Levi is a prisoner in the small village of Gagliano and is being forced to live there but throughout the writing Levi exposes the fact that he is not the only prisoner and that it is more than a physical imprisonment that is keeping him there. The images of imprisonment that Levi presents us with occur all through the novel starting with the second chapter and continuing throughout the course of the writing. He describes physical borders, mental incarceration and the turmoil of the other villagers and how they seem to be experiencing the same ordeal as him but for different reasons and in different ways.
This representation of imprisonment is established right from the beginning when Levi says, ‘A prisoner may find greater consolation in a cell with romantic, heavy iron bars than in one that superficially resembles a normal room’. He says this in the second chapter and comments on this while stating his first impression. From this line only we get the image of a physical prison but he believes it to be worse than an actual gaol cell. Also in the same chapter he mentions his physical borders. ‘I wanted to take stock of the limits beyond which I was not allowed to go, although I already knew that they coincided with the boundaries of the village’. This line also gives a strong illustration of the limits of his movement and shows the physical imprisonment of Levi.
Mental imprisonment plays into Levi’s life significantly and is very much a result of his physical imprisonment. At times it seems as though his mind is not challenged enough and he gets bored with the surroundings and the every day activities. Levi shows this by saying ‘days passed by monotonously’. One matter that concerns both physical and mental imprisonment is that the letters coming to and going from Levi have to be first censored by the Mayor, Don Luigi. This censorship of the letters shows imprisonment in both ways because he is kept from writing what he wants and the Mayor has the ability to read personal mail.
Priest Don Trajella is imprisoned in a way that Levi recognizes all to easily. The priest, once a professor of theology, feels trapped the same way as Levi does. The Priest has been a longer citizen of Gagliano for many years and had such come down from earlier years, like a ‘shipwreck’, that he has become bitter. Levi possibly thinks that if he continues to carry on as he is he may become like the priest. The peasants are also imprisoned and this shows out because the gentry persecute them but they cannot afford to move away. One aspect of imprisonment that arises is the carabiniere, the local police force and Levi’s guards at such times as his trip to Grassano. ‘And so early the next morning I set out with a bundle of canvases…and two carabiniere’ is one extract where he is guarded by the carabiniere.
At one stage this dull image of imprisonment is broken and this occurs when Levi is granted hi trip to Grassano to finish several paintings. When talking about the trip, ‘I was chiefly excited…a simple pleasure to which I was no longer accustomed.’ He is very excited about this small trip to Grassano and this shows that it is a minute victory for him but a break from the imprisonment of Gagliano.
The image of imprisonment that is portrayed by the author in this work is an extremely significant picture and Levi makes a point of mentioning it. A Jew himself in the time of Hitler, Carlo Levi knew what it was like to be persecuted and this is turn helps him to relate to the peasants understand the Priest because he to is imprisoned. It is not onlt the characters and physical and mental characteristics that paint the image of imprisonment but also the setting. Set in the mountainous region of Lucania, the mountains are a prison within themselves. This image of imprisonment is easily noticed because it is so well placed and described and this may stem from the fact that Levi was an artist. Overall the image comes through strongly and in many cases and Levi uses many different techniques to convey this topic to the reader clearly.
Christ Stopped at Eboli is perhaps one of the great books of our century. Its effective, convincing humanism seeks to breed understanding and widen mental horizons. Half—anthropology and half-literature, it’s also a book that any travel writer would give up their life to have written.
A review by RL, a creditable review site.
Word Count: 955
