Remigio the Coward

For all of the physical attributes of Remigio, he choses to avoid conflict whenever possible. When he swims to Livia for the first time, he shows off his physical ability for strength and swimming that attracts her initially. But when asked to save a drowning child who falls into the canal, he replies coldly, “I can’t swim.” (28) Remigio is fully capable of saving the child but, afraid of failing, he chooses cowardice. A coward, Remigio, evades the war between Italy and Austria by bribing doctors, “for two thousand five hundred florins two doctors from the military hospital and two with the brigade will issue me with a genuine sickness certificate” (33). By avoiding the war Remigio is avoiding death; as strong as he is, he is still afraid of death. Part of what attracts Livia to Remigio is his lack of morals and tendency to rebel, but she is initially shocked at his cowardice. After reading his letter, Livia has to imagine a situation in which she is the center of attention she says, “I so badly needed to believe in his infatuation, as an excuse for my own; and his cowardice thrilled my heart because I believed myself to be the cause of it.” (37) Remigio does not send another letter and a distraught Livia makes a dangerous journey to visit him. She walks into his room to find him mid-discourse with another woman and she has a “complete change of heart” (44). For a minute she considers suicide but discovers a means of revenge: exposing proof that his injury is factitious. Remigio’s insubordination leaves him faced with death, his greatest fear, and “dragged his feet, sobbing” on his way to his execution like a coward.