Looking for Alibrandi - Study Notes Part 1 - (Part 1 - Part 2)
Josephine Alibrandi, a Catholic girl, narrates the novel in her final year of High school. She attends St Martha's, a wealthy catholic school in Sydney's eastern suburbs. Her academic scholarship ensures her place at the school as she is not as well off as the population of largely wealthy Anglo-Celtic girls that attend the school. Her Italian origin has been the reason for much persecution toward her in her life. Her background against the monied origins of her peers also provides much source of angst for Josie.
She lives in the inner-city suburb of Glebe with her single mother, who takes care of her. Their rather small dwelling is the source of some embarrassment for Josie.
Josie is essentially on a journey of discovery throughout the novel. This journey reveals much about herself, her family and the many lessons that she is yet to learn in her life. Her search for her own cultural identity is coupled with her struggle as a poor student among many wealthy ones.
Josephine also has a number of self-esteem issues that manifest themselves throughout the novel in her perceptions of the world. These issues are further complicated by her family situation. Issues that are dealt with include:
Role of The Family
Josie is searching to discover the true nature of her family history. She comes to learn that much of what she has been told in incorrect. A number of issues that both she and her mother deal with are explained by some of her family circumstances.
Her grandmother, father and mother all have a significant amount to teach her about herself and about herself. Each in their own way has the power to impart some personal experience that will assist Josie in her journey. She does come to learn, however, that these realisations can do much harm. Overall, however, her journey in regard to her family is a cathartic experience that solves many issues she was forced to deal with.
Josie's father, Michael Andretti, has only recently come back into life. He is introduced to us in Chapter six. While Josie's mother was still pregnant he left Sydney for Adelaide. He return comes with the assertion that he does not "want a complication in his life" and again he seems to be deserting Josie. She confronts him about this, and his attitude does not win her affection. It seems that Michael cannot provide to Josie what she needs - a stable father figure that might help her to make sense of her own identity and unique set of circumstances.
However, later in Chapter 8, Michael comes to her aid and she feels proud to have him walk alongside her. Josie has long craved this feeling and her father finally provides it to her. Their relationship continues to grow stronger throughout the novel, and he tells her that "If I had to choose a daughter, I would have chosen you". This remark, combined with his attitude seems to reaffirm his postion is her life. He proposes that she comes live with him in Balmain and that she becomes his adopted daughter. She is prepared to consider a name change, yet her journey of discovery dictates that she cannot leave her mother and live with Michael. He provides only part of the answer in her journey, and she realises that she cannot desert her mother.
Josie's grandfather, Francesco had a unique situation with his wife - Josie's "Nonna". Being from Italy (the old country), it was customary for arranged marriages to be set up by ones parents. This is the situation that "nonna" found herself in. However, she committed adultery, and had a child that was not fathered by Francesco. This child was Josie's mother, and Francesco always resented her. While Josie never met him, she was aware of the coolness between her mother and him, and of the unusual situation between him and her grandmother.
This realisation of Josie's leads her to question the moralistic teachings of her grandmother, considering her sinful past. Josie views this as hypocrisy on the part of her grandmother, however we the readers are left to wonder if nonna's hypocrisy is a way of making up for her past sins, and a way of easing the pain of her failed marriage and the problems that have occurred in her family as a result. Josie comes to realise that many family situations tend to be passed from generation to generation and that her mother is not to blame entirely for her own situation.
While Josie does make a great many discoveries about her family situation, she still remains unaware of many of the hardships that her mother had faced in her own life. Josie reacts badly to her mother seeing a man, and we can see that she still has much to learn. A journey of discovery inevitably involved ones family, and the issue that one discovers can often be painful as much as cathartic. This is because many of the issues open up wounds that may have otherwise not been disturbed.
Looking for Alibrandi - Study Notes Part 2 - (Part 1 - Part 2)
Cultural Issues
Josie's family is part of the Italian community in Sydney. Her grandmother settled in Australia with Francesco, a man that was 15 years older than she was and with whom she had been forced into a marriage with. When they did reach Australia, the way that the Australian women behaved and their attitudes to men shocked Josie's grandmother.
Josie understands that her Nonna's early years were fraught with difficulty and loneliness, as she was isolated from what she had known. Josie in her discovery comes to find a parallel between certain parts of her life and that of her grandmothers. Her insecurities are essentially those of her grandmother.
The traditions of the Italian community have refused to die in Josie's family and she often questions some of the particular on-going ways. She says "culture is nailed into you so deep you can't escape it". Josie's journey of discovery essentially teaches her not to be ashamed of who she is, and to cherish the old ways of family. She comes to the realisations that her Nonna is too old to adopt new habits, and that she be appreciated for who she is. Josie realises that her Nonna went through a number of trying experiences that were not completely her own doing. In some sense she understands that fate and external factors have as much to do with the way that we live our lives as our own decisions do.
Josie, however in her journey of discovery fails to make a complete understanding of tolerance of others. When she overhears a girl at her school complain about "wogs" she breaks her nose. This act demonstrates that Josie does not understand that the Anglo girls have also inherited much tradition, good and bad, from their parents. Parents who knew an Australia that was predominantly white have influenced the Anglo girls at the school. Only since the 1950's has Australian become the multicultural society that it is today. The girls who make racist statements are only learning this behaviour from their parents.
The journey of discovery teaches us that while we make our own decisions in life, we are also victims of fate. Nonna, Josie, her family and the girls at the school are all affected by external factors beyond their control. The influence of our parents, friends and our culture will shape who we are as much as what we choose to do.
Relationships
In her interaction with others, Josie meets a range of people with their varied standing in the social order of Sydney. Jacob Coote is local boy who lives in Redfern and goes to a Government high school. We are also introduced to John Barton, the school captain at a wealthy Catholic high school. He is also the son of a politician. In meeting these two individuals, Josie comes to discovery the class barriers that exist in society and the differences between these different groups. She comes to see the differences and the similarities between her life and that of the two boys.
John has great expectation placed upon him by his family and suicide seems to only way out for him. His death is an important part of Josie's discovery process as she comes to realise that while she is poor, she is also free to pursue any sort of life that she wants. John's life, however, was pre-ordained and he had to die in order to achieve his emancipation.
Josie comes to see a number of contrasts in Jacob. He is tough yet sensitive and loves him family. These contradictions are mirrored in the Italian community where a woman must wear black after her husband dies, however he is allowed to remarry. Josie would like to be in love with John and to have people look at her with envy, however it is Jacob that she is attracted to.
Her discovery helps her to realise who her true friends are. Josie does learn later in the novel that she is the most popular girl in the school after she is votes school captain. This comes as a shock as her social standing was something that she worried about.
Topic Area - Discovery
Looking for Alibrandi - Melina Marchetta
Looking for Alibrandi is the story of Josie Alibrandi's experiences at school, and her relationships with friends and family during her last year at St Martha’s girls’ school. In the year that the novel is set, her father comes back into her life, the year she falls in love and discovers the secrets of her family's past.
Josie tells us the story of her struggles with her Italian-Australian identity and the highs and lows of teenage life. It’s the story of a young girl who feels she doesn’t belong. As the novel unfolds, she learns to cope with these feelings of insecurity and learns that everyone has similar feelings at different times.
Looking for Alibrandi is an analysis of multi-cultural Australia and the struggles that each generation of immigrants has with finding their place in Australian society and defining their identity. Josie, Christina, Nonna Katia and in fact all of the characters have a story to tell about culture in Australian society.
Discovery
Family
The family unit has a profound influence on the individual. Students may consider the many ways it impacts on them. Rules, customs, religious beliefs, aspirations, income, environment, and many other factors are central to the experience of family.
Past, Present and Tradition
‘You can’t let the past rule your life’, declares Josie, yet for the Alibrandi women, especially Christina and Nonna, the past is a very powerful influence on the present.
Adaption of the Novel to the Screen
It may be of some educational use, and it will certainly be of interest for those of you studying this text to see the film adaptation of the novel. Below, are some comments from those people who worked on the film in regard to the difficulty in adapting the novel and preserving its insight and appeal beyond the printed page.
Director Kate Woods said of the novel:
‘It’s a beautiful story … I think the most important thing about it is that it is so unpatronising to the people it’s aimed at. I really wanted to capture that heart and that spirit so that every teenager who watches it can own it’.
Melina Marchetta wrote the novel and the screenplay. She says:
I remember when I got the opportunity [to write the screenplay] … I thought it would be a lot easier. I thought it would be a case of taking out the ‘he saids’ and ‘she saids’ and basically that would be it. I had to find a way of capturing moments with an image and sometimes a whole chapter went on just one image, that’s one of the thing I had to learn about, the difference between film and prose writing.
Music Costume & Setting
These are important elements in film as they work to involve the audience and increase understanding of characters.
The film’s production designer, Stephen Curtis, says:
The whole of Josie’s family life revolves around red and different kinds of red. So Nonna’s became a type of magnolia shade on the red scale. Throughout Christina’s house there were lots of pinks and reds, and Josie’s bedroom -- there was a lot of red in that room. I suppose the other side of it is, having established the warmth of Josie’s family life, the opposite of that was the school world. As soon as we went out to St Martha’s, Kate and I lived it, and all the cold colours were already there. The halls were all carpeted in different shades of blue/green, the stark ivory colored walls, the very dark wood -- I worked around those. The same with Michael Wilkinson -- that’s what motivated the teal blue school uniforms. So we could feel a very definite shift from the cool privilege of the Eastern suburbs and the warmth of the Western suburbs.
Michael Wilkinson, the costume designer, adds:
I guess the most important thing for me was that we were treading a line between ‘real’ costumes -- that didn’t feel like they had been super designed and had a bit of real soul, and a gritty reality to them -- but also to slightly push things so they made attractive screen images.
Producer Robyn Kershaw says:
It was essential for us to create a soundtrack that reflected and resonated with Josie’s world. So we were drawn to female voices and the energy and drive of Janet (from both Spiderbait and Happyland), Adalita (from Magic Dirt), Chrissie Amphlett (in collaboration with Dave Faulkner) and Cerys (from Catatonia).