Less Obvious Horrors of War

Morante's story is a revelation of many layers of suffering that result from war. She reminds her readers that what takes place in small villages that are under siege or occupied by enemy forces is inhumane, and results in forms of unimaginable suffering. It is this suffering that one is most unaware of, since information on troops lost and casualties is presented objectively and without detail.

Among many others, Morante's main characters are Ida, Nino, Useppe and Davide. These are typical Italian citizens who have done nothing wrong to anyone. Ida is a school teacher, her son a rebellious teenager, and Davide, an undercover Jewish pacifist who does not believe in his family's aristocratic ways, but sympathizes with the common worker. Ida and Useppe, who are passive victims of the war, both suffer from malnutrition, hunger, terror, exacerbated medical problems, homelessness, loneliness, depression, early...