The description of his father’s hands is brief, but its importance becomes obvious once one pairs it with the arrival of Cousin. His memory of his father isn’t much better, but in this we find the connection to this ultimate redemption. The men of the bar confuse Pin, and he is uncomfortable with the pastimes of these adults: he finds them “harsh like all the sensations men enjoy smoke, wine, women” (34). The only solace and companionship he can find is in the memory of his father’s arms and the company of the drunks at the local bar.
His sister is an unconcerned prostitute, and he is rejected by the younger children and those of his own age. We are first introduced to this idea at the beginning of the text, when Pin describes his life as a child of the alley. Rather than some special friend, I propose that this entire text is an exorcise in searching for and defining family specifically, Pin is searching for a father. One of the aspects of Calvino’s The Secret Path to the Spider’s Nests is Pin’s search for some special friend he can share his secret place with, and while this hope of Pin’s is overtly expressed at several junctures in the story, the type of individual he is seeking remains a vague shadow throughout the text.
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