The Falling Girl by Dino Buzzati
"The Falling Girl" by Dino Buzzati is a poignant and surreal narrative that follows a nineteen-year-old girl named Marta as she falls from the top of a skyscraper. As she descends, she reflects on her aspirations for greatness and the allure of wealth and glamour that the city represents. The story unfolds in a slow-motion fall past various floors of the building, where Marta interacts with the affluent inhabitants, whose lavish lifestyles she envies. Despite being invited to join their extravagant parties, she declines, believing that her ultimate destiny awaits her below.
However, as she continues her descent, Marta becomes increasingly aware of other young women also falling beside her, dressed in more fashionable attire, which stirs feelings of inadequacy and fear. The narrative captures her fleeting moments of excitement juxtaposed with a growing sense of despair as she realizes the party she yearned for has ended by the time she reaches the ground. In a stark twist, the story concludes with an older couple on the twenty-eighth floor, reflecting on the fallen women, revealing the passage of time and the harsh reality of unfulfilled dreams. This tale explores themes of ambition, societal expectations, and the bittersweet nature of longing, inviting readers to ponder the cost of chasing an idealized life.
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The Falling Girl by Dino Buzzati
First published: "Ragazza che precipita," 1966 (English translation, 1983)
Type of plot: Fantasy
Time of work: After World War II
Locale: A city on the Italian coast
Principal Characters:
Marta , the nineteen-year-old falling girlUnnamed residents , of the skyscraper
The Story
A nineteen-year-old girl named Marta falls from the top of a skyscraper that houses apartments and business offices; the story chronicles her slow-motion toppling from the roof toward the street.
Marta lets herself fall from the building after she watches the brilliance of the sunset over the city, which "provokes dreams of greatness and glory," and after she sees that the city she lives in is filled with mansions, diamonds, parties, and affairs. She hopelessly lets herself fall, perhaps because she recognizes that she cannot achieve the greatness and glory others have.
Marta slowly floats past various floors of the skyscraper and interacts with nameless inhabitants. She passes millionaires' balconies, where she is invited in to join the cocktail parties. Marta refuses, however, saying she is in a hurry, and floats onward, feeling enormously satisfied that the rich people notice her; she feels fascinating and stylish because of the attention paid to her by the wealthy.
As the sun plunges into the sea and evening comes on, Marta continues past offices where employees sit in long rows, looking up at the falling girl, and somewhat enviously ask who she is and where she is going. Marta only laughs and falls, saying she is expected down on the street. She notices the street is filled with long black cars and that the rich in their sparkling jewels are entering the building for a party, exactly the kind of event that she had dreamed of ever since she was a child. She imagines that if she arrives on time at the entrance to the building, she will find the true beginning of her life, the romance and wonderful fate for which she has been waiting her entire life.
Unfortunately, Marta notices that she is not alone on her plunge: Other young women also are streaming down the side of the building, head first, waving as they drop. Marta notices that they are more fashionably dressed, some even in minks, and she begins to feel less self-assured and more fearful. She wonders if she has made some kind of error. As she continues her fall, a new day dawns, but Marta is feeling worse because everyone has left the ball by now and the long black cars are gone from the front of the building.
At the story's close, Marta is seen from the perspective of a forty-year-old man, Alberto, and his wife, who live on the twenty-eighth floor. Their dialogue reveals that Marta has aged tremendously and is now an old woman. The couple enjoy their breakfast and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of living on their floor: They only see old women falling past their windows, but they do have the opportunity of hearing the thud when these women hit the ground. Alberto listens for a number of minutes but hears no thud; dissatisfied, he takes another sip of his morning coffee.