In the novel, “Cultural Trauma and Collective Identity” by Piotr Sztompka, he states: “There is no society without change. Seemingly stable, unchanging phenomena are just cognitively frozen phases in the constant flow of social events, snapshots of the world, which, as such, never stops in its tracks” (Sztompka 155).

Major Jappolo’s overtake in the novel seemed to try to get the Italian people back on track. The people were in desperate need of leadership and fast before the Anti-Fascist Americans took over. He brought about change as soon as the novel began.

Sztompka also says that: “Change is raised to the level of autotelic value; it was seen as always good, sought and cherished for its own sake” (Sztompka 156).

Change has always had a positive connotation to it. With change comes the expectation of good. The people of Adano were unaccustomed to such a rapid change and some did not want to conform to the Anti-Fascist way of life. Adano was protected by Major Joppolo due to his patriotism and passion to conform the town to the ways of the Americans.

Saying that sudden change is an easy feat is completely invalid. Change comes with many hardships that effect both sides. The people or things undergoing change are always faced with the most problems. A major facet of sudden change is trauma. Individuals who are forced into change often develop some form of trauma. Like in the novel, the people indigenous to the town of Adano are pushed into a new, democracy based, style of leadership. Many are skeptical of what the future will hold.

This drastic change in leadership in the book only came as a positive. A man with a mission, Major Joppolo attempted to rebuild a town who was warstricken and thus destroyed. Sztompka says towards the end of his book: “change was taken to be synonymous with betterment, improvement, and amelioration of the human condition” (Sztompka 156). The change that came over the town of Adano was for the better. The overall lives and happiness of the people were substantially improved with the arrival of Major Joppolo, solidifying Adano as a beautiful town once more.