Naivety in Lives of the Saints by Nino Ricci

Lives of Saints

In Nino Ricci's novel The Lives of Saints, one of the most important themes is that of innocence and naivete. The last name of the family, Innocente, proves that the author wants to emphasize this theme in the series. There are many ways that innocence and naivete play themselves out in the lives and identities of the main characters. For one, being naive means being unaware of the social conventions and social norms that one is expected to conform to in order to be an accepted member of the community. Second, naivete and innocence are qualities of saints, the primary motif and reason for the title of Nino Ricci's novel. Finally, innocence is depicted as something that one possesses in childhood but which can be "lost" upon learning about issues like temptation, sexuality, and greed. Vittorio's naivete about his mother and her role in the community is shattered upon learning about the events of his childhood, leading to a loss of innocence that ironically reflects the loss of his community identity as well.

The first aspect of naivete that is explored in The Lives of Saints is that of being unaware of social conventions and social norms. This is the state of being that a young child is in, before learning what is considered acceptable behavior. A child learns that he or she cannot just scream at any moment, and cannot take things that do not belong to him or her. Before learning social conventions, the child wants to do whatever he or she can get away with to feel good. In The Lives of Saints, this aspect of naivete plays itself out in the way that Vittorio does not really understand what is going on with his mother and the people in the community. He knows something is wrong, and that his mother is an outcast, but does not understand why. He is naive about social norms and the conventions of sexuality. His mother Cristina tries to preserve her son's innocence, as if it were reflective of his "Innocente" birthright. However, it is inevitable that as Vittorio grows older he will become privy to the social norms and conventions that constrain human behavior. He learns that the consequences for violating social codes, especially related to gender, can be severe.

The second aspect of naivete that is explored in The Lives of Saints is related to the motif of the saint. Italian culture venerates the saints as idealized beings who are innocent of sin. It is not necessarily the same thing as to say that saints are naive; saints may know that sin exists, but they deliberately refrain from sin through concerted effort and self-discipline or by God's grace. Therefore, Vittorio learns that his mother is not a saint later in life. As a seven-year-old boy, Vittorio idolizes his mother and cannot imagine that she can do wrong. Even later, he sees that life is too complex to have categories like saints, and sinners. Saints represent the impossible to achieve goal of total innocence. For a true saint to be possible, there must be complete naivete about what causes sin in the first place. There must be no temptation.