerful underlying contributor to many of the situations that the characters find themselves in and the paths they chose to follow.…

    • 711 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    After reading “As a Weapon in The Hands of The Restless Poor” one can feel motivated to help those in need. Earl Shorris appeals to emotion when he talks about creating a program to start to make a difference in the lives of the less fortunate. He starts out the story to say he is writing a book which makes him an author which is an example of ethos because he seems reliable. Shorris then states that the poor have been “Cheated” which is substantially true because the rich were given the opportunity to succeed more as someone who is poor and cannot even afford to feed themselves. In order to help the less fortunate out he has to create a program to help the poor succeed. After a Rhetorical analysis of “As a Weapon in The Hands of The Restless Poor” by Earl Shorris one can conclude that most people take for granted even the little things in life, if one were to open their eyes and see there are many people who do not have a dollar to their name, and we have so much that we tend to lose focus on helping the less fortunate succeed in the world we live in today.…

    • 785 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Is it fair to hold individuals responsible for a choice society pressured them to make?…

    • 1300 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Michele's experiences see him journey from an innocent child to a perceptive, wiser and more intelligent young man. The systematic destruction of his childhood innocence is a direct result of the cruel actions and betrayals by the people around him. With each action and betrayal more damaging than the last. It is not until the final moments that whatever remains of Michele's innocence is finally destroyed by the cruelty of his very own father. The one person he trusted and loved the most, the man he believed "Was the boss of Acqua Traverse." (p.84)…

    • 696 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Michele places a great deal of trust in his friend Salvatore when he tells him about the boy in the hole. When Salvatore betrays him, 'Salvatore had betrayed me,' it shows Michele that unlike children who trust everyone in the adult world you can only trust those that you deeply love. Michele learns how important trust is between friends through his experiences with Fillipo. ‘I knew you would you promised.(Fillipo to Michele).' Michele's experiences with Fillipo teach him the virtue of having a friend to trust and rely on and how important it is to have a friend like this. More complex is the trust that Michele has in his father. Even though Michele knows that his father is lying to him Michele still trusts his father and bases this trust on his fathers essential goodness. This is an important part of Michele's character, the fact that he is receptive to those who try to regain his trust again. Michele realises that trust has to be remade which shows how mature he is for a 9yr old…

    • 989 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    I’m Not Scared

    • 636 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Niccolo Ammanitis ‘I’m not scared’, illustrates the life of a young boy named Michele Amitrano who has to deal with issues that are not a common occurrence for a 10-year-old boy. Throughout the story we witness Michele journey from childhood innocence into a maturity beyond his years. This is evident through Michele’s ability to stand up to his fears in order to support what he believes in.…

    • 636 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    To fully examine whether we are in fact free or not to make moral decisions, we must first analyse what particular factors affect our decision making. When we debate over a decision we consider/ weigh up our options, we know that we have a choice and only we can make that choice, this is known as a libertarian view. Libertarians believe that we have full responsibility of our actions and nothing else affects our decision, however genes, environment, lifestyle and our upbringing affect or sometimes might determine our choices. Determinism objects libertarianism and believes that our choices are influenced by factors other than the will of the individual, events and actions are predetermined by other events therefore freedom of choice is an illusion.…

    • 1582 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    I'm Not Scared essay

    • 519 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Niccolo Ammaniti’s I’m Not Scared is a novel that portrays a range of human emotions, reactions and how they can affect our decision making. The common theme of the book is fear; such can be ascertained by the title. It focuses intently on the different ways characters face their fears and ultimately triumph against them or how they give in to them. People’s values are called into question throughout the book; particularly the impact fear can have in our ability to follow our morals. The main character, Michele takes the lead in looking past his fear and following his moral convictions.…

    • 519 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays