Agostino - WHAT?

While reading Agostino, I found myself saying "What?!" audibly every time a scene surprises me. During other times, I even physically back away from my screen when I feel uncomfortable. For instance, when Agostino describes his mother's appearance, and during the boat ride with Saro. I truly did not know what to expect from this book. However, it still made me curious and I found myself wanting to know more about Agostino's thoughts and why he had them. The major themes I noticed were abandonment, class and youth. 

Agostino is infatuated with his mother and wants to stay close to her during this vacation, and it seems it has been like this even before summer. Though, the readers may not be able to confirm because this story takes place only for a few days, away from their home. He is proud to be seen beside her every time they go outside because it seems that he is "showing off." He is showing off in the sense that he can be close to his beautiful mother while others can only look. However, unlike other times, his mother left him to go to sea with a young man. Left alone, waiting for her to come back, he felt abandoned. I feel that this incident initiated his "hatred" for her. Though, there was another scene that also surprised me. It was when the mother slapped Agostino. This particularly surprised me because through Agostino's eyes, she is described as this perfect and beautiful woman. This made me think if she does this regularly to him or she was simply irritated during that time, as the young man did not come to her. 

After meeting the other boys, Agostino's views evidently changed. As a 13 year old boy, in the upper class, he has not truly seen the reality outside his bubble, away from his mother's side. It seemed to me that he was always pampered and got everything he wanted. Upon meeting the boys, he was exposed to the reality of others. He gets beat up, teased, used for money, and almost got taken advantage of by Saro. They also talk sexually about his mother. Yet, he still goes back to them like they have something against him. I think Agostino feels that he learns the truth and reality of things whenever he is with them. Also, since he wants to hate his mother, and only see her as a "woman," he wants to listen to them objectifying her (which is so weird to me). Also, he might just like their company in general since they are his new "friends," if they could be considered as that. 

Because Agostino is from the upper class, the boys don't see him as one of them. Even Agostino doesn't. He even mentions that he has a "social superiority" (73) and this will never make him one of them. Because of his exposure to "reality" through the working class boys, his views has changed. He no longer has his "boyish imaginations," he even learned to lie. He wore his older clothing, and pretended to be a boatman's son. He even knew all the answers to give the man and his son to truly make it look like he is from the working class. Through this, his identity truly changed and he is not who he used to be. Though, he is neither his old self, nor part of the working class boys. He is stuck in the middle at an "awkward age of transition" (101). He wants to mature but the novel suggests that he will not do so for a long time. 

"But he wasn't a man, and many unhappy days would pass before he became one" (102).

At the end of the book, I thought there was going to be a plot twist where the mother is actually at the house he went to. I came to this conclusion because beforehand, he mentioned that she was getting ready and fixing her make up after dinner which made me confused. Though, I guess I was looking into it too much.

Discussion Question:

Do you think the Moravia intended to make Agostino "in love" with his mother, like Freud suggested, or simply admired her? Do you have any other explanations for this?