Josephine Alibrandi's development

Essay by katrinarusieA, November 2007

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Journal ResponseIn the novel Looking for Alibrandi, Josephine Alibrandi feels judged by her appearance, Italian background and the absence of her father and she believes that her social acceptance is influenced by these factors. Whilst facing many complications in her life; family expectations and stresses of school life, the people that are closest to Josephine, influence her to be proud of her heritage and also encourage her emancipation. Certain events in her life also trigger her independence and allow her to be free to integrate her individuality into her future.

Josephine's encounter with her father, Michael Andretti (p38, 3) appears to have a great influence on her perceptions of herself, by suddenly filling up the vacant space in her life. She is confronted by Michael's unexpected appearance and she has many mixed feelings, including anger and frustration, towards the man who has been absent from the duration of her entire life so far.

Hence, her enjoyment of his oncoming discomfort builds up, as this time, her father is the one faced with the awkward and embarrassing position that her family has had to suffer for so long. He comes face to face with the young lady who is merely an unwanted nuisance and a further "complication" in his life. Josephine recalls that "[she] would have said more to make him feel worse]". Her feelings of anger and frustration at this moment are understandable, as her expectations of him evidently shatter. I believe that this is one of the major events in her life that causes her to take a different approach to the situationas the prospect of finally meeting the man who could have been a part of her life resurfaces all of her emotions and attitudes towards family, culture and also her own self-esteem (degrading it as she...