Entry 101 · Book chapter 102
September 23 1944
Lewis realizes with unease that locals now regard him as a possible *jettatore* (bearer of the evil eye), noting superstitious gestures made in his presence. He then reflects that a year after liberation, still hungry and diseased amid lawless ruins with only the distant promise of corrupt democracy ahead, Neapolitans may reasonably look back on the Mussolini years as a lost paradise by comparison.
Reflections
Liberation's disappointing aftermath vs. Fascist-era stability
Lewis reflects that a year after the Allies 'liberated' Naples from Fascism, the population remains hungrier, more disease-ridden, and more lawless than before, with only a distant and compromised promise of corrupt democracy to show for it — concluding that the Mussolini years must now seem like a lost paradise by comparison.
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