A Vendetta – Literary Analysis

Setting

A Vendetta was first published in 1883, and may have been inspired by a two month visit Maupassant made to the French island of Corsica in 1880. The “code of vendetta”, which called for the killing of anyone who wronged a family’s honor, was an important aspect of Corsican culture throughout the 18th and 19th centuries and is referred to in several other Maupassant stories and articles published between 1881 and 1883. The only date indicator in the text is reference to the old, wheezy steamer which makes the trip to Ajaccio every two weeks. The French government established its Mediterranean postal steamship service in 1833, which suggests that the story takes place some considerable time after this but before 1883.

The story is set in two locations. Most of the action takes place in the village of Bonifacio on the Southern tip of Corsica. The vendetta is fulfilled in the village of Longosardo, situated across a narrow channel on the Italian island of Sardinia. These locations are important to the story. We are told that many Corsican criminals go to live in Longosardo when pursued by French police. As the police can’t help the widow Saverini because her son’s killer has fled to another country, the only way she can seek justice is to swear a vendetta and take action herself.

An interesting feature of the story is the way Maupassant uses his description of Bonifacio to establish the tone and mood for the beginning of the story. He writes that the houses look like the nests of wild birds, clinging to this peak, overlooking this terrible passage, where vessels rarely venture. The wind, which blows uninterruptedly, has swept bare the forbidding coast; it drives through the narrow straits and lays waste both sides. The pale streaks of foam, clinging to the black rocks, whose countless peaks rise up out of the water, look like bits of rag floating and drifting on the surface of the sea. This suggests that the village is a harsh, dangerous place to live. The tone is threatening; the mood dark and depressing.

Point of View and Tone

The story is told in the third person by a limited omniscient narrator; we only know the thoughts and feelings of the widow Saverini. It is important to understand that with this type of story (as with stories written in the first person) we are only getting one version of events. At first, we might feel sorry for the poor old woman left alone in the world after her only child is murdered. However, there could there be other sides to the story. Consider these questions:

We can reasonably assume that the widow Saverini lived her whole life in Bonifacio. Why is it that she seems to have had no close friends to help her? How did her husband die? Could he or they have done something that made the village turn against them?
What did her son, Antoine, do for a living? He doesn’t seem to have had a regular job. All we know is that he went “hunting” in the mountains with his dog. In the story we are told that after criminals hiding from the police in Sardinia thought it was safe again, they would come back to the “maquis”. As well as being the name for the low trees that cover Southern Italy, this was the name used in Corsica for bandits who hid among the trees in remote areas to rob people passing by. Could the father and / or Antoine have been maquis?
What do we know about Nicholas? He did not try to hide when he fled to Sardinia, and does not appear to have been there on a temporary basis waiting to return to the maquis as soon as possible. Rather, he openly set up a carpenter’s shop in such a way that it was easy for anyone to find him. This does not sound like the actions of a hardened criminal fearing for his life. We are left wondering whether justice was really served by the murder of Nicolas.

In describing the setting, the tone is threatening. After the killing of Antoine, the tone changes and becomes detached and objective throughout the rest of the story.

Themes

The word vendetta comes from the Latin vindicta, meaning vengeance. A major theme of A Vendetta is revenge (to seek vengeance). The story covers two aspects of revenge. The first is that the quest for revenge can become all consuming: All alone, all day long, seated at her window, she was looking over there and thinking of revenge. How could she do anything without help–she, an invalid and so near death? But she had promised, she had sworn on the body. She could not forget, she could not wait. What could she do? She no longer slept at night; she had neither rest nor peace of mind; she thought persistently. The second is that once achieved, revenge can be sweet: At nightfall the old woman was at home again. She slept well that night.

A second major theme is the savagery and injustice of the code of vendetta. This was an honor code, meaning that a family would suffer great shame or dishonor if it did not take vengeance against another family that had wronged it. Under the code, vengeance must always be sought irrespective of whether the action that led to the wrong was accidental or justified. Because of this, killing and retribution between families could continue for generations. This aspect may be why Maupassant provides little information about the killing of Antoine Saverini. We are not told the basis of the quarrel that led to the killing, which of the men started the fight, whether Nicolas Ravolati was acting in self-defence, or indeed whether Nicolas killed Antoine as part of a vendetta of his own. None of these things matter to the widow Saverini. Under the code of vendetta she must seek vengeance whatever the circumstances of her son’s killing may be.

A minor theme of the story is cruelty; cruelty in the way the widow Saverini trained the loyal Semillante to kill, and cruelty in the way Nicolas Ravolati died. The traditional Corsican weapons of choice in fulfilling a vendetta were the gun and stiletto (a form of dagger). By introducing this cruelty element, especially the gruesome description of how Nicolas died, Maupassant emphasizes the savagery aspect of vendetta.

Characters and Conflicts

The Protagonist: The widow Saverini, a bitter, lonely old woman who feels compelled to murder the man who killed her son.
The Antagonist: The code of vendetta, a force which drives the old woman to seek vengeance.
Minor characters: 1) Semillante the dog, cruelly treated and the instrument of the widow’s vengeance, yet perhaps the only character that truly mourned Antoine Saverini; 2) Nicolas Ravolati, the man who killed Antoine… but was he really the villain of the story?; 3) The neighbor who provided the widow with straw; 4) The fisherman who took her to Longosardo; 5) The person in the baker’s shop who directed her to Nicolas; and 6) The two neighbors who saw an old beggar leaving Nicolas’s shop.
Internal Conflict: The widow Saverini’s initial struggle with herself in trying to think of a way to fulfill her vendetta.
External Conflicts: 1) The widow Saverini’s desire to kill Nicolas. (Man vs. Man); and 2) The social pressure that compelled the widow to swear her vendetta. (Man vs. Society)

Dramatic Structure and Moods

Exposition: Description of the setting, the killing of Antoine Saverini, and the mourning process up to the point where the widow Saverini swears her vendetta: Never fear, my boy, my little baby, you shall be avenged. Sleep, sleep; you shall be avenged. Do you hear? It’s your mother’s promise! And she always keeps her word, your mother does, you know she does. Mood – initially dark and depressing, becoming desolate.
Rising Action: At first frustrated, the widow Saverini finally comes up with her plan, prepares for its execution, and travels to Longosardo: When she thought that the proper time had come, the widow went to confession and, one Sunday morning she partook of communion with an ecstatic fervor. Then, putting on men’s clothes and looking like an old tramp, she struck a bargain with a Sardinian fisherman who carried her and her dog to the other side of the straits. Mood – initially desperate, becoming hopeful.
Climax: The murder of Nicolas Ravolati: The maddened animal sprang for his throat. The man stretched out his arms, clasped the dog and rolled to the ground. For a few seconds he squirmed, beating the ground with his feet. Then he stopped moving, while Semillante dug her fangs into his throat and tore it to ribbons. Mood – horrified.
Falling Action: The widow Saverini successfully avoids capture and returns home. At nightfall the old woman was at home again. Mood – relieved.
Denouement: The widow Saverini is finally at piece with herself. She slept well that night. Mood -calm.

Examples of Literary Techniques

Hyperbole: She walked ceaselessly now, her eyes always fixed on the distant coast of Sardinia.
Imagery: As indicated previously, Maupassant’s use of imagery in vividly describing the setting sets the mood and paints a picture of Bonifacio as being an isolated, windswept, dangerous place.
Irony: The widow Saverini is shown to be a devout Catholic, yet commits what most Christians would consider a grave sin (murder). After coming up with the idea about how to kill Nicolas she went to church and prayed, begging the Lord to help her, to support her, to give to her poor, broken-down body the strength which she needed in order to avenge her son. Prior to the killing she went to confession and, one Sunday morning she partook of communion with an ecstatic fervor. The situational irony here is directed at more than the actions of the widow. Maupassant is satirizing the way that Corsican society appears to have rationalized the code of vendetta by convincing itself that God is OK with it and (at least in the widow’s case) may even assist with any killing involved.
Personification: the old, wheezy steamer which makes the trip to Ajaccio
Simile: a cleft in the cliff like an immense corridor which serves as a harbor

Cautionary Note for Students: The version of A Vendetta presented here is from The Entire Original Maupassant Short Stories translated by Albert M. C. McMaster and others. I have noticed that versions from other translators omit some of these Literary Techniques due to different interpretations of the original language.