Josie's Sensitivity Changes Toward Her Nonna example essay topic

It is only through facing the challenges put before us that we grow in self-knowledge and self-identity. In this essay I will be discussing this statement with references to the novel looking for Alibrandi. I will be discussing the ways and why Josie changes her perspective about curtain people and curtain things. At the start of the novel Josie's view's her nonna as a conformist and weak.

This is due to her nonna sticking to the strict 'Italian rules' and trying to make Josie act like herself. Josie viewed her nonna as rigid. 'Maybe that's what I disliked about Nonna. That she couldn't accept things the way they were' (pg 35). This disliking of her Nonna made her resent the afternoons she was made to spend with her. Slowly Josie's perspective changes through many revising discussions with her.

Josie discovered that Nonna was not so rigid and had once been young and foolish. Josie's perspective changes when her Nonna's past are revealed to Josie and she is the daughter of an illegitimate woman. Josie's Josie's perspective that she is a wog is changed but this revelation. To find out that her 'real' grandfather, Marcus Sandford, was Australian. Josie had her view of her own like and those closest to her changed dramatically.

No longer was Nonna rigid and conformist.'s he hadn't lived life the way I thought's he hadn't stuck to the rules and regulations' (Pg 226) Josie's sensitivity changes toward her Nonna. Knowing now why she did it in the first place. The story is manly about a search of family tree and relationships that fit into a jigsaw puzzle in unexpected ways. ' Katia Alibrandi, Christina Alibrandi, Josephine Alibrandi. Our whole lives, just like our names, are lies' Josie quotes ' If somebody comes up and asked me what nationality I am, ill look at them and say that I'm an Australian with Italian blood flowing rapidly through my veins I'll say that with pride, because it's pride that I feel.

' Josie has a lot more freedom being able to chose what she hoped to do with her life and to also decide hoer clothes, friends boyfriend with out as harsh a restriction as was placed on her grandmother. Katia was very concerned with what her family and the Italian community thought of herself, her daughter and her granddaughter. Katia gets angry with Christina her daughter for Josie's actions and the gossip they have created. Katia quotes ' They always talk and it is always me who suffers because of it. ' (Pg 95) Josie does not care what other people think of her and tries to ignore the restrictions her Italian family places on her. Katia believes "tomato day" is an important tradition. e.g. ' we " ve been doing this for over forty years Guiseppina'.

Josie doesn't value her Italian culture like her grandmother and finds it more of a burden than anything else. e.g. Josie hates tomato day and is ashamed of it. Josie quotes ' god if anyone found out about it I'd die' (pg 171) Josie's mother never spoke about Josie's father not even his name. She didn't know much about him only that he was just the boy next door and he moved to Adelaide before Josie was born. At first her dad thought she was a complication.

At first when Michael Andretti didn't want Josie in his life and Michael wouldn't discuss or trying to argue with Josie. Josie would get angry because of this. She quoted to her father's top being polite, you " re making me puke, be angry, or be rude to me but don't be polite' then she also quoted ' I never thought meeting you would be this boring. I thought we'd put our Italian emotion into gear and scream the place down. (pg 68) When Josie broke that girl's nose due to a racist and anti illegitimacy related comments, she phoned her father to come to the school.

The girl that she broke her nose told her she didn't have a father and Josie made this smart remark. Carly: you don't have a father Josie: Yeah sure. My mother's the virgin Mary and I'm the Immaculate Conception. Josie quoted 'she called me a wog. I haven't been called one for so long. It offended me.

It made me feel pathetic and it makes me remember I live in a small-minded world and that makes me furious. This incident ended in Josie's satisfaction, as Michael Andretti as appeared and saved her from any legal cases, due to a discussion with the girl's father, who was threatening legal action against Josie. Josie walked past her class mates with Michael Andretti beside her and for a few minutes she knew j how it felt walking alongside ones father. She felt great. ' I'm an Italian, I'm of European decent. When an Italian or another person of European decent calls me a wog it's done in a good warm humor.

When the word 'wog' comes out of the mouth of an Australian its not done in good humour unless they " re a good friend' (pg 88) Josie gets to know Michael Andretti more and more and starts loving him as a father. She loves him even more than she first hated him but she also see's his faults too. Through her relationship with her grandmother Katia and her father Michael Andretti Josie experiences many new, exciting and disturbing emotions. She has learn't that life moves in unexpected directions, bringing anticipated joy and equal measures of sadness.