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I'm Not Scared, Niccolo Ammaniti - English Works
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I’m Not Scared, Niccolo Ammaniti
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I'm Not Scared, Niccolo Ammaniti - English Works
“Parallel worlds of cruelty in I’m Not Scared“, Dr Jennifer Minter (English
Works Notes, 2017)
In I’m not Scared, Niccolo Ammaniti explores the corruption of the
adult world through the eyes of the nine-year old narrator, Michele
Amitrano, who chances upon a kidnapped child left to rot in a
dilapidated house. The story charts Michele’s descent into the adult
world of cruelty, greed and corruption and his subsequent dilemma.
Throughout the novel, Ammaniti parallels the childhood and the adult worlds to focus on the
nature of evil and the possibility of goodness. Neither worlds, he suggests, are innocent. In fact,
challenging stereotypes of children as innocent and naïve, he shows their equal capacity for
deceit and cruelty. From the initial childish games of Salvatore Scardaccione’s (Skull’s) childhood
gang to which Michele belongs, to the cruelty of the adult world, Ammaniti suggests that we all
have a capacity to do irreparable harm to each other. Ammaniti suggests that when both worlds
forfeit an intuitive capacity for moral kindness and compassion, all members of the group su er.
Without a moral beacon, and without the barriers of conscience, people become capable of
untold violence and cruelty against each other. In such a world, a father is capable of killing his
son – perhaps with or without his knowledge.
As a nine-year-old child, Michele champions all that is idyllic about childhood; the love and the
innocence, the friendship and the fun. He cares for his sister and is protective and
spontaneously sympathetic towards Filippo. In fact, it is his strong sense of duty and loyalty that
embroils him in a terrible dilemma.
Michele’s carefree world is shattered when he becomes involved in a deadly game of “dare”.
Ammaniti depicts Michele as one who is prepared to confront Skull’s authority and risk
exclusion. This foreshadows his eventual challenge to his father and predicts his courage.
Michele is not one to readily submit to the unjust authority of others.
As the leader of the children’s gang, Skull insists on unquestioned obedience and sees himself as
the undisputed leader. He is cruel and viciously humiliates Barbara because of a sense of power
over others. He is sadistic, thuggish, violent and threatens others through the use of violence and
exclusion. He “revels” in her embarrassment when he makes her show her “tits” then her “slit”.
He tells her to “pull down your trousers. That’ll teach you to fuck me around.”(20) Previously
Barbara embarrassed Skull and made him look foolish, so he deliberately victimizes her in front
of the gang members. Barbara tries to be resilient, and clings to her pride and dignity. She
refuses to cry when he slaps her face for not getting his own way.
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Michele stands up for Barbara and “plays the hero” (22) just as he will defend Filippo’s rights in
the end. Ammaniti suggests that if someone does not protect the humanity of others, and their
right to dignity and freedom, then the world will degenerate into savagery. Gaining the “forfeit”,
Michele has to scramble up to the rst oor of the house, jump out of the window and climb
down the tree (22). Idyllic and simple, Michele’s childhood is disrupted by the discovery of the
emaciated boy who appears dead.
One of Michele’s biggest fears arises from his encounter with death and decay. His fears begin to
manifest when he stumbles across the apparently dead body of a child during their childhood
adventure. “I must pluck up the courage and look”. Even though the distorted image created by
his imagination gripped his “testicles with an icy hand”, Michele’s courage continuously brings
him back to the body.
The discovery of the “dead” body in the large hole becomes a trigger for Michele’s fears that
de ne him in increasingly moralistic and repulsive ways. The discovery of the boy’s body awakens
his conscience because he instinctively feels that it is shrouded in injustice. The fact that the hole
is a “couple of metres wide” and “two and a half metres” deep is enough to trigger the feeling that
something is sinister, as symbolised by the darkness and the secrecy. Seeing the body move,
Michele becomes increasingly anxious. He thinks he sees a “slight movement of the arm”.
Not only is this Michele’s rst encounter with a dead body – apart from his grandmother’s – but
his conscience is awakened. This is evident through the biblical imagery. In his nightmare, he
recalls that Jesus told Lazarus “to rise and walk, but Lazarus didn’t rise”. Instead, Lazarus was
de ant because he “wouldn’t come back to life”. Evidently, Michele is traumatized by the body
that moved and he is unable to ascertain whether he is dead or alive, and what he should think
or feel. The command, “leave the dead alone” leaves him covered in sweat. His fears soon
takeover, because he is unable to follow a dictate that undermines his conscience.
Over time, Michele befriends and nurtures the boy. Ironically, despite his fears he tries to show
that he is not scared. He tries to show the strength and conviction that lead to the discovery in
the rst place, when he de es Skull in order to protect Barbara from humiliation.
Michele’s fears emerge in the form of nightmares. Trolls, witches, “hunchbacked and wrinkled”
bogeymen and fairytale monsters plague both his imagination and disturb his sense of reality.
Stalking him in his sleep and on his trips to the mountain, he feels paranoid. Nevertheless, he
de es his fears of monsters when his courage and imagination take him to the role-playing of his
comic book hero, ‘Tiger Jack’. Michele quickly learns of the corruption in the adult world, and that
“it’s men you should be afraid of, not monsters”.
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Although we all experience fears and di culties growing up, Ammaniti suggests that often our
fears or the way we cope with our fears de ne us as people. The way we respond to our fears will
have lasting consequences. Some withdraw, some become anxious and some become constantly
fearful. For those of us who can stand their ground, confront their demons and learn to conquer
their fear, there is a chance to develop strength and resilience.
However, what if the demons are simply overwhelming? What if there is no easy resolution or no
easy course of action? It is a mark of Michele’s courage and strength that he does seek to
confront his fears once he knows that the father is the “bogeyman”.
Michele’s childhood world transforms from a fairytale to a nightmare as the troubling signs of
Papa’s complicity become evident. Michele suspects that the saucepan and apple belonged to
Papa. Filippo’s exercise book is found in the old man’s suitcase. In this regard, the author
subverts the purpose of the fairytale as a cautionary tale – in this story there is no happy ending.
IN this case, there is no happy ending and the monsters are not so easily defeated.
Michele’s fears are exacerbated by the knowledge of corruption in the adult world. At rst sight
of Sergio, Michele senses that this man is pure evil. As Michele lay in bed, he instantly lost
concentration when Sergio walked in the room. With the help of his courage and a dash of
curiosity, Michele discovers that Sergio’s intentions are clear, as he nds the gun next to Filippo’s
exercise book. Michele’s fears further escalate when he discovers that even his parents are
involved in the plot.
Ammaniti depicts an adult world that represents unbelievable cruelty against mankind. The
fathers exploit and humiliate a small innocent boy because of their own desire for revenge.
Filippo is kept in a very cruel condition. He is covered in his own bodily waste. He is starving; they
threaten to cut o his ear. In this regard, Felice is more cruel and coercive than Skull. As
Ammaniti suggests, when the adult world is devoid of moral leadership, the father is capable of
killing his son – with or without his knowledge.
As Ammaniti suggests, whenever our role models, such as our parents or gures in a position of
authority fail us, there are serious consequences for our sense of self, our con dence and our
pride and dignity. Such a failure threatens our moral stability and our value system and leads to
confusion. Moral ambiguity haunts Michele: “Papa is the bogeyman. By day he was good, but at
night he was bad.” (87) Papa exploits the situation to improve his family’s standing in life and to
nd a better life for his children. Initially, he believes he can buy Michele with the promise of a
better life, and with the gift of the most beautiful bike in the store.
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“Papa is the bogeyman”. Michele fears his father because he tells him to betray his friend, Filippo.
“By day he was good, but at night he was bad.” Such moral ambiguity tears Michele’s world apart
and leads to a personal crisis. Papa’s “voice” should be the voice of morality, righteousness and
good conduct. Instead the “voice” becomes a warning of danger and violence. “If you go back
there they’ll kill him. They’ve sworn it.”
This paternal order contradicts Michele’s promise to Filippo which haunts him. He feels
compelled to return to save Filippo but he becomes overwhelmed by the monsters, which are
linked to the old man, who has masterminded the kidnap. “I felt as if a thousand eyes were
watching me.” He sees “earth giants”, which belong to the “lords of the hill”. At rst, he submits
to his father’s orders and temporarily betrays his friend.
We all experience dilemmas and obstacles when growing up. Some obstacles are more severe
than others. How we confront and deal with these dilemmas is critical to our self-esteem and
our con dence in ourselves and in the world. In this regard, Michele is placed in a moral
dilemma between loyalty to his friend, which involves moral compunction and his duty and his
promise to his father, which haunts his conscience. His father, who should be a rock of morality,
guidance and honesty, becomes the voice of corruption.
In Michele’s case, he faces a dilemma that is practically impossible to solve. At the very least, he
needs to take the least traumatic path. By choosing Filipo he maintains his promise. He can at
least retain his dignity and con dence. He shames the father, and completely destroys their
relationship, but perhaps he recognizes that it was always fragile from the moment he
recognized that the father was involved.
However, in choosing to return to the hills, Michele shows enormous courage and de es his
father in favour of his principles. He places himself in grave danger and is shot by his father.
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TEXT PAIRS YEAR 12
Ransom (David Malouf)
Tracks (Robyn Davidson)
The Crucible (Arthur Miller)
Stasiland (Anna Funder)
Year of Wonders (Geraldine Brooks)
The Penelopiad (Margaret Atwood) and Photograph 51 (Anna Ziegler)
TEXTS – YEAR 12
Extinction by Hannie Rayson
Frankenstein (Mary Shelley)
The Lieutenant (Kate Grenville)
Tracks by Robyn Davidson
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
Stasiland by Anna Funder
Women of Troy by Euripides
Rear Window by Alfred Hitchcock
William Wordsworth Poems
Station Eleven: Emily St John Mandel
Crucible and Dressmaker (Home page)
The Penelopiad (Margaret Atwood) and Photograph 51 (Anna Ziegler)
Ransom & The Queen (Homepage)
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