Agostino - I am uncomfortable.

 This week we read “Agostino” by Alberto Moravia. This book was definitely the easiest to follow out of the books I have read so far. When I began reading, I thought that I would end up liking it more than last weeks reading (The Shrouded Woman) but that was not the case. Once Agostino meets the group of boys, starts to spend time with them, and learn about how they speak of his mother, it completely changes the relationship he has with her. He ends up sexualizing his mother, actions that he once found normal and motherly now have different meanings and bring up different feelings for him which as a reader, it was really hard to get through. There were many parts where I started to physically cringe while I was reading and left me feeling so uncomfortable just thinking about.

 

Trying to get past the discomfort, I think that this coming-of-age story highlights how we often try to grow up as fast as we can and usually end up looking back wishing we spent more time doing childish things without the responsibility of adulthood (or at least I do). At the end of the book Agostino wants to leave because he thinks his mother treats him like a baby, she replies jokingly that she will treat him like a man. The book ends saying that he is not a man, and it will be a while until he becomes one, which of course makes sense because he is only thirteen!! The group of boys have completely different life experiences than Agostino, mainly because they are poorer than him, so I think that as a result they grew up quicker than Agostino. They are also all different ages, many are older, so that definitely impacts the behavioural changes Agostino goes through. I understand that Agostino is trying to stop thinking about his mother sexually by going to the house with Tortima, but he is still so young to be even trying to have an experience like that. It’s super unfortunate that this group of boys completely messed up Agostino’s relationship with his mother by saying things Agostino didn’t even want to hear, but there was no going back for poor Agostino once he heard how sexually they spoke about her. 

 

My question for my classmates is: were you feeling uncomfortable after reading about how Agostino felt about his mother or were you able to get past that? I think it’s pretty clear that I cannot get past this feeling of discomfort when I think about this book.

Comments

  1. IsabellaFebruary 6, 2024 at 11:14 PM

    Hi Lauren,
    To answer your question, yes, I was also uncomfortable reading about how Agostino felt about his mother. Although the boys started sexualizing his mom, I do not agree it is completely normal to start objectifying your mother during sexual changes. I agree, a large part of being an adolescent is wanting to be an adult until realizing it was easier to just be a kid. This has happened many times for me as well.

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  2. Daniel OrizagaFebruary 6, 2024 at 11:18 PM

    Agostino's relationship with his mother was already changing even without the intervention of the group of boys, but the protagonist's perception was definitively modified after the encounter with those boys. From my reading, the novel also speaks of the referential function of language, of the difficulty of “naming” what happens around us, since the loss of innocence also has to do with the awareness of those limits.

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  3. Samantha BurtonFebruary 7, 2024 at 12:39 PM

    Hi Lauren, I agree with what you said about this book being the easiest to read so far, yet it also made me uncomfortable and cringe, especially when reading certain sections about the sexualization of the mom. In response to your question, I think that while I was uncomfortable, I was able to get past it in a way that I still was interested in reading the book and thinking about why Agostino was thinking or acting in these ways.

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  4. AnonymousFebruary 8, 2024 at 11:50 AM

    I agree that Agostino's shift in feelings towards his mother was uncomfortable at first, but I don't think that this necessarily forever changes his relationship with his mother. Sure, it's awkward now, as he's got all these hormones raging and has just discovered what sex is. Given that his mother is really the only woman in his life, in some ways it's natural that he starts to view her in this new, sexual light, however much he doesn't want to. Personally, I think Agostino will move out of this uncomfortable phase as he has more sexual experiences and learns to separate them from his mother.

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    Replies
    1. Kendra LewisFebruary 8, 2024 at 11:50 AM

      I agree that Agostino's shift in feelings towards his mother was uncomfortable at first, but I don't think that this necessarily forever changes his relationship with his mother. Sure, it's awkward now, as he's got all these hormones raging and has just discovered what sex is. Given that his mother is really the only woman in his life, in some ways it's natural that he starts to view her in this new, sexual light, however much he doesn't want to. Personally, I think Agostino will move out of this uncomfortable phase as he has more sexual experiences and learns to separate them from his mother.

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  5. May WangFebruary 8, 2024 at 2:19 PM

    Hi Lauren! I definitely agree that this book is the easiest read so far and that I also felt quite uncomfortable while reading it. I think the reason that Agostino sexualized his mom was not only because of the way the "gang" talked about her, but also it was also his first time to encounter such topics as he was very shocked. I did feel discomfort while reading his descriptions, but as I kept on reading, I began to understand that Agostino felt confused and had no idea how to cope with his feelings. Perhaps, as he gets older he will be able to understand his thoughts and how it distorted his perception of his mother.

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