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The Falling Girl

The Falling Girl also known in its original Italian form as "Ragazza che precipita" is a novel by Italian novelist, painter, and journalist Dino Buzzati. He was known for his famous novel The Tartar Steppe , and his well-received collection of short stories, one of them being The Falling Girl. This short story was published for the first time in Italy's "Corriere Della Sera" on March 16th, 1960, where Buzzati worked in journalism. The story was later reprised in "Colombre II" in 1966, eventually making its way to the "Boutique Del Mystery" in 1968. It gained recognition after being translated to English by Lawrence Venuti, where it later became a staple of Italian literature.

Plot Summary

The story is about Marta, a nineteen-year-old girl, who jumps from the top of a skyscraper. Instead of accelerating as she falls, time seems to slow and Marta starts to age, so that when she hits the ground, she is already an old woman. As she falls, people examine, comment, and question her from windows. She enjoys the attention, especially because the skyscraper residents are rich and not strangers to the scene of falling girls, so Marta craves their approval and validation as a poor and plain girl. They even invite her to their party as she passes them, but she declines, claiming she's on the way to a party of her own "down below". Eventually, the story ends with her noticing other girls falling from the skyscraper, and that's when the point of view shifts to residents in the skyscraper that hear a "thud", indicating that Marta has collided with the floor.

Genre and Significance

Though seemingly a suicide narrative, the story touches on multiple other topics like beauty standards, economic injustice, social perceptions, and more. In itself, the story is metaphorical and reflective of life, where the action of falling is supposedly inverted and represents rising and progression towards death. In this double-entendre imagery, Buzzati leaves plenty of room for interpretation. The short story has also been considered a part of Magic Realism, since Marta's fall exceeds the physical laws of gravity, and she can be considered a supernatural or magical being. Finally, the story provides social commentary in satire and comic relief, which is why it still resonates till this day after having been written decades ago.

Themes

Concerned in multiple themes, this short story's main ones would be economic inequality, social expectations, beauty standards, and the human cycle of life. Economic Inequality is still a prominent problem in society, in which the poor suffer while the rich enjoy a higher quality of life. In The Falling Girl specifically, this is reflected through the people residing in the skyscraper, all of them able to afford such luxurious accommodation and host grand parties. They are seen dressed in lavish jewelry and clothes, sipping on expensive drinks, while Marta questions her appearance wearing a cheap dress disguised by sunrays. Perhaps if Marta had been able to afford their lifestyle, she would not be ending her life. The insecurity of appearance is not only related to material, but to Marta's perception of herself as a plain girl, not meeting the beauty standards of her time. Women were expected to look like "fashion models" all dressed in "luxurious mink stoles", or else society would outcast girls like Marta. Finally, the human cycle of life is represented here in Marta's aging during her fall, where it is metaphorically suggested that life is just a long plummet, it starts out on a high and then its downhill from there.