Life is nothing but a frantic search for what's been lost, or what we think we've lost. We search, we calm down, then we search again, until one day we search aimlessly. This is the law of existence, like a steeplechase in which the runner completes the entire distance, overcoming every obstacle, only to stand helpless before the final outcome, as if it were an inevitable fate. In his immortal novel, "The Bicycle Thief," Luigi Bartolini (1892-1963) weaves a tale that encapsulates the human tragedy in a world ravaged by poverty and despair. Antonio, a simple worker, is offered a single job, conditional on owning a bicycle, and is forced to pawn his bed covers to reclaim it from the seller. But fate plays tricks on him: the bicycle is stolen on his first day at work, beginning a desperate journey through the streets of Rome, exhausted by war. Bartolini, a pioneer of critical realism, weaves in his novel a vivid portrait of a distorted society suffering from disintegration and loss. The bicycle, which was initially a simple means of transportation, here becomes a symbol of wasted dignity and the hope that dissipates with every step Antonio and his son Bruno take through the streets of Rome. Even the church, a place supposed to be a spiritual sanctuary, loses its impact in a world where salvation has become a fantasy.
In the final scene, where Antonio sees dozens of bicycles thrown out in front of a football stadium, the novel reaches its tragic climax: Is he being robbed, just as his bicycle was stolen? The novel poses this question and then leaves it hanging, as if to say: Evil is not just a choice, but a trap that closes in on those who have no other options.