Also Carlo joined the army because the, “men are young and beautiful”, and because Plato’s theory that an army consisting of “lovers…would be the very best”. This is the only possible way Carlo can show slight forms of emotion for other men and not be persecuted. Nevertheless it becomes heartbreaking for the reader as deep down they, aswell as Carlo, recognize that the other troops are longing for women, whilst Carlo desires what already exists around him, but knows he can never form a true relationship.
Carlo beings to illustrate the members he has in his immediate family and goes on to state, “…I have not had a family since puberty”, which could suggest once he began to mature, Carlo realised his sexuality and therefore knew he, “had to live among them secretly”. This is very distressing, as nowadays, many people could willingly talk to close family members and receive positive advice despite their sexuality.
Bernières allows Carlo to describe some of his thespian antics which he has experienced, which shows he has had to lie about many important issues throughout his life; he also portrays how his friends told him intricacies about girls, which blatantly caused Carlo to feel very isolated and, “more lonely than it ought to be possible…”
Carlo describes his experiences in the army about how all of the men desire women, but Carlo cannot relate to their feelings, as Carlo describes how the, “…company of a woman is painful…because it reminds me of what I am not”, which elaborates the fact that Carlo wishes he was a woman as loving a male would be ‘natural’. This belief is further described as Carlo believes, “I would have been if God had not meddled with my mother’s womb”.
Carlo begins to make it clear that he is having a hard time physically, aswell as mentally, and within the army he is constantly being moved from one unit to the next, which doesn’t even give Carlo the chance to make comrades, this is supported when Carlo states, “no…developing any Esprit de corps”, which means friendship within a group and ‘group spirit’.
Bernières describes Carlo’s new experiences within his new unit ‘Julia Division’, as being very positive when Carlo states, “I enjoyed every moment”, Bernières goes on to deepen the optimistic description from Carlo’s point of view by stating, “regardless of…sex, soldiers grew to love each other”. However, this was not the form of love Carlo wanted, as this ‘love’, only existed in the army and not in civil life, it was companionship. Linking to the following suggestion, Carlo declares, “You come to know every nuance of each others’ moods…know…what the other is going to say”, however all of this is known because Carlo and his fellow soldiers live and work together because they have to.
Bernières seems to present Carlo in a new light, but Carlo felt his life was becoming very pointless when he states, “What spoiled it… was that none of us knew why were in Albania”, Carlo also had mixed feelings and became, “Haunted…by the strange pointlessness of loving a life that had no reasonable excuse” and questioned himself whether he and his comrades were ‘Gladiators’ preparing to do their duty, for no apparent reason.
By this point the audience realise how Carlo is made to feel and how he desires to find true love. Expectedly Bernières causes Carlo to fall in love with a fellow soldier, Francesco, who turns out to be a married heterosexual, who looks upon Carlo, “as his best friend”. The way Carlo continues to describe this newly blossomed love lets the audience know that Carlo does love this man completely. This also lets the audience understand that Carlo is aware that he is not getting any true love in return. Carlo seems to recollect every detail of Francesco, “he had only three hairs in the centre of his chest”; this long description gives the impression that Bernières is creating a one-sided love story around Carlo. Compassion arises upon Carlo admitting “were often naked together…and memorised every last detail of every part of him”, but, rebels “against the charges of perversion”, but Carlo is not guilty of his memory of Francesco’s body, as he declares, “they are not obscene; they are precious, exquisite and pure”, which demonstrates how he cherishes and appreciates everything about Francesco.
L’Omosessuale (3) begins with the declaration, “A guilty man”, which Carlo states believing he is guilty of being different and unnatural. However Carlo shows how he wants to be understood, “because to be understood is to appear to be forgiven”, which would allow Carlo to justify his sexuality, because to be understood can appear to have been forgiven.
Bernières wins the audiences respect and sympathy when it is announced that, “it was impossible to become a senior office by merit alone, it was done by browning of the tongue”, which was very unjust because this would rule Carlo out of getting promotion, because Carlo is a man with honest means, who could win medals because of his military ability and sincere character, unlike Colonel Rivolta who gained, "medals for literary prowess”, Bernières is Cleary making the point known that even within the army injustice exists openly.
When the ‘”fishy” orders are given to Carlo and Francesco, Francesco knows something is wrong, but Carlo just sees them as orders that need to be followed. Carlo seems to feel confident and invincible as he gazed into Francesco’s, “beautiful dark eyes…”
As the men crept out on the mission under cover of darkness, Carlo began to realise that he wanted to protect Francesco as a lover would do. Also, as potential danger nears them, Carlo realises that he could possibly lose the one person he loves intensely in a split second. As the two men heard the “horrifying silence” after the attack on the tower, both men looked at each with a smile; however both looked smiled with sorrow because of the atrocities that had just occurred in the, “horrible madness of desperate action”. Carlo and Francesco soon realise that they were supposed to be killed to start a, “little war with Greece”. This is demoralizing for both men, aswell as the audience as they have killed their own comrades in a state of terror, each side believing the other was the enemy.
Overall, Bernières accumulates a huge amount of sympathy for Carlo, mainly due to the isolation that Carlo suffers. Despite Carlo being part of a team in the army; he still manages to feel mentally secluded due to his homosexuality.
