Baron in the Trees Analysis

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The Baron in the Trees is a great short story by Italo Calvino. It is about a young baron about twelve years old living in the town of Ombrosa. Cosimo, one night decided not to eat the disgusting plate of snails that his sister had made that night for dinner, so he went and climbed into the big holm oak tree in his yard and never came down. Cosimo was still able to become a baron and live an adventurous life for the rest of his days. He was able to help Napoleon's army when they came to Italy to fight the Austrians, defended the town from pirates, and built and irrigation system to stop the forest fires in the summer. This is just the plot of The Baron in the Trees, I am going talk a bit more about the author, setting, the main characters, the theme, and the tone and style used.

Italo Calvino was born in 1923 in Santiago de Las Vegas, Cuba. He then moved to Italy with his family were he was raised and lived most of his life. Italo joined the Italian Resistance during World War II and when the war ended he settled in Turin, and earned his degree in literature. Italo worked as an editor for the Communist periodical L'Unità and for the publishing house of Einaudi. He also went on to write more Italian fantasy books other then the Baron in the Trees, he wrote a total of nineteen short stories. Italo Calvino died in September of 1985, in Siena Italy.

The setting for The Baron in the Trees, takes place in the eighteenth century in the fictional town or county of Ombrosa in northern Italy. Ombrosa seemed to have a very earthy setting; it was filled with trees all which were close enough for the baron to travel great distances without every setting foot on the ground. Italy was filled with many types of trees from; many types of fruit tress, olive trees, and trees big and small. Cosimo is said to have made his life in the trees as much like life on earth. He invents a system in which he is able sleep, bathe, cook, hunt, and do many other things not normally thought of being able to do in the trees.

There were many central characters in The Baron.

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