Decameron- Day 2

The story told by Fiametta on the second day is one that focuses on learning. This goal is accomplished through the use of a character named Andreuccio and his trials and tribulations. First, I think it is worth noting that Andreuccio is not completely innocent at the outset of the story. While he was in Naples to legitimately buy a horse, he wanted to do so in a way that wouldn't benefit the seller of the horse. Because of his arrogance and ignorance, he lets it be known that he has a large sum of money on him, which gets him into the first dilemma of the story. In this case he trusts a treacherous prostitute, and because of it, he loses all of his money. Next, Andreuccio's meets two thieves, who he also places his trust in. This time he is betrayed twice, first when they leave him in the well, and the second time when they enclose him in the tomb.

This story is very repetitive in the sense that Andreuccio is constantly trusting untrustworthy people. This is a manifestation of his ignorance and lack of understanding. First off, all the people that he trusted were complete strangers to him. In addition to this he was in a strange town where he had few allies. This makes him like a girl who goes to a club all alone and then leaves with some guy. Besides this, the characters in question had disreputable traits. The first was a prostitute that lived in a very poor area of Naples, and the second pair were thieves, people who must be dishonest by nature.

The positive thing about these situations is that Andreuccio learns from them. This can be seen when he is in the bishop's tomb and he keeps the discovery of the ring a secret. Also, his naivety teaches him about the naivety of others, like when he tricks the priest and scares him away. In this case Andreuccio's lesson can be adapted to all audiences by warning them to think before they act, and not to trust everyone who comes down the pike.