"He wasn't just another hero, was he? He was more complicated. Poor Carlo."What is your response to the presentation of Carlo in light of Pelagia's final comment?

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“He wasn’t just another hero, was he? He was more complicated. Poor Carlo.”

What is your response to the presentation of Carlo in light of Pelagia’s final comment?

Carlo Guercio is perhaps one of Louis de Bernieres most complex characters. From the second he is introduced to the novel the reader is presented with a character that breaks stereotypes, asks us to question our morals and indeed evokes a huge amount of emotion within us. In Carlo, de Bernieres presents us with the theme of transformation, “I would know that I was dross which some inscrutable alchemy had transmuted in to gold.” It is around these words that I feel the story of Carlo revolves.

Carlo Guercio is introduced to us in chapter 4, “L’ Omosessuale”. It is in this chapter that Carlo begins his journey in the novel. Carlo tells us of him being a homosexual and his reasons for joining the army. Carlo is a character who de Bernieres uses to break the stereotypes of this time. The first being that Carlo is not only homosexual, but that he is a ‘giant’ as well. A modern day reader might expect a comical and rather camp portrayal of a homosexual character, but  feel that de Bernieres specifically chooses to create a serious character out of Carlo in order to make the later portrayal of him all the more poignant. It is not only the homosexual stereotype that de Bernieres breaks here, but also, and perhaps more relevantly to my essay, the portrayal of a hero. “Just another hero” Living in a time where the prolific wars made a large proportion of men ‘hero’s’ in one way or another, what is it that makes Carlo different to any of them? I believe that this is a major part of Carlo’s character that he chooses to develop in his novel. Carlo hold very low self-esteem about himself, calling himself “dross” it is through this low self-opinion of himself that the reader comes to feel empathy with him. Carlo is a character the de Bernieres uses to relate to others. The moral questions that he poses to the reader are part of his complicated nature. His is, in the beginning of the novel a conformist, he hates to go against others and so, because he is different and goes against the norm he hates himself. However it is in chapter 10, “L’ Omosessuale (3)” that we see true development of Carlo’s ‘heroic’ nature. In this chapter in which Carlo is sent to kill his own men to provoke war between Greece and Germany Carlo we understand that Carlo is ‘different’ to the other people in the war. He is kind-natured, intelligent and loving. These are words that one would not usually expect to use about a hero. One might expect him to be brave, brutal and concise in actions. A hero of war was one who was admired for fighting for their country, someone who fought for what their country, or more importantly their leader believed was right. Carlo questions this idea, presenting the reader with again a moral question, “Is it right to do something because someone told you to do it?” Carlo’s “L’ Omosessuale” chapters are written in the first person narrative. The use of the literary technique is prolific in de Bernieres work. It allows the reader to feel great empathy for a character, it is personal and it seems almost as though you are diving into someone’s deepest and darkest thoughts. De Bernieres uses this technique with Carlo to present to the reader the idea that Carlo has two sides, similar to the two sides of a Greek that Dr Iannis tells Captain Corelli about later on in the novel. The first of his two sides is the one presented to fellow army members, the one that Corelli see’s and believes to be true. This side is the typical hero, follows orders and acts like a man of war. The second side is the one that appears in the letters that Carlo writes, the ‘true’ side to Carlo. He is sensitive, scared, has low self-esteem and is homosexual and ‘different’. De Bernieres is an incredibly skilled writer and the use of these two sides induces the complex character of Carlo within the confines of the novel.

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Carlo’s character is developed throughout the novel and comes to a climax in chapter 56; “The Good Nazi” This chapter is the one prior to the massacre. It is in the chapter that the reader is really presented with Carlo as a hero. Corelli and his group La Scala have been caught by the Germans and are on their way to dearth. Carlo begins to sing the ‘Ave Maria’ this peaceful religious song shows the true side of Carlo to Corelli. Carlo breaks down in tears; I believe that this is over the coming loss of Corelli’s life, rather ...

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