If on a winter’s night a traveler

by Italo Calvino

Mr. Cavedagna Character Analysis

Mr. Cavedagna is a publishing employee that the Reader runs into when he tries to investigate a printing error in Italo Calvino’s If on a winter’s night a traveler. Cavedagna’s slight, unimpressive stature indicates that the publishing industry is not the grand romantic business that the Reader was expecting. Mr. Cavedagna shows the human side of books and how, despite the authority they seem to hold, they are made by fallible, regular humans.

Mr. Cavedagna Quotes in If on a winter’s night a traveler

The If on a winter’s night a traveler quotes below are all either spoken by Mr. Cavedagna or refer to Mr. Cavedagna. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
The Act of Reading Theme Icon
).

Chapter 5 Quotes

You realize at once that Mr. Cavedagna is that person indispensable to every firm’s staff, on whose shoulders his colleagues tend instinctively to unload all the most complex and tricky jobs.

Related Characters: The Narrator (speaker), Mr. Cavedagna, Italo Calvino, You (The Reader) , Ludmilla (The Other Reader)
Related Symbols: Books
Page Number and Citation: 95
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire If on a winter’s night a traveler LitChart as a printable PDF.
"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
If on a winter’s night a traveler PDF

Mr. Cavedagna Character Timeline in If on a winter’s night a traveler

The timeline below shows where the character Mr. Cavedagna appears in If on a winter’s night a traveler. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 5
Academia and Publishing Theme Icon
When you (the Reader) make it to the publishing house, a small man named Mr. Cavedagna assumes you’re there to check about a manuscript you submitted. He then leads you through... (full context)
Academia and Publishing Theme Icon
Mr. Cavedagna confesses that in spite of all the books he’s worked on, he doesn’t really feel... (full context)
The Act of Reading Theme Icon
Academia and Publishing Theme Icon
You and Mr. Cavedagna discuss the book fragments you’ve read recently. Apparently, due to a war, a group of... (full context)
The Act of Reading Theme Icon
Academia and Publishing Theme Icon
Despite Mr. Cavedagna ’s claims, as you leaf through Looks down in the gathering shadow, you don’t think... (full context)
Academia and Publishing Theme Icon
Mr. Cavedagna tells you not to let Looks down in the gathering shadow leave the office, since... (full context)
Chapter 6
The Act of Reading Theme Icon
Academia and Publishing Theme Icon
You want to continue reading, but this is where the photocopied pages end. You find Mr. Cavedagna and ask to see the rest of Looks down in the gathering shadow, but he... (full context)
The Act of Reading Theme Icon
...is a translation of either a real or faked Flannery novel that Marana sent to Mr. Cavedagna . (full context)