-Bears the smell and dirtiness of the pig pen to search for Filippo, and risks his life in doing so

“If one of those beasts put its snout through the bars it could tear my leg off with one bite."

-Pretends he is a strong hero, like Tiger Jack, when he is actually small and weak: “Go, Tiger. Go and don’t stop,’ I whispered and started crawling on all fours. It was a struggle.”

- the Carabinieri sends out helicopters to lookfor Filippo whilst the conflict is caused by people who are poor and desperate and lacking in influence and the means to alter their situation so they resort to kidnapping. 

Pages 200-205

-Melichetti has the power in this scene: if Michele is found by him he’ll be shot

-Maria and Michele’s mum aren’t involved in the debate/discussion.

Pages 196-200

- The men are the only ones who are arguing

Pages 200-205

-Filippo - Michele is fighting his way through and braving his fears to meet him again

-Maria knows that injustice is occurring – ‘why does he want to shoot him?’ and refuses to go to bed: standing up for what she thinks is right.

Pages 200-205

-While heading through the gravina he plans his route: recognizes the potential danger and labels these choices as ‘right’ and ‘wrong’. 

Pages 206-210

-Thinks he made the wrong choice by going off to find Filippo: “I shook my head and tried to banish the thought that it had all been useless. I had run away from home like a fool”

-Felice needs to realise that he is a grown up man now – accept that he is a ‘poof’

Pages 196-200

- Michele automatically assumes the worst because his mother is crying

-He runs down the gravina past Melichetti and his property.

-Runs through the graven and searches for Filippo, he finds him in another hole.

-Hurts his ankle, convinces Filippo to leave the hole- sacrifices himself for him as he gets left behind.

-His father, Pino, has lost the soldier's draw and shoots Michele who he mistakes for Filippo, soon after the helicopters come.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycvOmAIz1qs 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bZPoOMfsVg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaTVXTu55lA 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vj-ZmYTGAw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPhlxrDwL1g

-Michele knows that they moved Filippo to Melichetti’s farm but doesn’t know what they’ve done to him 

-Knows the pigs will smell and find him but can’t sneak past

Pages 196-200

- Michele thinks they’re arguing about because Filippo has been killed

Pages 200-205

-Encounters beasts/monsters in the dark: “A metre way, two vicious yellow eyes were watching me. Behind those little headlamps there must be hundreds of kilos of muscles, flesh and bristles and claws and fangs and hunger.”

-Running into an unknown area: “I has gone over the edge of the gravina. I was plunging into the void.”

Pages 205-210

-Finally realises that he might not be able to find Filippo

Felice said he was strong/brave enough to go and kill Filippo but the old man calls him –‘ a poof, a loudmouth’.

Pages 196-200 - Michele pretended to be asleep

Pages 205-210

Begins to think that he was deceiving himself and he may never find Filippo.

otherwise very extensive analysis

Just be careful about making too much of small details and thereby misinterpreting their meaning eg: Teresa feeding her children bread is not really about putting herself before others... and Michele covering himself in pig manure is mostly about self-preservation (although it does show the lengths he is willing to go to to fulfil his responsibility to Filippo)