Italy in The Mansion (Location)

Most of the novel's references to Italy concern the fighting in Ethiopia that, along with the Spanish Civil War, was a precursor to World War II, and the Fascist who led the country at the time, Benito Mussolini. According to Ratliff's disparaging view of the darkening situation in Europe, Mussolini is not as dangerous as Hitler, "because all Mussolini has to work with are Italians while this other man has Germans" (179).