Giorgio Bassani's novel The Garden of the Finzi-Continis is told from the point of view of an anonymous speaker who remembers the time that has passed with the Finzi-Contini family before the deaths of its members in the Holocaust. This is an Edenic time, which the speaker attempts to preserve through the writing of the novel. Bassani uses the motif of glass as a symbol to preserve objects valued by the characters to convey that, as the past is told, the narrator is trying to keep the Finzi-Contins family alive in his memories. Yet he knows very well the horrible end they had come to; by doing so, the speaker is able to accept the end of the family and finally continue with his life. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Perotti's efforts to preserve his elevator and the discussion of milky objects are used to demonstrate how glass is a symbol for preserving the objects that the characters love. The speaker rides in Perotti's elevator and describes how the caretaker was "standing a few centimeters away [from the speaker], absorbed [with the elevator]" and had "shut up in silence again" (141) . Although the speaker accompanies Perotti into the elevator, the caretaker does not speak to him and is instead “absorbed” in operating the elevator, demonstrating how he is devoting all of his attention to this object. The speaker then realizes that Perotti is being given “a perhaps rare opportunity ––– which has filled him with satisfaction” (141). Perotti, who only gets a “rare” chance to operate his elevator, appreciates the time he spends with it. Using the elevator fills him with “satisfaction,” because he is allowed to spend time with an object he cares deeply about. When the speaker asks Perotti about the elevator, the janitor describes it as “over forty years old, but it could carry up a regiment” (141). Despite the age of the elevator, Perotti has taken care of it so that it is still functional. Instead of letting it fall apart over time, he preserved it so it can still carry a “regiment.” Furthermore, the speaker indicates that the elevator “glittered with crystal panels” (141). Crystal is often thought of as something elegant and luxurious, which characterizes the elevator as something precious. Therefore, glass designates the elevator as a precious object that is preserved by its owner. Glass is also used to demonstrate how Micol, like Perotti, cares about his milky objects. Micol explains to the speaker that milky objects are “made of glass” and emphasizes that she “loves them […] on [this] topic, [she] literally knows everything” (84). Micol considers herself an expert on her milks, demonstrating her enthusiasm for her beloved items. Additionally, glass is emphasized in the descriptions of the elevator and the lattimi, both objects beloved by the owners. Micol continues to describe his search for the glass objects, saying that he would go on “milk [hunts]” and that he had collected “nearly two hundred” (84). His desire to “hunt” every part of his vast collection of nearly “two hundred” lattimi demonstrates his determination to acquire as many figurines as possible. The speaker acknowledges this and describes how Micol "saved, albeit temporarily, things, objects, from the inevitable death that awaited them too" (85). Although the lattimi are simple objects, Micol tries to save them from the inevitable death they would suffer in the shops. His need to protect the glass sheets parallels Perotti's attempts to save his elevator from death. Therefore, glass is continually used to represent the way charactersthey preserve the objects they love. Glass is also used to demonstrate how Perotti and Micol's need to preserve their precious objects parallels that of those who speak of a desire to protect the memories they hold. In recalling his past with the Finzi-Contini family, the narrator describes “ten or twelve days that perfect time lasted, held in that sort of magical suspension, of sweet, glassy and luminous immobility” (56). This Edenic moment, full of beauty and "magic", is "glassy", just like the objects that Perotti and Micol guard. The speaker does not want this Edenic memory to fade, so he keeps it in his mind, where it can be held in “suspension.” Thus, just as Perotti and Micel protect their objects, the narrator does the same by attempting to preserve their memory. After spending months with the speaker, Micol confronts him about his obsession with the past. He states that for the narrator “the past mattered more than the present, possession mattered less than memory” (150). According to Micol, the narrator attributes excessive value to the past. Possession of any moment will “count less than the memory of it” because now that the narrator has these Edenic memories, he can cherish them forever. He also states that everything except his memories “can only seem disappointing, banal, inadequate” (150). Since everything else seems “disappointing,” Micol once again shows how the narrator places great value on his memories. Just as Perotti finds conversing with the speaker unsatisfying compared to being with his precious elevator, the speaker finds anything other than his memories as “trivial” because “inadequate” compared to his past. Micol thus concludes that the speaker "always proceeds with his head turned backwards" (150). Instead of focusing on the future or present, he is trapped in the past. The narrator cherishes his memories so much that he cannot move forward and face the future. The motif of glass as a symbol to protect one's precious objects is used to demonstrate how the narrator attempts to preserve the Finzi-Contini family in his memory, despite already knowing that family members have suffered horrendous deaths. The narrator recalls a moment in the synagogue when the Finzi-Contini family sat “just a few steps away, and yet [they were] very remote, unreachable: as if they were protected all around by a glass wall” (24). Just as Micol and Perotti use glass to preserve their objects, so the speaker uses glass to preserve the memory of the Finzi-Contini family. If family members are "surrounded" by glass that "protects" them, they cannot suffer any harm. Later in the novel, the speaker spends time with the Finzi-Contini family over a game board and a glass. Micol explains that the game gives answers to questions, prompting the speaker to ask “does your glass also read the future?” to which Micol replies “certainly” (132). However, the novel is written as a memoir of the narrator's time spent with the Finzi-Contini family. Thus, while he talks about his past, the speaker already knows the "future" that Micol claims the glass tells about. Micol delves further into glass, explaining that it provides specific predictions. The glass predicts that in a few months "war would break out: a war that would be long, bloody and painful for everyone" (133). When they ask who will be the good forces in the war, he replies "with one word: 'Stalin'" (133). Glass can predict the “long and painful” war that is World War II. Furthermore, he specifically knows that Stalin will be part of the “good forces” that will help end the war. In contrast, when the speaker asks the glass about its future, “nothing comprehensible would come out of the oracle” (133). The glass can predict.”