Gambling: Freedom, Compulsion, and Choice

This subplot follows Marco’s attraction to gambling from youthful escape through renunciation, return after grief, and a consequential refusal of winnings.

increasingBearing stren­gth in each eventdecreasing

An Escape from Respectability

An Escape from Respectability The game discovered Duccio brings Marco into poker, horse betting, and casino games. The excitement gives Marco a sense of freedom from the respectable expectations of his family. A dangerous pleasure Marco is not initially ruined, and he preserves other ambitions. Yet he learns that gambling offers an intensity unmatched by ordinary life, a pleasure that will remain available even when he believes he has left it behind. The game begins as shared adventure and becomes a private vulnerability.

The Decision to Stop

The Decision to Stop A respectable life chosen Marco puts gambling aside as family life, medicine, and fatherhood take priority. He does not describe the passion as gone; it remains an activity he must keep out of his daily life. A temptation held in reserve The old excitement survives beneath the work of raising Adele and maintaining a household. Marco’s restraint is an ongoing effort rather than a decisive cure. That latent desire will reappear when bereavement removes the structures that once helped contain it.

Gambling as Grief’s Rebellion

Gambling as Grief’s Rebellion Pleasure permitted again After Adele dies, Carradori encourages Marco to keep doing things he enjoys. Marco returns to gambling and brings Miraijin along in the portable hammock. A dangerous arrangement The child’s presence lets him stay connected to care, but the gambling rooms also offer the ruinous intensity he had long denied himself. He describes the return as a rebellion against grief’s demand that he stop living. The arrangement helps him survive while exposing him and Miraijin to real risk.

The Leap-Day Warning

The Leap-Day Warning A friend warns him Duccio recognizes Marco at Dami Tamburini’s gambling gathering and reveals that the host has hired him to bring Marco bad luck. He urges Marco to go home. Marco stays Marco knows Miraijin has a fever and understands the threat, yet he returns to the game. His choice turns a night of gambling into a direct confrontation with risk, loyalty, and self-command. He is not simply unaware of danger; he decides to continue after hearing the warning.

A Win Turned into Refusal

A Win Turned into Refusal The enormous stake Marco wins 840,000 euros from Dami Tamburini after playing beyond the amount he can afford to lose. He sees how rapidly gambling has made his ordinary life appear inadequate. The archive instead of money He refuses the winnings and asks for his mother’s photographic archive back. The choice does not erase the compulsive behavior, but it shows him distinguishing a meaningful recovery from a fantasy of escape. The game’s biggest victory becomes a decision not to keep its prize.

Late 1970s, during Marco and Duccio’s youth

After Marco’s youth, before Adele’s death

After Adele’s death, during Marco’s return to Florence

February 29, 2016, before the high-stakes game

The morning after the February 29, 2016 game