Abstract

This article analyzes the intersection between a recurring motif in Gadda's masterpiece (the idea of evil and its narrative incarnation in diabolical figures or the devil itself) and the opposition in its plot between the city of Rome and its countryside. This juncture, read in the light of a few philosophical reflections on good and evil contained in the "Meditazione milanese", ends up disclosing some basic structures of the novel, which contribute to its strong (although not always manifest) inner coherence.