Elizabeth Street Giovanna Character Analysis

Strength is a human trait that can be lost and given up to hopelessness just as easily as it was gained. Giovanna Sienna fought through unimaginable struggles her whole life, but her unwavering strength guided her through her life. Giovanna Costa Pontillo Siena from Laurie Fabian’s book Elizabeth Street is portrayed as the stories strongest person. Her determination to get her beloved daughter, Angelina, back and her lack of fear of the kidnappers who blackmailed her for money, reinforce the conception that Giovanna’s tenacity was unable to be matched. She had connections to powerful people in powerful positions, which help her gain a foothold on getting through to the kidnappers. Her love for her family, primarily her daughter, kept her constantly searching for her daughter and any way to get

her back safely.

Giovanna’s determination to get what she wants, combined with her relations to people who assist her in solving the issue, and her undying love for the people she cares about, definitively prove she is a very capable, strong woman.

Giovanna is a very determined and fearless woman who stopped at nothing to get what she wanted. When she sent the money to the kidnappers for what was promised to be the last payment, she included a letter saying, “This is it. Here’s my final payment. I want my daughter returned immediately. If you delay, next is your coglioni. They’ll start to itch, blister, and fall off” (351). Giovanna has been through and seen terrible events, such as having her husband venture off across the world and be crushed by a giant ball of metal, but nothing has changed her life more than having her daughter stolen from her. Every day from the moment she woke up to the moment she had to sleep was filled with her wandering the city ravenously searching her environment for any clues on the disappearance of her daughter. She even went out of her way to go to chinatown and pickup herbs that she created into

a mixture that was then spread onto the paper that was meant to be delivered to the blackhanders. She wrote letters saying she controlled the itching and could make it worse if they continued to retain Angelina. While it did work on the two men who actively held her and watched her, Lupo was not fooled, and told them to quit complaining, but he did realize that Giovanna was too smart to continue with the holding of her daughter. He decided it was time to give Angelina back, and they sent one more letter saying her daughter would be returned, after last transportation payment of 100 dollars. This led to Giovanna becoming extremely furious and going up to Inzerillo, putting a gun up to his head and telling him, “I know now they are playing games with me, and I am done playing. Here’s your message, disgraziato…. My daughter is to be delivered safe and unharmed to me immediately. If not, letters will be sent to the police and newspapers” (353). Giovanna has nothing left to lose, she has given all her money away and has put her family through heartache. She did not think twice about storming into a public cafe, going straight into the back of the shop without stopping, and pointing a gun at the shop keeper demanding that they speak immediately. She proceeded to tell Inzerillo that she will no longer paying money, and if she does not get her daughter back she will ruin their schemes with the countless artifacts of evidence she has collecting while searching for clues about Angelina. Giovanna was determined to get what she wanted and once she had made up her mind that she was done dealing with the blackmailing, she used every trick she had to help her win.
Giovanna had made friendships in the right paces and could use their position to help her get her daughter back. One such relationship was with detective Petrosino, where she was weary of him at first, but when she realized he could help with their blackmailing of their shop she viewed him differently and her mind was made up of how she viewed him “Giovanna was beginning to like Petrosino and trust him” (184). She had no one to turn to since they started getting blackmailed for money, and although no body else ever went to the police, she could see that they had the ability to protect them and put an end to it. She was able to befriend him and use him and his connections to gain information about all of the criminals and how organizations, such as the one extorting them for money at the time, worked. When her daughter was kidnapped she used the information about the criminals to help her figure out who was behind everything and scare the blackhanders away with her knowledge of their operations. While knowing who was behind everything helped, when it came down to the last minute on the final payment and they had nothing left to give, one man saved them and provided the money they needed, Dr. Bellantoni. Giovanna had received a letter asking for another payment, but she had asked and borrowed, worked extra hard for, or set her family to work for more money already and they could not find any more until Rocco said, “I got the money.” in which Giovanna asked from where, and he simply replied, “Dr. Bellantoni” (349). Giovanna was lucky she was related to him and he was so willing to help. Using the money he gave them, Giovanna was able to pay off the payment and continue the cruel extortion, but also keep her daughter alive. By knowing Petrosino she was able to scare them and end the kidnapping quicker, and by being related to the doctor she was able to get the money she needed to pay off the backhanders.
While Giovanna was cruel and ruthless to those who crossed her, it was all out of love for her family, particularly her daughter. She would think of nothing but her missing daughter all day every single day until finally one night she heard the sounds of her daughters footsteps clomping up the stairs. Giovanna immediately ran to the door and repeated “My baby, my baby” (361) as she bathed her multiple times and wrapped her in a towel and took her to her bed. Giovanna immediately “removed Angelina’s towel and kissed every square inch of her daughters body” (361). Giovanna had regained her daughter and was showing how much she loved her daughter. She had even saved the pictures from Angelina’s birthday and decided to open them with her. Giovanna may have been ruthless and cruel to those who had crossed her, but it was all out of love for her daughter, and with her daughter back in her arms her affection shown brightly. Giovanna cried tears of joy and did not let go of Angelina, but her daughter was so young she could not fully understand what had happened. Angelina cried and asked her mother why she had been sent away, saying “Brutta Mamma! Brut Mamma! Brutta! Brutta! Why didn't you come and get me? Why did you give me away?” (361). Giovanna’s tears turned from sorrow to joy as she realized her daughter was too young to fully understand the situation. She did try to explain what had happened but she was glad her daughter could not fully comprehend the horrors of what had truly happened. Rocco even took Angelina and kissed her all over her body, which confused her because he had never done anything like it before. With Angelina back home, Giovanna’s love shown through like the rays from the sun and allowed them to start to move on with their lives together.  Giovanna is a very strong person in the book. She never gave up on getting her daughter back and was determined to not let anything get in her way. She also used all of the resources available to her to help her daughter get home safely, and once her daughter was home safely she showed nothing other than affection toward Angelina. Giovanna was able to take advantage of every opportunity she was given and was able to use her mental and physical strength to get Angelina home.