Character Sketch: Severino Cuzelli

Severino Cuzelli in America

Character Sketch: Severino Cuzelli

Name: Severino Cuzelli

Age: 27

Location: The mountain village of Cloz, northern Italy.

Family History: He is the second of 9 children. His father owned his own business but the business has failed. His mother is very loving, his father is not.

Career aspirations: nothing specific. He has worked in his father’s business, raising earth worms, but that business has failed. He is considering immigrating to America but with his pending marriage he isn’t sure.

Race: White

Features: strongly built, ruddy complexion. Thick chested, 6’ tall, about 200 pounds, brown/brown. He has large, strong, calloused hands.

Appearance: always nicely dressed, always wears a Fedora when he goes out.

Likes: he enjoys hard work, enjoys homemade wine and listening to opera.

Dislikes: slovenly, lazy people He doesn’t like people who take advantage of other people.

Physical condition: in excellent health

Ailments: none presently, but eventually dies of heart disease.

Education: he has the equivalent of a sixth-grade education, but he can read and write well, and is very good at math.

Socioeconomic background: he comes from a family considered middle to low income. Owning your own land is a mark of accomplishment where he grew up. His family does not own land other than their home on a small piece of property.

Parents: Giuseppe and Lucia

Siblings: He is the second of 9 children.

Ambition: he wants to earn enough money to own his own land.

Hobbies: he enjoys making homemade wine.

Significant Others: he has had girlfriends ever since he was 14. He had a number of casual affairs while he served in the army during WW I.

Intelligence: He is smart, reads and writes well, he’s good at math.

Emotional Stability: he is somewhat self-centered but coming from a world dominated by men it is hardly noticed. He is centered…he knows he wants to earn money and doesn’t care how hard he has to work to earn it.

Flaws: self-centered, his needs come first, his interests are most important.

Other Traits: he is a saver. He believes that a portion of a man’s earnings should be saved, every payday. He enjoys the physical feeling following a hard day’s work.

Pivotal events in life: WW I, immigrating to America, being unable to send money home to his wife during WW II, learning that his wife has been locked away in an asylum.

Favorite foods: Pizza, polenta, pasta, rabbit, port chops, beef, snails.

Favorite music: he enjoys the music of Italian tenors and opera singers.

Favorite reading material: he reads only the newspapers.

Religion: he was Baptized Catholic, but he practices no religion.

Personality: he can be gruff at times, but loving and caring at other times. He is hard on his children and has no patience for one son who is constantly getting into minor trouble. Because he has lived a hard life, he believes that raising his children to be tough and strong will prepare them for the world ahead. He believes that hard work provides the breaks in a man’s life.

Habits: he smokes small Genoa cigars, drinks wine with meals, talks long walks, saves money.

Favorite thing to do: visit the lakes and relax on a warm afternoon. Spend time at the Saint Genaro festival (the blessing of the water) in Italy and later in New York City.

Comfort level with opposite sex: he considers himself to be a bit of a ladies man.

Things he/she takes pride in: he takes a great deal of pride in his appearance, always dressing very nicely.

Things that bother him/her: lazy people, paying taxes, being taken advantage of.

Things that make him/her laugh: a bawdy joke.

Speech patterns: he speaks loud, and directly. He is quiet most of the time, but when he has something to say he insists on being heard.

{Severino Cuzelli during WW I}

Prose Synopsis of the Central Character:

Severino Cuzelli is a tall, strong man accustomed to hard work. After returning from WW I where he served at Mt. Pasubio, a harsh, unforgiving mountain that saw very heavy casualties, he goes to work for his father. H is prospects of accomplishing his life goals in Italy are slim once his father’s business goes under. When his fiancé’s father dies, his prospects are even slimmer and helps him decide the immigration issue. His main goal, owning his own land, will have to wait. He helps build the subways in NYC, works hard and saves his money. He sends money home to his wife until the outbreak of WW II when he is prohibited from sending money to an Axis country. This causes great concern for him and his family. He makes several trips to Italy. One result of those trips back to Italy is that a child is born 9 months after each visit, until he has 5 children. His first son is born only a couple of months after he emigrates. (This child is my father).