'Rain, Rain Go Away': The Role of the Weather in the Dialectical Narrative of Vittorini'sConversazione in Sicilia

Abstract

Vittorini's Conversazione in Sicilia has lent itself to a wide array of symbolic readings. It abounds with objects and concepts ('manifesti', 'piffero', 'altri doveri', 'quarta dimensione', 'aringhe', 'benedetta vacca', 'forbici', 'acqua viva', 'corvi', etc.) capable of interpretation on many different levels. Meteorological references are also part of this but they have a narrative function that transcends it and takes the author's treatment of weather and climate beyond mere symbolism. They have a subtly dialectical function which illuminates both the inner struggle of the protagonist and the sufferings of the world. Weather is used as a way of rendering the process whereby negative and positive compete within the central character, and to a certain extent within others, in order that some kind of synthesis, both personal and social, may ultimately be shaped.

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