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
When Lenù returns to the neighborhood suddenly, her mother asks her if she’s done something to get thrown out of Nella’s house—her father, however, is thrilled to see her and compliments her on how good she looks. The sun has tanned her skin, lightened her hair, and dried up her acne. Lenù hurries out to find Lila as soon as she can—as the two embrace in the courtyard, Lenù notices that Lila has changed in just a month. To Lenù, Lila seems to have become a woman—a woman of “unusual beauty” at that.
Lenù has consistently gauged her beauty and maturity against Lila’s—now, as she returns from Ischia, she feels the rare sensation that they are both on the same page at the same time. Both of them have changed over the summer, each becoming more beautiful and mature.
Themes
Lila takes Lenù with her on a walk toward Stefano’s grocery. She tells Lenù that things are getting worse each day—just last night, she says, Marcello came over and gave her a ring. She accepted it in front of her parents, but before Marcello left, she threw it back at him. He threatened and yelled at first, but soon he dissolved into tears. Fernando and Nunzia cruelly berated Lila for damaging their futures by refusing a Solara—only Rino defended Lila. That night, Nunzia found Rino in the kitchen in the middle of the night, lighting matches and passing them in front of the gas valve. Lila tells Lenù that she needs to get out of her current situation but has no idea how—she begs for Lenù’s help. Lenù promises to do whatever she can.
As Lila fills Lenù in on what she’s missed, it becomes clear that Lila’s situation has grown increasingly precarious. Not only does she face the threat of retributive violence from Marcello, should she refuse him—her brother Rino also seems to be harboring an intense, potentially violent sense of anxiety. Though Lenù and Lila have both tried to escape the omnipresent threat of male violence, they have ultimately found themselves in greater danger than ever.
Themes
Arriving at the grocery, Lila shows Lenù Stefano’s new car which is parked outside—it is even nicer than the Solaras’ 1100. Stefano, seeing the girls, peeks out and greets Lenù. He tells her she looks well and reports that he himself was in Ischia recently; though he looked for her, he couldn’t find her. Stefano notices Lenù staring at the car. He tells her he’s bought it for Lila, but that Lila doesn’t believe him.
Lenù has clearly missed more than she realized while on Ischia—Stefano has turned his attentions to Lila, and just like Marcello, he’s attempting to essentially buy her affection.
Themes
Stefano offers to take the girls for a ride. He heads inside to put his apron away. While he’s gone, Lila confirms that Stefano recently told her that he bought the car “just for [her.]” He has been begging her to take a drive with him—but she has insisted upon waiting for Lenù’s return. Lenù tells Lila how dangerous it is to run around with Stefano given everything that’s happened with Marcello, but Lila insists that with Lenù present, everything will be fine. Stefano returns and welcomes the girls into the car. Lila sits in the back while Lenù takes the front. As they take off on their drive, Lenù feels calm and exhilarated by the wind—but soon begins to worry that Lila, in spite of the buffer of Lenù’s presence, is setting an “earthquake” in motion.
In this passage, it’s clear that Lila has been waiting for Lenù’s return so that she can use her friend as a buffer—and an excuse—in her dealings with Stefano. Lenù knows Lila well enough to see how her unpredictable, irreverent actions will reverberate throughout their neighborhood—and have potentially devastating consequences for both Lila and Stefano.
Themes
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Stefano drives the girls out of the neighborhood and into town. As the three of them drive around, Lenù overhears Lila and Stefano having furtive discussions about Lila’s situation with Marcello—Lenù wonders what she has missed on Ischia and how many conversations like this one Lila and Stefano have had already. Lila jokingly reminds Stefano of the time he tried to prick her tongue—he laughs and insists it was another time. As the car returns to the outskirts of the neighborhood, Stefano asks about the shoes in the window, which he says are beautiful. Lila challenges him to buy them. Stefano asks how much they cost, and Lila says he should ask Fernando. Stefano makes an abrupt turn and steers the car toward the Cerullos’ shop.
Lenù is very out of the loop—but she’s catching up fast. It’s clear from this passage that Lila sees Stefano as her only chance of escaping a future with Marcello, and she is encouraging him, in spite of Marcello’s power over the neighborhood and penchant for violence, to pursue her wholeheartedly. As Stefano speeds through the streets to buy the shoes, it becomes clear that he is ready to commit himself to Lila—no matter the cost.
Themes
