Diavola

The decision to vacation in Italy reflects both the Pace family’s financial security and their desire to demonstrate their elite status by signaling their sophistication and refinement. However, what the Pace family actually displays is snobbery rather than sophistication, contributing to a subtle critique of capitalist values—in particular, the tendency to see value in exclusively monetary terms.

Throughout their time in Italy, the Pace family shows little appreciation of the culture surrounding them. None of them speaks Italian except for Anna, and they are therefore very dependent on her. They also expect Anna to act as a tour guide and explain history and art history to them—not so much because they have any real desire to learn, but rather because it is part of the experience they have purchased. Simultaneously, they mock and snub things that they perceive as lesser. Christopher displays particularly egregious snobbery: He asks rude questions about Anna’s SAT scores and where she went to college, showing that he values superficial markers of status more than Anna’s evident intelligence and creativity.

It is no accident that Christopher, among the most judgmental of the lot, works in finance: Much of what passes for “class” is simply money, the novel suggests. By renting out a lavish villa, the Pace family attempts to signal their elegant taste and respect for history; however, they also value signaling how much they paid for it. When Christopher suggests that the tower room is locked because it is a lavish suite that the Pace family hasn’t paid enough to access, the atmosphere becomes very tense. The performance of a kind of elite status that boils down to mere wealth mirrors the performance of familial harmony. Indeed, the two are interconnected, as the luxury and comfort that their parents provide keep the Pace children trapped in dysfunctional dynamics, implying that money is the engine not only of social class but also of the nuclear family.

The Pace children’s experience is not the only way in which wealth and status function as a kind of trap. The family’s reluctance to leave the villa once it becomes dangerous and malevolent further demonstrates the point. Anna’s father rebukes her suggestions that they leave the villa on the grounds that “[they’ve] put a lot of effort into this. A lot of money” (104). Details that emerge regarding Caterina’s backstory serve a similar purpose; at one point, Anna speculates that Caterina may have caused her (apparent) mental illness by inadvertently poisoning herself with lead-laced hair dye, all to telegraph her wealth and privilege.

Anna displays a contrasting kind of sophistication. She has a genuine aesthetic sensibility and is the only member of her family who is truly moved by beauty and art. She also avoids the social faux pas that the other Paces make during their time in Italy. This cosmopolitanism might seem ironic, given that Anna is unconcerned with wealth and status: She dropped out of Harvard, lives in a small and unimpressive apartment in New York, and leads a simple and uncomplicated life in Italy as the novel ends. However, it is precisely Anna’s disinterest in money that allows this; she can pursue a career as a painter, for example, because she doesn’t mind living modestly. Anna’s characterization and arc thus complete the novel’s critique of capitalism, showing how the abandonment of material signifiers of wealth and class opens the door to true sophistication.