Looking for Alibrandi

by

Melina Marchetta

Michael Andretti Character Analysis

Michael is Josie’s father; he works as a barrister (lawyer) in Adelaide. When the novel begins, he’s been absent for Josie’s entire life, as he and Mama conceived Josie as teenagers—and Michael’s family moved to Adelaide right after Mama became pregnant. Michael believed that Mama had an abortion and so didn’t know Josie existed until he returns to Sydney, where he grew up, and reconnects with Nonna. The relation is obvious to Josie and to Nonna: Michael and Josie have similarly wild and curly hair, have similar statures, and are both extremely stubborn. When Michael first finds out about Josie, he wants nothing to do with her. He sees her as a “complication,” and though he offers Mama money to help support Josie, he seems to offer only out of obligation. But when it becomes clear to Michael that Josie isn’t just going to go away, he decides to take the time to get to know his daughter. They fight often (leading Michael to dub Josie his “obnoxious creation”), but Josie soon finds that she genuinely enjoys spending time with Michael. Michael generously offers Josie a job photocopying in his law office, and he’s able to offer important insight on his and Mama’s teenage relationship. A realist and endlessly practical, Michael tries to get Josie to realize that being an adult isn’t all about getting to do everything you want—and especially when it comes to relationships, it’s essential to compromise. He has a good relationship with Jacob and warns both Josie and Jacob away from having sex. Michael ultimately comes to value his relationship with Josie so much that, after she finishes her HSC exams, he asks her if she’d be willing to take his last name and allow him to adopt her. Michael buys a house in Sydney near the end of the novel so that he can stay close to Josie, and Josie wonders if her parents might one day get back together.

Michael Andretti Quotes in Looking for Alibrandi

The Looking for Alibrandi quotes below are all either spoken by Michael Andretti or refer to Michael Andretti. 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:
Family Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1 Quotes

I think things got worse when I started at St. Martha’s because I began to understand what the absence of a father meant. Also there were no Europeans like me. No Europeans who didn’t have money to back them up. The ones like me didn’t belong in the eastern and northern suburbs.

Related Characters: Josephine “Josie” Alibrandi (speaker), Michael Andretti, Sera
Page Number: 9
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 25 Quotes

I wonder about life if Nonna had married Marcus Sandford. If Mama had been Christina Sandford, daughter of Marcus Sandford, and not Christina Alibrandi, daughter of an Italian immigrant. Would life have been different for her? Would she have depended on Michael so much and would she have slept with him like she did, which was more out of loneliness caused by her parents than pressured sex?

Related Characters: Josephine “Josie” Alibrandi (speaker), Mama, Nonna Katia, Nonno Francesco, Marcus Sandford, Michael Andretti
Page Number: 261
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 28 Quotes

“How dare he kill himself when he’s never had any worries! He’s not a wog. People don’t get offended when they see him and his friends. He had wealth and breeding. No one ever spoke about his family. Nobody ever needed to because everyone knew that his father was the man they wanted down in Canberra. Nobody ever told their kids they weren’t allowed to play over at his place. Yet he killed himself. How could somebody with so much going for him do that?”

Related Characters: Josephine “Josie” Alibrandi (speaker), Michael Andretti, John Barton
Page Number: 281
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 32 Quotes

I’ve figured out that it doesn’t matter whether I’m Josephine Andretti who was never an Alibrandi, who should have been a Sandford and who may never be a Coote. It matters who I feel like I am—and I feel like Michael and Christina’s daughter and Katia’s granddaughter; Sera, Anna, and Lee’s friend, and Robert’s cousin.

Related Characters: Josephine “Josie” Alibrandi (speaker), Mama, Nonna Katia, Marcus Sandford, Michael Andretti, Anna, Sera, Lee, Robert
Page Number: 312-313
Explanation and Analysis:
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Michael Andretti Quotes in Looking for Alibrandi

The Looking for Alibrandi quotes below are all either spoken by Michael Andretti or refer to Michael Andretti. 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:
Family Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1 Quotes

I think things got worse when I started at St. Martha’s because I began to understand what the absence of a father meant. Also there were no Europeans like me. No Europeans who didn’t have money to back them up. The ones like me didn’t belong in the eastern and northern suburbs.

Related Characters: Josephine “Josie” Alibrandi (speaker), Michael Andretti, Sera
Page Number: 9
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 25 Quotes

I wonder about life if Nonna had married Marcus Sandford. If Mama had been Christina Sandford, daughter of Marcus Sandford, and not Christina Alibrandi, daughter of an Italian immigrant. Would life have been different for her? Would she have depended on Michael so much and would she have slept with him like she did, which was more out of loneliness caused by her parents than pressured sex?

Related Characters: Josephine “Josie” Alibrandi (speaker), Mama, Nonna Katia, Nonno Francesco, Marcus Sandford, Michael Andretti
Page Number: 261
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 28 Quotes

“How dare he kill himself when he’s never had any worries! He’s not a wog. People don’t get offended when they see him and his friends. He had wealth and breeding. No one ever spoke about his family. Nobody ever needed to because everyone knew that his father was the man they wanted down in Canberra. Nobody ever told their kids they weren’t allowed to play over at his place. Yet he killed himself. How could somebody with so much going for him do that?”

Related Characters: Josephine “Josie” Alibrandi (speaker), Michael Andretti, John Barton
Page Number: 281
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 32 Quotes

I’ve figured out that it doesn’t matter whether I’m Josephine Andretti who was never an Alibrandi, who should have been a Sandford and who may never be a Coote. It matters who I feel like I am—and I feel like Michael and Christina’s daughter and Katia’s granddaughter; Sera, Anna, and Lee’s friend, and Robert’s cousin.

Related Characters: Josephine “Josie” Alibrandi (speaker), Mama, Nonna Katia, Marcus Sandford, Michael Andretti, Anna, Sera, Lee, Robert
Page Number: 312-313
Explanation and Analysis: