The Uses of Community Theme Analysis

The neighborhood on the outskirts of Naples, Italy in which My Brilliant Friend is set is a small and insular one in which generations of families have grown—however uncomfortably—alongside with one another. Throughout the novel, Elena Ferrante questions what the uses of a community are when one’s community is divided so profoundly by interpersonal conflict, generational animosity, financial inequity, and, above all, violence. Ultimately, Ferrante suggests that a community that fixates on resentments, vendettas, and smallminded struggles will never be able to confront its checkered past or organize together to work toward a future defined by prosperity, neighborliness, and true solidarity.

In a community as insular as the one in which Lila and Lenù grow up, it would seem that kindness and camaraderie would abound—however, the opposite is true. Gossip, betrayal, and violence are all a part of life along the main stradone, or avenue, of the Neapolitan neighborhood. Throughout the novel, Ferrante demonstrates how the divisions in the community make so many things impossible: the pursuits of friendship, economic advancement, or simple neighborly support are drowned out by social posturing, the drive for vengeance, or plain jealousy. Early on in the book, Lila and Lenù’s elementary school teacher Maestra Oliviero tells Lenù about “the plebs”—the lower classes of Ancient Rome who were represented by the Gracchi, brothers who pushed for social reform but failed and were met with execution. Maestra Oliviero warns Lenù that “plebeians” still exist, and that “if one wishes to remain a plebian, he [and his family] deserve nothing.” Maestra Oliviero tells Lenù this in order to encourage her to “forget [Lila] and think of [her]self only.” In other words, she thinks that Lenù should sacrifice anything—even her best friend—in order to avoid being a plebian. Maestra Oliviero’s cruel words represent much of the neighborhood’s view of one another. Rather than uniting and working together in their businesses, marriages, and social gatherings, people are encouraged as individuals and as family units to “forget” their neighbors and focus only on themselves. This passage also illustrates the deep-rooted history behind these decisions and influences. In ancient times, the “plebs” failed to unite and better their situation—now, Lila and Lenù’s neighbors feel there is no hope for betterment through community, even though their frustrations with their individual failures continue to mount and intensify.

Throughout the novel, social divisions related to money and power divide the families of the neighborhood even on occasions which should unite them all in service of their greater community. One of the major instances in which the divisions that plague Lila and Lenù’s community is made clear comes during a New Year’s Eve celebration. Each year, the wealthy Solara brothers Marcello and Michele amass a stock of fireworks and put on a grand display—but tired of the Solaras’ showiness, Lila’s brother Rino becomes determined to put on his own display. Rino sees the Solaras—a family tied to the Camorra, a crime syndicate dating back to the 17th century—as “enemies to be beaten.” Rino is disgusted by his neighbors’ fealty to the powerful Solaras, and so he decides to take a stand against them. Rino, then, begins collecting money from his neighborhood friends and stockpiling fireworks. At midnight on New Year’s Eve, a “war” begins as Rino and his friends launch fireworks in competition with the Solaras, shouting taunts and curses as they do. The night culminates in a finale no one expected yet perhaps should have seen coming: the Solaras fire gunshots at Rino and the other neighborhood boys. The fireworks incident is just one of many in which the various members of the neighborhood—generally the men, but often the women as well—attempt to humiliate and best one another rather than coming together in unity. Many of the neighborhood conflicts are rooted in crime and money—but just as many are steeped in honor and hubris, as men try to defend their sisters and girlfriends from unwanted stares and provocations, protect their businesses from being bought out by wealthier neighbors, and prove their families’ superiority. The fireworks display is singular in its grandiosity, and it comes to symbolize the waste, vanity, and violence of the neighborhood’s power struggles. Through this sequence, Ferrante indicts the divisions and cruelties that keep communities from coming together in harmony.

Even during major events, the members of Lila and Lenù’s stratified community fail to come together: uneasy alliances are brokered and new partnerships are made as a few of the men in the community try to soften things for themselves. But when these men selfishly seek ease for themselves without considering the needs of their partners, friends, or community, trouble ensues. Another incident in which Ferrante highlights the pettiness of the community’s failure to come together harmoniously—even in times of joy—comes during Lila’s wedding to Stefano Carracci, son of the deceased loan shark Don Achille. Toward the end of the novel, as Lenù looks around Lila’s increasingly raucous wedding reception, she realizes in horror that “The plebs were us. The plebs were that fight for food and wine, that quarrel over who should be served first and better…” As Lenù realizes that there will never be an end to the posturing, fighting, and slights in her community, a sense of despair washes over her. She feels that she and her family will never be able to better themselves socially or economically as long as every other family is seeking its own individual profit, prosperity, and advancement at the expense of their neighbors’ health, happiness, and dignity.

The cruelty, animosity, and envy that pervade the neighborhood of Lila and Lenù’s youth have roots deep in the region’s history—and deep consequences for its future. By pointing out how petty interpersonal or interfamilial fights hold communities back from achieving goals, Ferrante suggests that individuals will have to start standing up for their neighbors if they’re ever going to build strong communities capable of real change.