The relationship between Pelagia and Dr. Iannis is the key relationship it is very sweet Discuss how de Bernieres presents this relationship and its significance in terms of wider themes in the novel.

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“The relationship between Pelagia and Dr. Iannis is the key relationship it is very sweet” Discuss how de Bernieres presents this relationship and its significance in terms of wider themes in the novel.

In the very first chapter of the novel we are introduced to Iannis, this immediately alerts us of his importance as De Berniere's felt he needed to present him first, at the first mention of Pelagia we are made aware of their relationship and reliance upon each other, at this point specifically Iannis’ reliance on her to purchase oil “as long as Pelagia had remembered to purchase some more oil for the lamps.” At this point we are not made fully aware about who Pelagia is but we are given a detailed introduction to Iannis. We are made aware that Iannis is an educated man due to his use of vocabulary “orifice”, “recalcitrant”, and the presence of Stamatis and his wife tells us not everyone on the island is as educated as him as De Berniere's makes a point of having Stamatis’ wife not understand Iannis “The old woman nodded with every semblance of having understood, which she had not.”

The second mention of Pelagia can be seen as ‘sweet’ Iannis is writing about the beauty of women and pauses to appreciate the beauty of his daughter “remembered his wife, as lovely as her daughter had become,” this tells us he appreciates the beauty of his daughter but it also tells us his wife has died, which is a crucial factor to the depths which Iannis and Pelagia’s relationship goes.

It is the closing interaction between Pelagia and Iannis in chapter one which tells us the most about Pelagia, Pelagia’s goat has eaten Iannis’ writing but when he tells Pelagia his aversion, she simply responds with “you’re as fond of him as I am,” after ignoring his first remark to announce dinner. As her first presentation De Berniere's has made us aware she is the homemaker for them as she purchases the oil and she cooked dinner but he has also presented Pelagia as a strong empowered woman who is willing to talk back to her father in a somewhat cheeky way, very clearly against the Greek traditions however as their argument continues it is clear Pelagia is not afraid of her father and that her father does not react in a dictatorial way, “Dr Iannis turned away, disarmed and defeated.” their relationship  can therefore be seen as democratic, De Berniere's may have done this on purpose to reinforce his negative views on fascism, this view can be supported  by the fact the next chapter focuses on the Duce and fascism.

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De Berniere's refers to their relationship as “they have a tiny democracy” this contrasts the wider themes in the novel of fascism. This relates more specifically to the character of Iannis again, who is against fascism but can also be seen to be the one who thinks himself in power in their relationship. De Berniere's emphasizes that their relationship is the key relationship in the novel so perhaps he was emphasizing how democracy works; this is furthered later in the novel by the introduction of Corelli, who despite being a captain in the Italian army is also against fascism and ...

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