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One of my favourite moments in this chapter is when the Nameless One, after his dark night of the soul and examination of conscience, arrives at the realization that: "In his newly awakened conscience, each crime reappeared stripped of the feelings that had made him want to commit it, and with a monstrosity that those feelings that kept him from seeing". I like the way Manzoni shortly afterwards links this epiphany with 'distant ringing of bells of celebration'. The contrast between the darkness, distress and constriction of the first part of the chapter and the ending, with its joy, movement and celebration reminds me of the words from Luke: In the same way there is more happiness in heaven because of one sinner who turns to God than over 99 good people who don't need to."

It's interesting how Lucia is the cause of this change of heart in the Nameless One. Lucia means a bearer of light

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My favorite line from today: "She was no longer his prisoner, or a supplicant, but his guide, dispensing grace and consolation." The shift in the power dynamics is so well described it's almost visual.

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What a chapter! I had a hard time with the chat about pity between Nibbio and the Nameless, but Lucia's effect on the savage lord is extraordinary -- subtle too in his wavering with himself ("she's got some devil on her side"). And still a moment of humor, the old woman's "damn the young girls, who always look so pretty,... who always think they're right."

And culminating on Lucia's vow?--another moment to take me completely by surprise--and her rosary around her neck "as if she were suiting up in the armor of a new militia into which she had enlisted."

(It did occur to me in the scene between Lucia and the Nameless that speeches were certainly longer before movies and the easy use of fast-shooting guns.)

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And the chapter not over yet! The savage lord's "indistinct rage of repentance" and another brilliant elaboration of the workings of karma (whether Manzoni knew this or not, his observations line up beautifully with a Buddhist understanding of human action):

"But as he sought a reasonable explanation for even a single deed, the tormented self-examiner found himself engulfed in an interrogation of his whole life. Back and back he went in time, from year to year, commitment to commitment, bloodshed to bloodshed, crime to crime. In his newly awakened conscience, each crime reappeared stripped of the feelings those feelings had kept him from seeing. They all belonged to him; they were who he was."

(Also, I understand "a dark night of the soul" as a crisis fundamental to a spiritual life already well underway, certainly vaster than this well-earned attack of conscience, if not so potentially revolutionary.)

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On one level I read the chapter as a theme of storybooks, Scrooge or the Grinch. Then I took it on a more personal level, the times when any of us can have a change of heart. (Not knowing how many evil villains we have here in the APS book club) But there is something in the presence and words of a Lucia and the availability to receive such a message. Who or what moves us?

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I love how nervous the old woman is -- the woman has been ordered by the Nameless One to care for Lucia. She says to Lucia, "...he ordered me to cheer you up. You'll tell him, won't you? That I cheered you up?" It would have to be evident to Lucia that his guy is big trouble if he makes his servant so nervous!

I also found it devastating to hear Lucia promise to renounce love and her lover if God saved her. It seemed so unfair! She's tossed into this horrible situation through no fault of her own and now believes she has to offer up one the most important things to her (on Earth) in order to simply return to what she had previously--her safety and independence. So now, basically, no matter how this ends -- we know the pair cannot possibly end up happily together!

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No, Lucia! Don’t make that vow!!

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Lucia asks the Nameless One to send her to her mom's at *** ... I missed something.. is Agnese not in Lecco?

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Mar 19, 2023Liked by Michael Moore

In Chapter 21, the Nameless One appears seized by a troubled conscience. To those of us who think we have conscience, a conscience may seem a natural human impulse. Yet, if you think about it, it's remarkable how many people seem not to have one. Did Stalin have a conscience? During the Reign of Terror of the French Revolution, Camille Desmoulins was stricken by his conscience after his writings led to the conviction of former friends and fellow-Jacobins and revolutionaries for treason and their execution by the guillotine. Events spun out of his control. He expected to ruin political careers, not turn his pen into an instrument of death. He tried to redeem himself by writing pamphlets critical of Robespierre and other Jacobins and calling for clemency of 200,000 prisoners. As a result, the Revolutionary Tribunal convicted Camille and his beloved wife of sedition and he was guillotined.

Yet, it seems to me, Camille's story stands out among the atrocities that have afflicted the world over in every epoch. Never mind the countless more micro-malfeasances that so often elicit no wounded conscience.

Maybe the answer is that none of us is born with a conscience, but it is instilled in us by whatever value system we wind up with as a result of culture, upbringing, education (including self-education), life experience. Camille was a student of the writers of Classical antiquity like Tacitus, the Enlightenment, humanism. These values (and ambition) motivated his important role in the French Revolution. And ultimately, it was these values that impelled his fate. But generally, the Jacobins, the Bolsheviks and fascists who propagated terror and mass murder found solace in their belief in their dream to remake society and classes into a new collective--a value system of its own.

In Chapter 21, it is his Christian upbringing that begins to impose itself on The Nameless One: "I must be crazy to be thinking this…but what if, instead, this other life exists?” Then he hears the bells, which both torment him and delight him.

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Of course, Lucia vows to remain a virgin for the rest of her life if the Blessed Virgin helps her escape 🤦🏼‍♀️ The rosary around her neck becomes a suit of armor “of a new militia into which she has enlisted.” What a dark night of moral struggle in the castle. Interesting that Lucia with her prayers and pleas emasculates Nibbio and the Nameless One--“You see, pity is like fear: If it gets you in its grips, you lose your manhood.” She’s winning this battle.

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I thought the “old woman“ would exhibit a rebellious streak and find ways to liberate Lucia. Instead, the “old woman“remains loyal as ever to the Nameless one, and cannot be more subordinate, and in fear of him. Perhaps she will provide a service to Lucia if and as his change of heart results in concrete action.

Despite his enormous self doubt and his suicidal thoughts, the Nameless one has not completed a 180° transformation (will he ever?). At the end of the chapter, he wonders where the crowds of people are going. With no indication of a scintilla of endearment for those going off to celebrate, he says, “Where are they all going, the scum?“

Where are they going? As we continue to read, will we learn the backstory of the Nameless one?

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I must admit to feeling left out of the Nameless One’s gruesome deeds for which he will now repent. A long story of a nasty past life that happened off the page, before I (we) got here. A fast forward to the forgiveness he’s looking for from his God, not from the families he hurt, except for his chance with Lucia. I love the contradiction and torquing in his “indistinct rage of repentance”. Indistinct next to rage next to repentance. Michael’s diction and word choices, like small feasts for my brain.

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Methinks re title~ Lucia has made a promise to marry Renzo. Maybe this will nullify her promise to the Blessed Virgin?

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Earlier, we discussed whether Divine Providence was a theme of the novel. I think that theme became much clearer in this chapter. God seems to be listening to Lucia's pleas for help and speaking directly to the Nameless One.

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