Essay Questions

Days of Abandonment is Elena Ferrante’s exploration of Olga’s life after divorce. Using illustrations from the novel illustrate the truthfulness of this statement.

Days of Abandonment follows the life of Olga, the protagonist, particularly after her divorce from Mario. From the beginning of the novel, when Olga gets news that Mario was going to divorce her, she feigns ignorance over the same, taking it as a joke. However, after the divorce Olga begins to lose her sense of identity and her self esteem deteriorates largely. The writer, Elena Ferrante, follows her life as she struggles to cope with life after divorce. The writer follows her life as she becomes withdrawn avoiding people. She becomes paranoid as well as begins suffering from panic attacks. After her son and dog become ill on the same day, Olga’s paranoia becomes evident when she entertains the idea that they have both been poisoned. Later, when her dog dies and her son is saved, she is somehow able to regain her self-reliance and turns her life around for the better. Since the novel generally follows Olga’s days of abandonment following the divorce from her husband, it can be argued as Elena Ferrante’s approach to exploring the effects of divorce as seen through her exploration of Olga’s life.

Divorce has devastating effects on family relations as well as individual lives as depicted in this narrative. Discuss.

Elena Ferrante’s text explores the devastating and calamitous effects of divorce with particular regard to family relations and individual life. In the novel, the writer follows the life of the main character Olga as she struggles to come to terms with her divorce from Mario. Throughout the course of the novel, Olga is deeply affected by the divorce as suggested by her inability to cope. When Olga runs into Mario and his new wife Carla, she is unable to control herself and fiercely attacks them. As a result of this particular scene, she later loses her self-esteem and sense of worth. She seduces her neighbor and later drifts into a state of withdrawal avoiding people. She later suffers from paranoia when her son and dog both become sick. The novel follows the sufferings that Olga comes across throughout her days of abandonment until later when she regains her self-reliance. Additionally, the novel explores not only Olga's life but also the effect that the divorce has on their family ties as they are broken. Elena Ferrante does a good job at bringing into light the effects of divorce on Olga’s life.