English - I'm Not Scared by Niccolo Ammaniti

Niccolo Ammaniti

The author of the novel I'm Not Scared

Choices

I'm Not Scared explores the playful and volatile world of childhood through the eyes of nine-year-old Michele, who is forced, again and again, to make the hard choices that will define his character. As the book opens, he must choose between helping his younger sister or winning a race. Later, he must choose between letting his friend Barbara be humiliated or taking the punishment himself. And as the novel approaches its stunning climax, he must choose between obeying his father and fulfilling the oath he swore to him, or following his conscience and keeping his promise to Filippo, the boy who has been kidnapped. But the choices he makes bring him into serious danger, not from the monsters of his childish imagination but from the adults around him who are capable of violence and monstrosities that are all too real.

Thesis

I'm Not Scared is the story of a young boy, Michele, who finds another boy, Filippo in a hole in the ground. Michele later finds out the Filippo was abducted from Milan and was being held for ransom, and all the adults in the town were involved. Danger and fear are prevalent themes throughout the story.

Settings

The book is set in the year 1978, in one of hottest summers of the century. The summer was described as unbearable hot and that 'the sun took your breath away, your desire to play everything and it was just as unbearable at night'. The main character 'Michele Amitano' lives in the small village of 'Acqua Traverse' that comprised of 'four little houses and an old country villa lost in the wheat'.