Saving Francesca By Melina Marchetta

614 Words2 Pages

The river of a developing identity. Identity is an exceptionally dynamic concept throughout an individual's life. The novel Saving Francesca explores how identity characterises a person, making them unique from others. This theory is particularly fluid during adolescence. This award-winning novel by Melina Marchetta, set in the outskirts of Sydney in 2003, depicts Francesca Spinelli, a seventeen-year-old girl, during an identity crisis. This is amplified by her mother Mia's sudden depression and in the midst of changing schools she finds herself struggling to find a place for herself. Over the course of this novel, Francesca’s identity is depicted to be lacking, culminating in her self-discovery. Saving Francesca implores readers to understand how an adolescent's …show more content…

Initially, it is clear Francesca is struggling to find a sense of self-sufficiency. The catalyst of the novel is her mother’s debilitation, causing conditions to worsen, striking the whole family apart and spiralling her into an existential crisis. It is prevalent during the text that Francesca has no personality or relies on her friends. It is revealed that she does not have her own taste in music but listens to the music her Saint Stella friends or her mother plays. However, with the drastic disappearance of friends and her mother, she must find her own personality. Early in the novel, her lack of identity is made clear by her confession “Today the Mia we all know disappears and she becomes someone with nothing to say.

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