What Contribution Does De Bernieres Portrayal Of Carlo Guercio Have On The Total Effect Of The Novel? What Claim Does Carlo Have To Heroic Status?

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Tom Green

Mrs Lavender

What Contribution Does De Bernieres Portrayal Of Carlo Guercio Have On The Total

Effect Of The Novel? What Claim Does Carlo Have To Heroic Status?

The character of Carlo Guercio is portrayed as a peripheral figure between the love of Corelli and Pelagia. Though Carlo is a marginal character in that part of the novel, overall, he plays a considerable part. There are many chapters dedicated to Carlo and through these chapters and through Carlo; De Bernieres manages to bring different themes of the novel together. These themes range from corruption, religion, history and love. Carlo experience a lot from the War, whether it is about himself, his friends or the true nature of the world that he lives in.

     Carlo seems to represent De Bernieres views. Carlo is a character that witnesses a lot that goes on, either first hand in the war or when he comes to the Greek island of Cephallonia. De Bernieres wants to show that everyone, even the less important people, during the war or just day to day life, should have the right to get their view across, Carlo is a way of doing this. The chapters where Carlo speaks are in stark contrast to ‘The Duce’ chapter, where we hear the extraordinary nonsense that Mussolini speaks about. They show how corruption and power leads to people like Mussolini being in charge of a country and Carlo having to fight for him.

     Carlo’s experiences of the war, fought with his love Francesco, show the harshness of war and what the diminutive soldiers had to put up with. Though there is a calmness and tranquillity surrounding Cephallonia on the whole, De Bernieres graphic descriptions of the war show another side to it all. ‘ I dug a deep hole in our trench that filled instantly with ochre water…I buried him in a place inhabited by gigantic rats and tiny goats ’, ‘ We could warm our heads…brains of dying mules.’ In Cephallonia there is a limited amount of talk about the war abroad and especially the disgusting conditions and dreadful atrocities surrounding it. This could be explained by the pride and propaganda coming from the front, Carlo says, ‘ History is the propaganda of the victors.’ The Death of Francesco is another description of the harshness that comes with the war but how it has all been glossed over, ‘ He died very quickly of a bullet through the heart.’ This is how Carlo describes the death to Francesco’s mother, though he tells us the truth, ‘ I reached Francesco and saw that the side of his head had been blown away…He was still alive…in the trench Francesco took two hours to die.’

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     Throughout the novel we get an overall emphasis on love and the different forms that love takes. As soon as we meet Carlo he speaks of existing as l’omosessuale, the homosexual, and how he has to live that life in silence. At this time, especially in Italy with Mussolini in charge, homosexuality would be seen, ‘ that it is a perversion, an abomination in the sight of God…must marry…lead the life of a normal man, that I have a choice.’ As the novel progresses we see that love, whether homosexual or otherwise can shape a character and lead ...

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