Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Carlo asserts "War is a wonderful thing, in movies and in books." By close reference to the novel, explore how war shows people at their worst and their best.

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Rebecca Brackley - Captain Corelli's Mandolin

Carlo asserts "War is a wonderful thing, in movies and in books." By close reference to the novel, explore how war shows people at their worst and their best.

The novel Captain Corelli's Mandolin, written by Louis De Bernieres in 1994, explores "humanity; we sigh at their suffering as they are ripped apart and forever changed by war."1 The quotation in the title is spoken by Carlo quite early on in the novel, at the end of chapter 15, titled 'L'Omosessuale (4)'. He is referring to the idea that war is repeatedly shown to be patriotic, heroic, and indeed wonderful especially in film and literature. However, from Carlos' experiences in Albania, he knows the true reality of war, as he has seen and felt the suffering.

We can trace Carlos' progression of thought through his personal chapters; all entitled 'L'Omosessuale'. He begins off saying, "How wonderful it was to be at this war"(p.119) We hear him describe crossing the foreign border as "exhilarating", and he and his comrades view themselves as "the new legionaries of the new empire that would last ten thousand years."(p.119) This was his view at