Angela Bari Symbolism

Repeated images of Angela Bari living an imprisoned life in Voices by Dacia Maraini play an important role in book. The internal and external forces surrounding Angela Bari lead her to a life of confinement and domination. If Angela Bari had broken away from her confinement she may have prevented her untimely death by exposing the ill ways of her stepfather, Glauco Elia. Angela’s secretiveness, self-doubt, and compliance with others lead her to victimization. It is not until her unfortunate murder that Angela’s imprisonment gets unraveled. Her distorted emotions are revealed as this relatively unknown young woman’s death is investigated. Journalists trample inside Ms. Bari’s life without any regards to her in an attempt
The two sisters grow up together and face the same problems including an abusive father and mother who was “blind and deaf” (214) to their problems. Ludovica gets confused between what happens to her and what happens to Angela (211) so the problems of the two sisters essentially are infused within one another. Like Angela, Ludovica has an abortion to end a pregnancy with her stepfather. She also goes to a psychiatric clinic and ends up sleeping with Angela’s husband (91). Ludovica grows up to live an awkward and artificial life as heard through her voice (96). When Ludovica speaks of visiting her mother she even says, “I stayed with her for a little while and then I escaped” (158) implying that indeed their house was a prison. Ludovica’s response to their upbringing is another contributing factor to Angela’s imprisonment. Sabrina, a close friend of Angela’s is another influence on Angela’s self-imposed incarceration. Sabrina admits to teaching Angela like a mother teaches her daughter (63). Sabrina, a mentor, for Angela ends up hanging herself in prison (145). Her suicide serves a purpose in the book because it shows how another of Angela’s role models also confined her problems deeply within
She does not allow herself to let others know her or her feelings. She lives in an apartment which still bears the name plate of the previous tenant (6) and when coming home she repeatedly locks the doors as if to say, “keep your distance” from me (6). Angela is afraid of “exposing herself” (4) and would keep “even the silliest things hidden” (32) giving the impression of having “terrible secrets” (31). Even the repeated reference to her blue shoes symbolizes a confinement. The shoe is an outer covering, which is worn for protection, and Angela’s shoes happened to be “blue” which represents feelings of dismay. In addition she was “full of fears and doubts” (52) including fearing her father (29). “Since Angela was afraid of everything; she was always running away” (62). This explains the reason why Angela viewed owning property as a burden (31). By not owning property she is able to prevent herself from identifying with anything. Furthermore, by not owning anything she can easily run away and escape her