The first two parts of the trilogy, "Children of Life" (1955, "Ragazzi di vita"), written in a mixture of Italian and Roman dialects, and "A Violent Life" (1959, "Una vita violenta"), established Pasolini as an author. In these works, he depicted with a neorealist approach the life of the proletariat and the awakening of social consciousness.
When the work "Children of Life" was first published, it was accused of obscenity and confiscated by the police under the order of Prime Minister Antonio Segni.