The Story of the Lost Child
The pure and simple fact of being in that place constituted in my eyes the proof that the neighborhood, Naples, Pisa, Florence, Milan, Italy itself were only tiny fragments of the world and that I would do well not to be satisfied with those fragments any longer.
Ferrante, Elena. The Story of the Lost Child (Neapolitan Novels Book 4) (p. 26). Europa Editions. Kindle Edition.
It is amazing what love can do to a person. How determined Elena was, exhilarated by her audacity. Why, then, does this thought ease the guilt I feel about leaving you behind in the country of prison? For Elena, childhood, adulthood, the entire country lose their meaning in the face of something greater. How arrogant I am to assume the tyranny you live under must cause you suffering? How dare I to judge the decision you made, freely, as somehow wrong?
Though John Stuart Mill would likely object. He would argue that you do need rescuing, because "The principle of freedom cannot require that he should be free not to be free. It is not freedom to be allowed to alienate his freedom."
But does freedom truly matter? Looking at Elena's words, for a fleeting moment I was certain that you had been happy.
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