FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND INFORMATION

 

 

In our school programme  ( a Secondary School of 1st grade with pupils from 11 to 14 years old)   we study the History of our country and in particular, on the third year,  we study the period  eighteen to nineteen hundred A.D..
 During the  school activities related to the Italian history mentioned above, we wanted to  concentrate and deepen our study on the period of the secret societies in Italian history  at the beginning of the  nineteenth century when the lack of freedom of speech and information was total.
 At that time secret societies arose which, using different codes "such as those of  the Carbonari", gave birth to episodes of true heroism and love of  country and freedom.
Here's the story, produced by us, imagining a scene at that time.

 

 

Rays of  FREEDOM

 

                      

Milan, year 1844. An austere, surly and red-hot city. By now, it is more like a furnace than a city. Thoughts, feelings, fears, distrust burn within it, but above all is the idea of people’s union. Italy is split into several states, so there is  lack of unit and freedom. At this time, few people are actually brave, few others have good ideas and  the ambition to unify the country,  to let Italians become “One People”.

The city is dark and scary, and  there are hidden dangers round the corner, or even worse. There are dark alleys infested with  rats and mice  which live in the dirt and filth they find there. The sewage flows openly  and is an excellent vehicle for diseases as cholera and tuberculosis ... all  deadly monsters which are usually silent and sleepy but once awaken they may attack and kill you.

This century, there are going  to be plenty of inventions, a revival of interest in the Italian History.  There is  a  glimmer of light and the seed begins to grow. Revolutionary ideas are like seeds, you need to sow them then you have to  wait quite a long time before  harvest and only when they are  thriving the People will be ready to arise. Then peace will come. Even if this peace might not last long: people are greedy and demanding. When someone holds a gun and faces somebody wearing a shirt of a different colour, then there  maybe trouble. But this is Italy, everyone thinks that a map and a rifle are enough to make a country. However, it is right the opposite because people cannot own the country but it is the country that owns its people. We are one people and we are joined one to  another, not by a rifle or by a map!! One country’s people are defined like this because they  speak the same language and live the same way, if they  fly the same flag. In the 1800’s this is what our people were asking for ...we wanted to raise our flag again, to be able to have one Italy!!!!!!!

At present, everyone is afraid. Few people go for a walk, or perhaps they want to avoid their destiny.  They avert their eyes , to hide all their worries. A single noise distracts them : steps that resound from a house to another, they are the guards of Radetski!! They march with a regular , quick and impatient step. Maybe they are looking for something, maybe for someone, perhaps for their cleverer enemies... or maybe just for the Carbonari !!!!!!! Luigi was a 16 year old boy, tall, with brown hair and brown eyes. His glance was a bit sleepy, which concealed his readiness. His marked face features showed someone who had lived a difficult life, although young. His dirty face was one of an adult. He used to wear a pair of old trousers and  a red shirt worn by time. The soles of his shoes were frayed and worn. Luckily, he was slim and physically strong, helping him from falling ill from the horrific diseases of that time. Under his calm behaviour, his glance showed many features such as being proud and cunning, but also many flaws as his stubbornness showing a strong desire of revenge. Brought up in the old districts of Milan, he is now hiding with other people in the underground. They belong to the Carbonari, and Luigi is precisely one of the messengers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mazzini had taught him which values to trust, such as friendship, love and, above all, freedom. He trusted the boy blindly, and this is why he had brought him up as his own child. The road ahead was still long, besides, the messages were difficult to hide. While walking, all sorts of thoughts came to mind: "... And if they find my message? And if they intercept some of the other members of the Carbonari society? ... it will be the end of everything!!!!! But in the end ...he was able to smile to the bad situation and able to come up with the answer that flashes to his head - "It’s not possible!, Mazzini and the others are well hidden, no one will ever find them" - While trying to dispel these thoughts, he increased his pace, almost with anxiety. A noise away distracted him from his thinking... The guards were arriving! The boy was almost panicking, and started to sweat from fear. The guards were closer and closer: holding his breath he swallowed and kept on walking pretending not to notice anything. Even trying not to glance back he listened carefully to the echo of their steps, increasingly far away... he  managed  to escape! And this is how Luigi was able to get back home, in the underground within the old  districts  of Milan. The old neighbourhoods were made of old and close together houses, with mysterious accesses and secret  doors. On many walls it was written "W VERDI" a sublime message, apparently referred to the great Master, actually a far more complex meaning "Viva Vittorio  Emanuele Re d 'Italia”.

In short, those dark places were the Carbonari’s nest and where they were looking forward to receiving Mazzini’s valuable messages. As he came in through a door, the boy found himself within a place that was far more than a labyrinth. Doors were everywhere, but only one, really well hidden, was the way towards downstairs in the underground. After closing all ways, Luigi got into one of those humid burrows. Just after several meters he was able to go downstairs by the stone staircase that led him to the main access. As he entered, he delivered the message to Mazzini, and almost everyone left the room and locked themselves within a new one, where they started to chat. The key was  turned only at night, when everyone went to eat. Mazzini loved showing his tactics during the dinner, when everyone was gathered around him to listen carefully and because with a full belly you may think better. His tone was not one of the most cheerful: - "The Bandiera Brothers have failed, the people do not take part, the ideas are still and not circulating. We need to change tactics "-. While Mazzini was trying the usual speeches, Luigi’s brother, just eleven years old, was toppling a glass of lemonade which poured out and formed an "S". Only the father noticed that when Giovanna put the candles nearby, the writing appeared, suddenly. While Mazzini was observing attentively, he had a curious idea that came to his mind: - "this is the solution!!!"-. And this idea was to write their messages by using lemon juice on pieces of paper, that later someone would have secretly sold to some of the other Carbonari,  colleagues at the other site.

 

The team worked all night long and in the morning several tickets had been written, which were hidden within useless objects. The plan was simple but effective: Marco, Luigi’s brother, had to pretend to be an old-thing seller, and was commanded to sell only when the buyers were expressing the secret sign as previously agreed, otherwise the price had to be raised so much as to put off any other buyer. The morning after, he started his mission. Everything seemed to be  quiet but all of a sudden the streets became empty: the police were patrolling around. He knew what to do in this  case  and stayed there, pretending to do nothing. The guards noticed a kid committed to selling, immediately went to him to have some fun. They took the goods and  started to examine them. Luckily, they found only white pieces of paper among the useless objects. Marco played the game, and started to bargain to make the price of an insignificant tie. The guards were appalled at his marketing ability, so began to tease him by making him some compliments and by shaking his hand, finally they left but still laughing. The day passed quickly, and almost all the objects on sale were released to the right people as expected. At night, the boy went back to the basement, carrying the few objects still left on his cart. On his way, he was laughing with satisfaction because he knew the truth, and finally realised that really soon the people would have revolted, driving Italy to be  one united country again. And it was with such thoughts that he entered the basement, while the sunset rays of freedom were enlightening the door.

 

Revolution ideas and propagating them must work together. The will to do is not enough when applied to practice. Being able to do is also necessary, as much as it is important to have one’s own pride and goal.

Selfishness is the first foe of revolution. Selflessness is necessary. The true revolutionary must act for love of country and fellow citizens, because after all we like shearing this life with others rather than keeping it to ourselves  or just using it for our own good. Life is like a game, it needs to be played well. There will not be any other opportunity, nor people who will give you their hand without asking anything of you. Only the enemies will be certain,  and the good quality an enemy has is sincerity.

Each person has a shell outside which is called “hate”. This shell is the combination of all feelings that are not directly expressed to the others. If friendship is kept for yourself, it will become hate. Accordingly, if  the good feelings are kept for yourself, selfishness, greed may become hate.

I believe that this is why revolutionaries used to fight, because a united country can defeat hate, a united country along with others can defeat problems, the entire planet, if united, can defeat the devil himself.

Therefore, stop the wars! It’s time to put them aside, it is necessary to stop act like ostriches: let’s take one’s heads out of the ground and look at the world to help each other to make it better and better!!

Michela Pasquali- Luca Martinelli

Class 3°

ISTITUTO COMPRENSIVO SANT’ANGELO IN VADO(PU)Italy

 

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