Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in My Brilliant Friend, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Female Friendship
Masculine vs. Feminine Violence
Women’s Work
Poverty, Social Climbing, and Sacrifice
The Uses of Community
Love, Sex, and Strategy
Summary
Analysis
Though Lenù was unaware of what was happening inside Lila’s head during the fireworks display on New Year’s, in the days that follow, Lenù becomes aware of a pronounced change in Lila as her friend becomes lazy and lethargic. When Lenù meets her at the shop one day to help her open up, Lila arrives late and unmotivated—when Lenù tries to cheer her up by asking about the fancy shoes, Lila claims to no longer have interest in them. Lenù suspects that to Lila, money is no longer a life vest—it is “cement.”
Lila’s whole attitude about the possibility of change in the neighborhood—or, in the absence of change, at least an escape—has changed. She is despondent and miserable, unable to imagine that there will ever be a situation in which money benefits her life rather than hampering or destroying it.
Themes
Rino is eager to show the finished shoes to Fernando, but Lila believes the shoes are full of flaws—she wants to throw them away and start over. Rino, however, is impatient. He and Lila begin fighting as their differing opinions drive a horrible wedge between them. The climax of their fight comes on January 5th, the day of the Befana—in Italian folklore, the Befana is an old woman who delivers gifts to children. In the morning, Lila wakes up and finds a sock full of coal by her bed. She knows Rino has left it for her. Lila goes out to the kitchen and sets the breakfast table for everyone but Rino. When he arrives in the kitchen, she hurls coal at him. The two fight, but they pause their quarrel when Fernando enters the kitchen with a box containing the shoes.
Lila’s new sense of despondency extends to her and Rino’s venture with the shoes—she believes there is no point in continuing on with them now that she has seen the true, terrible, unchangeable nature of the world. Rino, however, is determined to continue on the war path—and as he does, he carelessly drags Lila into his conflict with their father.
Themes
Fernando pretends to like the shoes, complimenting them and praising the “Befana” for her craftsmanship and thoughtfulness. Only Lila can hear the vitriol in her father’s voice. Soon, Fernando begins kicking Rino and hurling insults at him. Rino fights back until both men wear themselves out. When the men go back to work together, they don’t talk to each other—and Lila doesn’t join them in the shop. Rino begins acting cruelly toward Lila, berating her for doing a poor job of the housework and frequently unleashing insults and cruelties at her. Lila lets Rino’s insults roll off her back. She has hidden the shoes in her room, and often takes them out to admire them when no one else is looking, lamenting all her “wasted work.”
Lila responds to the outbreak of male violence in her house by retreating into herself, protecting her precious shoes from the men who do not understand their true significance. Lila is disappointed in the turn things have taken and feels barred from the simple, pleasant work of shoemaking—and from the possibility of making money from her hard work and advancing enough to escape her terrible home environment.
Themes
