Identity

Ferrante follows Delia’s struggle with her identity to highlight that an individual’s experiences make up their identity. Throughout the novel, Delia avoids facing her past and, at the same time, grapples with understanding and feeling comfortable with herself. Ferrante shows that Delia’s past experiences, including the influence that Amalia has had on Delia’s life, is inexplicably linked to understanding her own identity. Ferrante resolves this tether in Chapter 26, as Delia has come to terms with her past and therefore is better able to accept her identity.

Ferrante exemplifies the idea of identity through the inclusion of two identification cards in the novel: Amalia’s identification card which comes into play at the end of Chapter 11 and Delia’s identification card which she takes out at the end of Chapter 26. These literal instances of Delia facing her identity parallel one another and bring...