A Bell for Adano (Hardcover)

The town of Adano had no bell. They had had one for more than several hundred years, only to have it swiped away by Mussolini to be remade into ammunition. The story begins with an American, Major Joppolo arriving at the small, coastal town of Adano in Italy during WWII to administer justice there; fascists have fled to the hills, but wander in now and then when they're hungry or need company. The starving townspeople who stayed, are introduced to democracy through Joppolo, but sometimes, by force of habit, give him a fascist salute.

I love what John Hersey writes about Joppolo in his foreward:

"You see the theories about administering occupied territories all turned out to be just theories, and in fact the thing which determined whether we Americans would be successful in that toughest of all jobs was nothing more or less than the quality of the men who did the administering. I beg you to get to know this man Joppolo well. We have need of him. He is our future in the world. Neither the eloquence of Churchill nor the humaneness of Roosevelt, no Charter, no four freedoms or fourteen points, no dreamer's diagram so symmetrical and so faultless on paper, no plan, no hope, no treaty-none of these things can guarantee anything. Only men can guarantee, only the behavior of men under pressure, only our Joppolos."

Joppolo has his work cut out for him: understanding the natives' lives under fascism, educating them about democracy, and throughout administering justice,/governing. Under fascism, the fishermen "had to pay protection money to Enea, the supervisor of the fisheries, an evil man. In return he 'protected' us. Hah, Fiorentina said one time that he did not feel the need of protection, and the next week his boat burned up as it lay at its mooring." Communication in wartime limited and questionable in occupied territory, Joppolo advises the town crier-" I love the truth, and I want you to love it too. You listen to radio Roma. You will hear that it is three fourth lies. I want you to judge for yourself and to want the truth. Then perhaps you will want to listen to the other broadcasts which you cannot hear quite so clearly." This book is beautifully written; one of my favorite passages was Joppolo's take on Democracy. "Democracy is this:democracy is that the men of the government are no longer the masters of the people. They are the servants of the people. What makes a man master of another man? It is that he pays him for his work. Who pays the men in the government? The people do, for they pay the taxes out of which you are paid. Therefore you are now the servants of the people of Adano. I too am their servant. When I go to buy bread, I shall take my place at the end of the line, and I will wait my turn. You too must behave now as servants, not as masters. You must behave as the servant of the man without shoes just as much as of the baron. If I find that any of you are not giving the type of service that I desire, I shall have to remove you from office. Remember you are servants now. You are servants of the people of Adano. And watch:this thing will make you happier than you have ever been in your lives."

I re-read this small book today, having read it 21 years ago on advice from my bookworm mom. It has relevance for today, what with sending troops overseas, the impressions we make in foreign countries and the potentially good influence we can have therein. We must "get to know this man Joppolo well."

"The greedy the people...
they sell and they buy
and they die for because
though the bell in the steeple
says Why" e.e. cummings 73 poems, number 29

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My heart, who also read the book, replied: "You just don't understand. This is a beautiful tale about how a single individual can make a difference. Two vastly different worlds collide, but the result is pure magic because Major Joppolo throws the rule book away and reaches out to the town with his heart, inventing novel solutions to problems, trying to get a replacement for the bell that the Germans stole, and, above all, connecting with the people. The humor is marvelous: The scene in which the priest holds an interminable church service waiting for the major, who promised to attend but who has lost track of the time, will guarantee at least one chuckle. And Hersey choreographed the poignant scene when the Italian prisoners of war come home to their women as pure ballet."

In the end my heart prevailed when my head remembered that Aristotle said that the purpose of drama was not to represent reality, but to effect "a catharsis of pity and fear." This book will do more than that: it will make you smile, and it will make you feel a little better about the human race.

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