Instant Access To 100,000+ Essays!

Loss of innocence is a necessary component to maturity. It is the gradual transition into adulthood that every child must go through. Nino Ricci’s ‘Lives Of the Saints’ deals with the loss of innocence of a boy who realizes that the world is not as perfect as he thought it would be. Vito’s loss of innocent occurs as he realizes the imperfections and faults of his mother. In the novel, Vito is very attached to his mother. He begins using foul language and this leads to his mother slapping him. After that, things become different for Vito and his mother. He notices his life changing. "What’s the matter with you? Oh! Basta!" "It tastes like shit," I said. ...But an instant later my face was burning: my mother had slapped me, hard, against the cheek. (Ricci, 70-71) "My mother, too, had withdrawn into a shadowy silence. Since the day at the restaurant a veil seemed to have fallen between us..." (Ricci, 74-75) "I spent my time alone now, waiting for something to happen that would restore the normalcy of things, for the festival, for school to begin in October." (Ricci, 75) Vito notices that his life is changing and that his mother is changing as well. He is beginning to see the differences in his mother. He hears her s