It is made obvious from the beginning of “Dionea” that the Italian village on whose shores Dionea washed up is intolerant of differences, to say the least. It is immediately clear to the convent and the members of the town that Dionea, simply based on her appearance and inability to speak Italian is different, and she is immediately judged for her clothing as well as her name and skin color. It is stated early on that, “Her (Dionea) companions detest her, and the nuns, although they admit that she is not exactly naughty, seem to feel her as a dreadful thorn in the flesh” (Lee). This makes it obvious very early on that the locals dislike Dionea, even when she is not harming them and hadn’t begun to cause problems at that point. While a reason isn’t given as to why her companions and the nuns dislike her, this lack of explanation is an indication that Dionea is initially detested simply because of her differences, namely because of her lack of connection to the Catholic church. When the story is read while keeping themes of xenophobia in mind, the idea emerges that the village’s fate at the hands of Dionea was a self fulfilling prophecy, a fate brought on by themselves after the rejection of Dionea.
The onset of the “issues” with Dionea occurs when she is found attempting to try on sacred Catholic garments as well as when she takes a seat on the edge of the altar in the chapel, a spot meant for “the Most Holy Sacrament” (Lee). While these actions may have seemed completely heretical to the nuns and other members of the town, it isn’t taken into consideration that, because Dionea comes from a foreign country and inevitably practiced a different religion if any at all, it could be possible that she simply did not understand how her actions were considered offensive. Even if this was taken into consideration, though, it only would’ve made matters worse as the nuns blindly believed that Catholicism is the one true religion, and would’ve forced it on Dionea no matter what. As someone with no connection to Catholicism, I read about Dionea’s behavior and it seems as though she didn’t understand the sacred nature of the garments, and put them on for fun, like any other young girl dresses up in strange garb. This was not the understanding of the narrator, as he described Dionea’s dress up moment as “… she was about to adorn her wicked little person with these sacred garments” (Lee). Additionally, the narrator and the nuns were displeased about Dionea sitting on the altar, however, Dionea had been oiling the floors and no doubt was tired and simply didn’t realize the importance of the place she had chosen to rest.
It was the village and the nuns as well as the narrator that made the decision to immediately ostracize Dionea because of her differences. Instead of educating her when she went against their beliefs, they criticized her, punished her, no doubt turning Dionea against them all. In the end, that is why Dionea causes the ruckus that she does. The village brought it upon themselves.
I like how you point out how you argue Dionea isn’t inherently wicked, but that she punished the town because they unfairly punished her. Your explanations for Dionea being curious or tired and not realizing she did anything wrong are very valid and I’ve never considered that before. I started to dislike Dionea’s character when she often callously taunted the town’s religion, especially when she cheered at Father Domenico’s death and offered to bring him a myrtle branch, which usually symbolizes peace. But I had always wondered if she was justified. After reading your post I would say Dionea was just defending herself when the town forced their religion on her. I always thought it was strange that the town blamed Dionea for almost every death that occurred, as if they were convinced her mysterious powers were real and inherently evil. I agree the town aims their xenophobia on her purely because she is exotic and different.