Response to Calvino

Response to Calvino’s The Path to the Spider’s Nest

As I read Italo Calvion’s novel, The Path to the Spider’s Nest, I was struck by the prominence the spiders played in the mind of the main character. This seemingly unimportant occurrence held the fascination of Pin and served as one of his most well-protected secrets. I began to thin k about the ideas that are associated with the use of spiders as symbols and tried to relate them to their use in the novel.

One image associated with the spider is the constant building and rebuilding of the web. This seems particularly relevant to their use in the story. Pin is fascinated not just with the spiders, but with the fact that they are building nests here. Even when he destroys their homes, they simply rebuild. Every time he returns to “his” spot, the spiders have worked hurriedly to reform their webs and tunnels. This is very similar to the way that pin is able to exist in the world. He very quickly develops a home for himself wherever he is. As soon as this “home” is destroyed, he begins to rebuild a new one. In his home with his sister, Pin finds a place for himself by interacting with the men who come to see her as well as the neighbors that he harasses in the alley. He is only in the prisoner for a short period of time before he find his former boss and begins to make business plans that will allow him to survive an extended stay. His stay with the partisans is the closest thing he has to a real home. He has a place to sleep, food to eat and people who are at least a little concerned for him. This home is destroyed as well, but he quickly recovers with a home for him and Cousin.

Another image associated with the spider is that of a weaver, especially of fate. Pin becomes a weaver of his own fate in many ways. Despite his young age, Pin is responsible for most of the events that occur during his story. He takes an action and then he responds to it. He is not a mere observer in the story. He makes decisions that greatly impact his future. He is the one who decides to take the gun and keep it for himself. The men at the bar might have made the suggestion initially, but Pin is the one who takes action. He decides to escape prison with Red Wolf rather than wait for his release. He later decides to head out on his own in search of Red Wolf, which leads him to the partisans. He decides to returns to the camp in order to find Dritto and Giglia, despite their attempts to send him away. He decides to sing the song that enrages Dritto and leads to his self-imposed exile from the partisans. Throughout the entire story Pin is in charge of his destiny. Even when he does not realize it, he is making choices that lead to very specific outcomes. He is weaving the story from beginning to end.

The most interesting thing I discovered about the use of the spider as a symbol is the fact that, in almost every culture, the spider is used as a feminine symbol. The spider is closely associated with ideas of creation and balance, two traditionally feminine attributes. Freud saw the image of the spider as a representation of the mother figure. Even the idea of the black widow places the spider in a feminine role. I found if very interesting that a character who is so misogynistic would have such an intense fascination with the spider. It does, however, seem to fill a void that exists for Pin. He has never experienced a positive female relationship. The spiders may be, perhaps subconsciously, his attempt to relate to and understand women. The idea of the spider as a feminine symbol would also explain his desire to torture and destroy the spiders. He has found a place where he can harm women, even if it is only symbolically, without any negative repercussions.