49 pages • 1 hour read
Nino RicciLives of the Saints
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1990A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 7-13Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 7 Summary
On Vittorio’s 7th birthday at the end of August, they take the “bus” to Rocca Secca. The irregular bus is really a converted truck driven by a man known as Cazzingulo. Vittorio describes the history of Rocca Secca. It used to be a wealthy town, but now it is in decline. The wealthiest man in town was once Alberto Giardini. He had served in the military and returned dressed like a beggar, then “dropped his pants to his knees to touch his bared buttocks to the stone” (59) in the middle of the town square, a sign of bankruptcy. Afterward, he returned to his family estate and transformed it into a strange jungle zoo which was abandoned after his death. The people in Rocca Secca are known “as people whose surface smiles hid a meanness of spirit” (60).
At the market in Rocca Secca, people give Vittorio coins for his birthday. When Vittorio asks to leave, Cristina’s friend Luciano carries Vittorio out on his shoulders. Luciano gives Vittorio an old lira coin with a dent in it. He tells Vittorio it is his lucky coin that saved him from getting shot and killed during World War II when it deflected a bullet. Then, Luciano and Cristina talk about how someone had gone to the village. Luciano says someone from the Germany embassy is looking for this person and warns Cristina that people will talk. Cristina says if this person returns, she will go to America. Luciano invites them to eat at his restaurant for lunch and says goodbye.
Chapter 8 Summary
Vittorio and his mother go to shops where they buy a new shirt, fill out forms, and get their pictures taken. Then, they go to Luciano’s restaurant. Luciano’s son comes out and takes their order. Luciano’s wife “stare[s] hard” (68) at them from the kitchen. Even though he has a lot of birthday presents, Vittorio feels resentful of his mother.
As Cristina and Vittorio eat, Luciano’s wife comes out and talks to Cristina. She asks Cristina about her “friend” (69), but Cristina pretends not to know who she is talking about. After the wife leaves, Vittorio says the food is bad and his mother slaps him. He is relieved that Luciano’s wife does not appear to have witnessed it. Cristina insists on paying the regular price on the check even though Luciano and his wife have said they will give her a discount.
Chapter 9 Summary
The last weekend of September is the Feast of the Madonna, a three-day celebration in Valle del Sole. The villagers all contribute to pay for the festivities. It is usually an exciting time, but the mood in Vittorio’s house is somber. No one has come to consult his grandfather, the town mayor, about the arrangements as they usually would. Everyone avoids his grandfather at Di Lucci’s bar. Since the argument at the restaurant, Cristina has also become withdrawn.
Vittorio is eager for school to start so he can spend time with his friend, Fabrizio. When Vittorio tried to go out to the fields to talk to Fabrizio, Fabrizo’s father hit Fabrizio in the back of the head. Vittorio spends his time pretending to read his schoolbooks. He hears his mother crying in her bedroom at night.
Chapter 10 Summary
On the Saturday of the festival, Vittorio and his grandfather go to the church. Someone calls to his grandfather as “lu podesta” (79), the mayor, but they go quiet when they learn he resigned from the position the day before.
Vittorio and his grandfather arrive at the church and Father Nick enters, followed by Monsignor Felano from Rocca Secca. Both men preach. Then, the Madonna statue is taken from the church and paraded through the town under a canopy. As they prepare the statue, the head of the festival committee, Alfredo Mastroantonio, greets the Monsignor, but does not introduce the clergyman to Vittorio’s grandfather. Vittorio and his grandfather leave the church at the back of the procession.
Chapter 11 Summary
The villagers give offerings of food, grain, and coins to the Madonna as it is paraded through the town. The procession goes through the poor part of town, where Fabrizio lives. As they reach the end of the street, Fabrizio greets Vittorio from an alleyway. He has left the sheep in “that hole near the cemetery where people used to hide during the war” (87) to come watch the procession.
Fabrizio says he is not allowed to see Vittorio because Cristina has been marked by the evil eye as a result of the snake bite. Fabrizio gives Vittorio a cigarette, leaves, and the procession continues. The procession goes past Vittorio’s house, but his mother doesn’t come out. Finally, the Madonna statue is put in a niche in a small chapel in the fields to watch over the harvest. Then there are fireworks.
Chapter 12 Summary
That evening, Vittorio and his grandfather return home. Cristina has prepared a cold dinner for them, and his grandfather complains. Cristina says she is not going to go to the dancing that evening, but Vittorio’s grandfather calls her a “fool” (92) for that decision. They argue, his grandfather storms out, and Cristina throws the meal into the fire. When Vittorio and his grandfather leave for the dance, Cristina comes with them.
The band Capo di Molise has come from Campobasso to play at the festival. They have even hung electric lights for the show, a rarity in a town with no electrical service. Fabrizio’s older brother, Fulvio, tells Vittorio that Fabrizio won’t be at the dance because their father beat Fabrizio.
While waiting for the show to start, Alfredo approaches Cristina with a letter and money from Mario, Vittorio’s father. Alfredo tells Cristina that Mario wants to bring them to America, but that he has been having a hard time. Cristina replies that Mario was fired for his violent temperament. They argue, and Alfredo leaves. Cristina tears up the money.
The show begins. First, the local postman Silvio recites some poetry. Then, Capo di Molise plays. In between sets, Di Lucci comes to talk to Cristina. He says Mario is probably saving money to bring her and her son to America. After he leaves, Cristina calls him a “jackass” (103). Vittorio falls asleep. His mother wakes him up for the last song and they dance together. At midnight, there are more fireworks.
Chapter 13 Summary
A week later, Fabrizio comes to talk to Vittorio while Vittorio is out tending sheep. He offers Vittorio a cigarette which Vittorio refuses. Instead, Vittorio throws a rock at Fabrizio and they tussle. When Fabrizio asks him if he is “crazy,” Vittorio blames his behavior on “the snake” (107). When school starts, Fabrizio does not show up because his father is making him work in the fields.
Vittorio learns that the other boys at school don’t like him, and he gets in a fight with Vincenzo Maiale. The teacher breaks up the fight and blames Vittorio’s mother for the situation. When Vittorio gets home and Cristina sees his split lip, she is angry. She goes to the Maiale house and attacks Maria Maiale, Vincenzo’s mother. Cristina announces to everyone listening that if anyone hurts her son, she will “tear out [their] eyes and feed them to the dogs!” (111). The women are frightened and walk away.
Chapters 7-13 Analysis
The key theme of this part of Lives of the Saints is The Influence of Superstition and Myth for the villagers of Valle del Sole in general and Vittorio in particular. These myths and superstitions are a complex blend of personal idiosyncrasies, Catholic beliefs, and pagan practices. A clear example of this is seen in the procession with the Madonna, also known as the Virgin Mary. In this ceremony, she is presented as both a Catholic saint and a kind of pagan goddess who will “watch over the greening of the slopes in the spring” (89), hopefully bringing a good harvest. To bring good fortune, the villagers give the statue of the Madonna offerings of food and money.
The novel’s depiction of these local beliefs also highlights their darker side. The idiosyncratic superstitions of the villagers surrounding Cristina’s snakebite lead to very real consequences for her and her family. Since she refuses to make a public display of cleansing herself of the evil eye, she becomes increasingly isolated in the village and the other boys pick on Vittorio. Even Luciano, who is still on friendly terms with Cristina, says, “You know I’m not superstitious, Cristí, but a snake is a snake—” (65). The family’s ostracism suggests that, just as some longstanding beliefs—such as the Madonna procession—can help bring the community together, some of the other local forms of superstition risk dividing the community against one another.
Vittorio, who becomes increasingly interested in the lives of the saints and the possibility of miracles, adopts his own superstitious token of good fortune when Luciano gives him his lucky lira (See: Symbols & Motifs). However, this token has an ominous backstory that goes unnoticed by Vittorio. Luciano describes how he found it on the battlefield in Greece and that it saved him from being shot. It goes unmentioned but, given the background of World War II that looms over the narrative, Luciano would have been in Greece fighting for the fascists against the Allies, whom he describes as “the enemy” (63). Luciano expresses a nostalgia for the pre-democratic Italy when he points out details about the coin, noting that it comes “From before the war, when you could still buy something with a lira” (63). He further points out that it has the bust and name of the former king of Italy, Vittorio Emanuele III on it. Luciano’s story thus hints at the village’s fascist past and the shadow that World War II still casts upon the community (See: Background).
One of the defining characteristics of Nino Ricci’s writing is his use of detail to convey a scene and illustrate the history of the village, as is shown in the festival in Chapter 12. He notes, for example, that the band Capo di Molise has electric equipment and has hung electric lights in the town square. This leads him to a description of how Valle del Sole does not have electrical service. This gives the reader insight into the depth of poverty in this region and highlights the isolation of the village: This is a place that is largely separated from the rest of the world, which partially explains the power of myth and superstition amongst the villagers.
It is also in this section of the novel that Vittorio’s Loss of Childhood Innocence becomes acute and begins to affect his relationship with his mother. On his 7th birthday he overhears Cristina’s conversation with Luciano and realizes that something is amiss, even though he is not yet fully cognizant of the full implications of what they discuss. He acknowledges that he feels “a silent resentment” (68) of his mother, although he does not yet have personal insight as to why he feels this resentment. It is implied that his mother’s reluctance to conform to the demands of the villagers and the isolation it is causing both of them is at the heart of his anger toward her.
