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“My Brilliant Friend” by Elena Ferrante

Hello everyone, welcome to my blog's final book blog!  

This week I read "My Brilliant Friend" by Elena Ferrante. The novel which tales place in Naples, begins with Elena discovering her lifelong friend Lila has vanished, prompting her to recount their adolescence in 1950s Naples. The neighborhood they grow up in is rife with poverty, leading to issues like violence, alcoholism, and gambling.

One aspect that stood out to me was the prevalence of violence in Elena's community. Violence is omnipresent, from familial abuse to neighborhood rivalries. Threats of violence, like Elena's father's warning about the Solara Brothers, shape behavior and maintain order. Poverty drives many characters to dream of climbing the social ladder, but these dreams often prove elusive. Lila and Elena aspire to write as a means of escaping poverty, but reality chips away at their aspirations. Lila's shift from writing to shoemaking, driven by her brother Rino's obsession with wealth, highlights the corrupting influence of money. The novel also delves into the dilemmas and helplessness of women in a patriarchal society, juxtaposed with the awakening of women's power. Lila and Elena's relationship is complex, marked by mutual admiration and competition. They expose themselves to fear and grow together, forming a bond rooted in shared experiences. Elena admires Lila's resilience and independence, while Lila sees Elena as the embodiment of unfulfilled dreams and aspirations for women's empowerment through education. "She thought that what we were doing was just and necessary; I had forgotten every good reason, and certainly was there only because she was. We climbed slowly toward the greatest of our terrors of that time, we went to expose ourselves to fear and interrogate it."(29) This quote highlights the exposure of fear and terror that binds Lila and Elena together, illustrating their willingness to confront vulnerability and grow from it.

Reflecting on my reading experience with this novel, I appreciate the strong characters and the intricate dynamics of Lila and Elena's friendship. Their rivalry pushes them to excel academically and intellectually, but it also underscores their dependence on each other. Their friendship, shaped by competition and mutual admiration, drives significant life decisions, despite their diverging paths due to financial constraints. Overall, "My Brilliant Friend" offers a poignant portrayal of friendship, ambition, and the complexities of life in a Neapolitan neighborhood. In addition to my exploration of "My Brilliant Friend," I want to express my appreciation for the RMST 202 course. The process of reading and reflecting on the story was greatly enjoyable, and I value the approach taken in this course. Unlike the past courses I took that often require novel summaries, I appreciate the emphasis on sharing personal thoughts and insights. This approach advances a deeper connection with the material and encourages critical thinking and introspection. Overall, I've found the RMST 202 course to be entertaining and rewarding, providing a platform for meaningful engagement with literature.

My discussion question is "in 'My Brilliant Friend,' Elena and Lila's friendship undergoes many ups and downs as they navigate the complexities of life in Naples. Reflecting on their experiences, which character do you find yourself relating to more, Elena or Lila? What aspects of their friendship do you find most compelling or relatable, and why?"

Comments

Daniel Orizaga said…
Thank you Fiona for letting us know your opinion on the novels in this course! But continuing with what you mention in your blog, Elena and the other women of her generation are the ones who will decisively confront patriarchy in Italy. In fact, it is increasingly evident that the old canons of socialization no longer work, despite the ideas of more traditional societies. In the case of Elena, the old does not finish dying and the new does not finish emerging. In the novel we begin to understand that turning point.
April 2, 2024 at 10:43 PM
Isabella said…
Hi! I find myself more in Elena. I was raised to be a rule follower and say and do what is "safe" in life. I was more reserved as a kid but slowly I was able to grow out of this. I find their competitive nature relatable as this tends to happen to a lot of close girl friendships.
April 3, 2024 at 5:27 PM
Isabella said…
Hi! I find myself more in Elena. I was raised to be a rule follower and say and do what is "safe" in life. I was more reserved as a kid but slowly I was able to grow out of this. I find their competitive nature relatable as this tends to happen to a lot of close girl friendships.
April 3, 2024 at 5:27 PM
Sally Zhou said…
Hi Fiona, thank you for sharing your insights. To answer your question, I do think, that Elena was the more relatable friend. As much as I did admire Lila as a character and being stellar in academics, the borderline jealously that Elena is somewhat relatable, especially as children when we feel jealous that someone else has something they don't. I recall as a child, I always felt excluded or jealous when peers had some item trending that I did not.
April 4, 2024 at 7:25 PM
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