Marvovaldo: The Seasons in the City

Marcovaldo performs his daily routine of working in the SBAV factor, much like many other low-wage workers in Northern Italy. However, Marcovaldo is pained by the changes wrought by the industrialization and burgeoning capitalism all about him. We are told early on that ôMarcovaldo possessed and eye ill-suited to city life: billboards, traffic-lights, shop-windows, neon signs, postersö (Calvino 1983, 1). An unskilled laborer, Marcovaldo struggles to feed his family, toil at his menial job, and retains a passion for the pastoral life of nature that no longer characterizes the industrialized cities.

Marcovaldo adopts the struggles of his existence with a genial attitude, though sights, sounds, and smells of nature buoy him against t

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everything is ôthe same as ever, as if the change that had cancelled the outside world has spared only his firmö (Calvino 1983, 17). Marcovaldo is made to shovel snow by the department foreman, showing the hierarchy of power that exists within industrialism and capitalism. As the foreman tells him, ôShoveling the snow off the sidewalk in front of the building is up to us. To you, that isö (Calvino 1983, 17). Despite shoveling snow being hard work, the nature provides Marcovaldo with some kind of escape from the drudgery of his factory position. We see that it is a position he feels imprisons him, for the snow represents ôan element that erased the cage of walls which imprisoned his lifeö (Calvino 1983, 17). Even so, Marcovaldo knows he is better off than the unemployed who cannot find regular work, like Sigismondo. The two men share a half of a cigarette while shoveling snow, showing the lack of resources available to bother the menially employed and the unemployed. As he shovels, Marcovaldo has a thought that might be aptly applied to industrialismÆs impact on the cities of Northern Italy, ôa city that could be unmade by shovel and remade in a different wayö (Calvino 1983, 18). In contrast to Marcovaldo and the other low
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Italy Marcovaldo, Commendatore AlboinoÆs, Seasons City, SBAV Co, Commendatore Alboino, Northern Italy, calvino 1983, War II, Advertising Office, SBAVö Calvino, sbav co, factory workers, 1983 17, northern italy, seasons city, Co Santa, shoveling snow, calvino 1983 17, disparity rich poor, calvino 1983 19, low-wage factory, commendatore alboino, marcovaldo seasons, low-wage factory workers, marcovaldo seasons city,
Approximate Word count = 1208
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)