Amanda Valenzuela

Assignment #5

FrenItal150B1

Dr. Kaye

"Many years have gone by, years of war and of what men call History." As an

opening line, this holds a lot of weight. It gives us the feeling that the author is reflecting

back on war-time and a misinterpreted part of history. History is interesting because

sometimes it can come off as subjective, and I think Christ Stopped at Eboli is a perfect

example of this overlooked, rarely seen, piece of the puzzle. The book is prefaced in

Gagliano, a made up word for the town of Aliano which today is known as Basilicata.

This town seems like a more modern version of Sodom and Gomorrah from the Old

Testament, a story of a sinful city where people lived out their own selfish desires. The

priest, who was often drunk and entangled in his own sexual profanities said, "The

people here are donkeys, not Christians." In contrast, however, these people of

Gagliano seem to live in fear, they cant even trust their doctors. Therefore the citizens

rely on Carlo Levi, the author and otherwise anti-fascist doctor exiled to Gagliano. Levi

spent about a year here, although he experienced the tragic conditions here, he was

ultimately given the chance to see these people as humans rather than, as the

northerners called them dogs. These people clung to Levi as a beacon of hope, I was

sorry to leave and I found a dozen pretexts for lingering on. The peasants, he writes,

came to tell him, Dont go away. Stay here. Marry Concetta. Theyll make you the

mayor. You must stay with us.

 Ill come back, Levi told them.

They shook their heads sadly. They knew they would never see him again.

The title of the book, Christ Stopped at Eboli really refers to the general feeling of these

people of Gagliano. They felt separated from the rest of humanity, not by choice.

Christianity had overlooked them, morally and historically. Thankfully, Levis writing

brings these stories to the attention of the rest of the world.