Mussolini is shown to be a megalomaniac as De Bernieres makes many references to his obsession with power. He sees Italy as a superpower ‘Italy is as inflexible as steel’ and has visions of taking over the world ‘Imagine it, Galeazzo, the whole Mediterranean littoral rebuilt into a new Roman Empire. We’ve got Libya, and it’s just a question of joining the dots’.
De Bernieres portrays Mussolini’s obsession with Hitler and Nazism. He wants the Italian soldiers to be strong like the German soldiers. ‘They need to be colder like the Germans. Ice in the soul, that’s what we need’. He wants to keep in with Hitler ‘Either we join with him and divide the spoils or else we risk an invasion from Austria as soon as the little man sees fit’. This shows he is Hitler’s puppet and how Mussolini is unbalanced and hypocritical because at the same time, he criticises Hitler for invading Europe ‘There seems no limit to his greed and irresponsibility……. Who does he think he is’. This is ironic as he has invaded Abyssinia and Albania. He also has plans to create a new Roman Empire and he has to do this without telling Hitler.
Mussolini is presented as having a remorseless character, capturing brutal aspects of the war. When he enquires about how the experiments with the poison gas are going against the Ethiopians, he hopes they die a slow, painful death with ‘Maximum agony’. Another example of his remorselessness is when he is informed that the Italians have accidentally destroyed a Greek supply ship, his reaction is ‘Never mind, it’ll be fewer ships to sink later’. He doesn’t think of the human sacrifice of war and about destructiveness and how strength is used and abused.
Mussolini’s thoughts are shown to be irrational as he vacillates from one subject to another, sometimes between serious matters to complete trivial unimportant matters. When he is talking to Galeosos, one minute he is talking about golf and then the next minute he moves onto admiring his suit.
De Bernieres shows Mussolini to be cowardly. At the end of chapter 2, he shoots the cat and makes himself sick. He is shown to be pathetic which contrasts with the destructiveness and death he has caused within the war. It shows he is the one who never gets his hands dirty as he can’t bar the sight of the dead cat. He thinks that by cleaning the corpse up, that the situation will be rectified. These are not the reactions that would be expected of a man in his position.
As well as Mussolini’s monologue in chapter 2, chapter 35 also gives an insight to how he is viewed as a ridiculous character. The pamphlet that has been distributed on the island has possibly been written by an Italian soldier. It is a parody of a propaganda pamphlet and initially pretends to idolize Mussolini but is actually written in a sarcastic tone. Mussolini’s many achievements are referred to in a mocking way. ‘This ludicrous buffoon, owner of a thousand florid uniforms covered with spurious medal ribbons for acts of valour that he has never performed’.
References are also made to Mussolini’s incompetence in Carlo’s narrations and the impression is given that Mussolini is not quite the super human that he was made out to be. ‘It soon became clear that everything was in chaos’ It gives the impression of Mussolini’s leadership in a disorganised war ‘my point is that we were like gladiators, prepared to do our duty, prepared to be stoical, but always perplexed’. Carlos account of the war is passionate and honest and describes his suffering which seems important compared to how he describes Mussolini’s idle role in the war.
Metaxas is presented in chapter 5 as a man who is reflecting on his life and deliberating how to deal with his problems. He is a sick man and is described as being ‘slumped forlornly’ in his chair. This is not a positive posture for a man in his position and shows his mental anguish. In chapter 14 he is also shown as a worn out little man who is feeble and exhausted. ‘Metaxas’ spectacles misted over, and behind them I could see tears. It is a hard thing to see a powerful man, a dictator, reduced to this state’. The image of the prime minister evokes a sense of sympathy.
Metaxas is a Fascist leader, who used indoctrination, terror and press censorship in his leadership. There are similarities with his style of leadership with the Germans as he had a Greek version of the Hitler youth. Also like Mussolini and Hitler there was a cult of personality in Greece and the army wore Fascist uniforms and similar solutes, songs, and ceremonies the Nazi’s. However in the novel De Bernieres presents Metaxas in a more favourable way to Mussolini. He is respected by the Greek people and unlike Hitler and Mussolini he isn’t a megalomaniac. He doesn’t desire an empire, he wants Greece to be free from war. ‘He did not want north Africa like Mussolini, or the whole world like Hitler’.
Although Matexas doesn’t want to take over the world he feels he is over powered by Mussolini and Hitler. ‘he was a poodle amongst wolves’. He has many self doubts ‘He wished briefly that he had chosen to retire on a colonels pension and live quietly in some anonymous corner, a place in which to live and die blamelessly’. He feels he is out of his depth, the wrong man at the wrong time, to stand up to the strength of Hitler and Mussolini. De Bernieres shows Metaxas to be an honorable person. He tries to defend his actions and wants to be remembered for what he did for Greece. ‘no one can ever say that I acted without regard to Greece’.
Metaxas is shown to be a realist, he understands about the limitations of the Greeks and being able to defend themselves, whereas Mussolini sends his army off to war ill equipped and is unrealistic about their ability, which is the reason they fail to occupy Greece and leave the invasion open to the Germans.
Metaxas is shown to be fallible whereas Mussolini wants to be seen as ‘an apotheosis of the Italian ideal’. Metaxas on the other hand is shown to have normal concerns like trying to control he wayward daughter, who has a reputation for her licentious lifestyle. His worries about his daughter lead him to be unfocused on what he is meant to be doing as he misses a meeting with the British minister.
De Bernieres shows Metaxas to be an honest and uncorrupted person and research shows that he was looked upon to be a good prime minister by the Greek people. ‘Metaxas was an honest politician, you see. He was never accused of corruption even by his enemies’. He seems to be respected by the Greek people. His house is described as a fairly modest ‘pseudo-Byzantiane’ villa. He never used state funds to embellish his lifestyle as Ciano observes ‘There could not have been a man more different from the Duce’.
The main two political figures that De Bernieres includes in the novel are shown to have contrasting characters, although the author describes them in a humourous way which is quite far fetched at times, he manages to show how futile the war and politicians are.
