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.
Symbols & Motifs
Lucky Lira
Vittorio’s lucky lira coin, given to him by Luciano on his seventh birthday, reflects the theme of The Influence of Superstition and Myth. Luciano believes that it was fate that led him to stop and pick up the coin in the midst of a battle in Greece against the Allies during World War II. He puts the coin in his breast pocket and later sees that it deflected a bullet that would have otherwise killed him. Like Luciano once did, Vittorio carries this coin with him everywhere with the belief it will give him good luck. When he does the animal ritual sacrifice to rid his mother of the evil eye, Vittorio incorporates the coin into his ritual when the fire grows large and he worries it will set the village on fire: “I had taken my lucky coin from my pocket now and was rubbing it furiously, hoping to calm the spirits” (119).
Ultimately, the lucky lira also becomes a symbol of Vittorio’s Loss of Childhood Innocence following the death of his mother. By this point, it is “shiny and slick from handling” (248) and slips out of his fingers and rolls into the ocean. Now alone in the world, he no longer has the luck or magic protections that he once believed would keep him safe.
Lives of the Saints
The book Lives of the Saints “adapted by Giambattista del Fiore from the tales of The Golden Legend” (136) is read to Vittorio by his teacher, la maestra, who later gives it to him as a gift. Gioacchino da Fiore is perhaps best known as a key inspiration for the theology found in Dante’s Divine Comedy. The reference to this theological figure who later inspired a work of fiction is analogous to the way the Lives of the Saints read by Vittorio informs the work of fiction that is the novel Lives of the Saints by Nico Ricci. The book functions as a symbol for the influence of superstition and myth in Vittorio’s life.
The importance of this book within the story is reflected in its use as the title for the novel itself. The lives of the saints and their various miracles are an organizing principle throughout the novel, as shown in the importance of saint feast days like that of the Madonna and the local saint San Camillo de Lellis. When Vittorio reads the story of Santa Cristina, who suffers many trials for her beliefs and nearly drowns in the ocean, it foreshadows the fate of his own mother, Cristina. To no small extent, Vittorio assesses events in his life in the light of these miraculous stories. For instance, when going into the church on Christmas Day, he describes the trees around them as “silent magi” (143), the magi being the men who travelled to the barn in Bethlehem to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ to the Virgin Mary.
Song and Music
In Lives of the Saints, song and music form an important motif that is used to reflect the community of the village. In church, Cristina does not sing or pray along with the congregation, indicating her isolation and distinction from the larger community. In contrast, Vittorio’s grandfather sings the hymns, “his voice rising clearly above the rest” (37-38), indicative of his participation and leadership in the village. However, after Cristina becomes ostracized, he no longer sings. During the procession of the Madonna, his “lips remained sealed in stony silence” (86).
During the festival that follows the procession, Cristina initially says she will not go to see the band play. Ultimately, she does end up attending but nevertheless remains outside of the rest of the community. While the audience “sing[s] along with the band” (104), Cristina and Vittorio dance alone in the middle of the crowd.
At the end of the novel, when Vittorio is sick with fever on the deck of the ship, he sings to himself. This is a sign of his lingering connection with his home community even as he has been thrust into the world alone. In this moment, he sings the same tune the band Capo di Molise sang during the festival. His singing here expresses a desire to return to a happier time when he was with his beloved mother in his hometown, connected to a familiar culture and community.
