I M Not Scared Character Analysis

Fear is one of the most incapacitating and destructive emotions I’m Not Scared demonstrates. As well as the human potential to do evil things in life for self-gain. Ammaniti shows us this through characters in the text that commit cruel and violent acts. He also shows us that not all men can be cruel and selfish, through the character of Michele, who shows bravery, compassion and goodness.
From the very beginning of the novel we are alerted to the fact that humans can be very cruel, yet equally as gallant and kind. In the start we are introduced to a cruel rumour from Skull, about a fierce old man known as Melichetti, who feed his own dog to his savage pigs. When he is confronted about this from Barbara, he laughs at the idea and replies
He chained in a dark prison hole and is barely fed enough to stay alive. He is treated like a prisoner of war. His skin is pale and dirty, and so thin that you could see the outline of his bones. Yet Ammaniti tempers these descriptions with humour in order to soften the blow and Michele relieves his suffering. Michele’s determination to help Fillipo in his plight and his success in revealing his pain that becomes the focus of the tale. He performs acts of kindness towards Fillipo, bringing him food and water, and letting him out of the hole to embrace the outside
The people of Acqua Traverse are easily motivated by money. They had kidnapped a child just for personal gain. They were prepared to betray their own beliefs and morals. For example when Luisa Carducci had sent an appeal to the kidnappers, she pleaded that they do not hurt her son and asked them what it would feel like if any of them had their own child taken away from them. Papa, who cared for his children a lot and loved them, betrayed his own beliefs that night, responding that they should cut off both of Filippo’s