Write 500 words analyzing the role of one character in the novel and how the author uses them to convey ideas about National Identity.

DeBernieres, through the novel, exposes ‘national identity’ as a major theme. He reveals the stereotypical views of each nationality and portrays them through certain characters. One in particular, is Benito Mussolini, where DeBernieres successfully illustrates him as the stereotypical Italian. However, DeBernieres only displays the negative stereotypical views of Italians through Mussolini in chapter 2. This can be juxtaposed later on to Captain Corelli, who is given the positive stereotypes of an Italian, paving the way for the reader to establish a stronger connection to Corelli. In chapter 2, Mussolini is depicted as the stereotypical Italian who is aggressive and judgemental, questioning and always acts before thinking.

Throughout chapter 2, it is clearly evident that DeBernieres shows Mussolini as a person who always acts before he thinks; a trait of a stereotypical Italian. This is achieved by the use of the fast-paced sentences that Mussolini uses. “Come here. Yes, you. Come here...Really, do you think so? I am not so sure.” There seems to be no time in Mussolini’s mind to stop and think about the decisions he is making. DeBernieres tackles this stereotype to show the type of man Mussolini was in history. He was a man who did make irrational decisions, mainly because he acted before coming to a valid conclusion. Along the chapter, DeBernieres thoroughly shows Mussolini’s incompetence to think before acting. He treats war like a game of chess, where pieces can be sacrificed willingly without a reason. When he speaks to the king of Italy about his plans, he is reckless, ignoring the millions of lives his proposed plan can affect. “Imagine the impression on the Fuhrer when he sees us sweep through Greece in a matter of days...But why not take [Greece and Yugoslavia]?...but it’s going to be a walkover anyway...But remember, we want to invade when we want to invade.” There is no emotion shown for the countless families he will affect if his plan does come into play. Mussolini speaks with such confidence that his plan will succeed, clearly revealing that he has not thought over it for alternatives.

DeBernieres presents Mussolini as aggressive and judgemental- stereotypes of an Italian. The way DeBernieres exposes Il Duce’s aggressive nature puts Mussolini as almost barbaric. He presents Mussolini as a big ‘bully’, who loves to inflame trouble. “We must continue to stir up liberation movements in Kosovo and irredentism in Tsamouria”. DeBernieres also depicts Mussolini as the one who brings the first fist in a fight. He wishes to initiate an invasion on Yugoslavia and Greece “without telling Hitler.” “It is a question of grasping opportunities and evading perils. It is also a question of expanding the empire...Imagine it...the whole Mediterranean littoral rebuilt into a new Roman Empire.” His method of action is very swift, decisive and forceful. DeBerniere’s selection of words expressed by Mussolini is also very aggressive. They are vulgar, unfriendly and alarming. “No, there idiota...In the name of God, do I have to do everything myself? What’s the matter with you, man? ...I must always be higher than them.” This flaunts Mussolini’s desire for greater authority with the way he speaks. It illustrates his aggressiveness, even to comrades. DeBernieres makes Mussolini a very judgemental character. This attribute is a stereotype, and intertwines to his aggressive nature. “I swear the country’s got warmer since the Great War. It makes men lazy, it makes them incompetent.” Mussolini shows repulsion to his own nation and its people. It shows his lack of sympathy for his country, revealing how aggressive he is. The reader now feels nothing but distaste towards Il Duce.

Another stereotypical view of Italians is their frequent use of questions when they do not agree to a certain statement or idea. This is a negative stereotype in which DeBernieres chooses to use, so that he can create a hateful and unwelcome connection between the reader and Mussolini. The majority of the questions Mussolini asks are rhetorical and commanding. “Really, do you think so? I am not so sure...I suppose you agree with everything I say? ...do I have to do everything myself? ...what else do you expect when you go fishing with hand-grenades?” This presents Mussolini as an irritating character who, when he can’t have his way, will attack with countless questions until he is victorious. DeBernieres wants to emphasise this stereotype, stressing how much Il Duce matches the negative stereotypical Italian.

DeBernieres has successfully portrayed Mussolini as a stereotypical Italian who always acts before thinking, is aggressive, judgemental and questioning. Although the stereotypes mentioned above do not apply to Italians in general, DeBernieres wants the audience to be introduced to a different range of identities and their national origins, from the aggressive Mussolini to the kind-hearted Carlo to the romantic Corelli.

Tuesday 27th September

Write a detailed personal response to the novel, Captain Corelli's Mandolin.

Comment on the following:

• Aspects of the novel that you enjoyed.
• Characters that you found interesting/well written...
• Aspects that you found frustrating (constructive criticism: explain why!)
• DeBerniere's style (use of epistolary, satire, narrative, monologue, blending of fact/fiction, multi-narrators etc...)
• Whether you would recommend this book.

Use paragraphs and write about 500 words.

NATIONAL IDENTITY

Write 500 words analyzing the role of one character in the novel and how the author uses them to convey ideas about National Identity.

DeBernieres, effectively uses various characters to shed light on his ideas and views on National Identity.Through the use of characters such as Corelli, DeBernieres is effectively able to express his portrayal of national identity through mostly the use of stereotypes, whether they are good or bad. DeBernieres does so because national identity and pride play a very important role/theme in the novel and in the war. For example, DeBernieres uses Iannis to convey his thoughts through an extract on page 53 where Iannis states in a clear-cut manner, a summary of all the stereotypes when it comes to Italians, Germans and Greeks. Not only is Iannis the character used to voice DeBernieres thoughts but Iannis is also established as the voice of Greece and in this way we see that Iannis is constructed to be a stereotypical Greek man. When Iannis gives the Corelli a summary of what Greeks are all about, on page 289, Iannis includes himself whilst describing the Greeks and we begin to see his role as a stereotypical Greek. He, not only is the voice of reason but, symbolizes intelligence, philosophy, education and reason. His extract describing Hellenic and Romoi Greeks talks collectively about Greece, himself included and he vociferates with passion, reason and great intelligence with his good vocabulary and vast understanding.Therefore, we can see that DeBernieres, through Iannis, apprises the readers of how “Greeks are equal to the best”, this is exemplified with how Iannis wants to educate his daughter and make her learned because he wants her to stand tall against other men and be among the best of medical patrons. Also, he states that Greeks are “hospitable to strangers” and this isn’t only an empty statement but DeBernieres sheds light on it as we actually see Iannis and Pelagia willingly taking care of Corelli despite his role as the ‘enemy’. Also, we are told of how Greeks are “nostalgic for something” and “hate solitude” and their hatred for solitude is described when we notice how Iannis makes regular visits to the Kepheneion and Pelagia to the well and is content with her company in her goat and Lemoni at times. Hence, it is seen through the Pelagia and her nursing father, the love for education and the desire to repress violence that they so willingly do, Pelagia with her desire to be like her father in the medical field and their need to be hospitable towards a stranger just for the mere reason that they are simple, pastoral people who don’t feel the need to be violent. And as most Greeks, they are described to be simplistic and pastoral in their lives, their lives in Greece, Greece with its ancient history and philosophy and art and literature, “she inspected the ruminating goat for ticks, burned them off with a hot needle and then burrowed through the coarse hair all over again.” Also, when Lemoni arrives with an injured pine martin and asks Iannis for help, he believes that he could simply spare the pine marten its burdens and suffering and kill, but because of the Greek within him that is reasonable, educated, controlled and nonviolent, he decides to do his best to rescue it, “he contemplated the deed for a few moments, exhorted himself to the act, he bathed the wound carefully and put single stitch in it.” Hence, it is through the simplistic lifestyle yet the great vast amount of knowledge and reason displayed through Iannis (And Pelagia) that the readers are apprised of the stereotypical view of Greeks that DeBernieres effectively sheds light in order to convey his ideas about national identity alongside securing the readers sympathy for Greece and its people.

Write 500 words analyzing the role of one character in the novel and how the author uses them to convey ideas about National Identity.

Write 500 words analyzing the role of one character in the novel and how the author uses them to convey ideas about National Identity.

The author uses Captain Antonio Corelli to convey to us the ideas about his national identity. He is an Italian captain in the novel and although the he is the title of the novel, he is introduced very much after the beginning of the book. It is almost half way through the book when he is introduced.
The very first time we read about him is when he orders his platoon to turn their heads and stare at Pelagia, whom he describes as “Bella Bambina.” The actual quote from the book is “Bella Bambina at nine o’clock,” he shouted, “E-y-e-s left.” From this we can see that Corelli was a silly character and also knowing that he is an officer of an invading force, we can see that Italians were disorganized, chaotic and didn’t take this seriously at all.
Before we see this we also see that the Italian army “disembarked apologetically” when they are an invading force and should be authoritative and forceful. This can be seen from “Down in the harbours the men of the Acqui Division disembarked apologetically from their landing craft and waved cheerfully but diffidently to the people in the doorways.” They are the exact opposite of the German army. They are cheerful when they are entering an island which they must conquer and the soldiers are waving at the local people. We also see that there was no organization or planning before the invasion of the island. We can also see that they are very relaxed and are ambling by. This can all be seen from “platoons of paratroopers ambling by, their commanders consulting maps”. This gives us an idea of how a typical Italian soldier would be. From this we can infer that the Italians are humorous people who do not take things very seriously.
From all the information we see about the Italian invasion force and the national identity of Italians match to Corelli. Corelli’s role in the book is the person who replaces the people who 2 other characters loved. Firstly there is Carlo, who loved Francesco but now loves Corelli and secondly there is Pelagia, who loved Mandras previously but now loves Corelli. In this role he shows us his national identity both when he is with Carlo and when he is with Pelagia.
Firstly, when he is with Carlo and his platoon, he had created “La Scala” which is a group of his soldiers who meet and sing in the latrines. This shows us a kind of comical view of Corelli and his platoon. Corelli had even made rankings with musical terms such as ‘breve’ or ‘semibreve’. Also, in Carlo’s description of Corelli, we can see that he doesn’t take life very seriously, carefree, humorous and exaggerated. We can also see that he is flamboyant and that he loves children, women and singing. This can bee seen from “prone to dramatic exaggeration….always larger than his circumstance….say things for the sake of their value as amusement, with an ironic disregard for the truth…observed life with raised eyebrows…..had none of that fragile self-pride that prevents a man from telling jokes against himself.” And “He adored children, and I saw him kiss a little girl on the head…..he loved to make pretty women giggle by snapping his heels together and saluting them with a military precision so consummate that it came over as a mockery of everything soldierly….His battery had a latrine known as ‘La Scala’ because he had a little opera club that shat together there at the same time every morning”.
Secondly, when Corelli is with Pelagia, he is always making her laugh and never gets angry at her no matter how hard she tries. For example, when Pelagia soaked his pistol in water to make it rust and was caught, “her heart galloped painfully with fear and anxiety” but Corelli didn’t give the reaction Pelagia wanted. He just said “I suppose you have done me a favor. I should have dismantled it for cleaning and oiling a long time ago” and lets it pass. He doesn’t take this seriously and punish Pelagia. Also he acts silly around her. Some examples are when he “tied a cork to a piece of strinf, and sprinted about the house with Psipsina in hot pursuit” and when he “sprang dancing to his feet, capering ridiculously and crying ‘I won, I won’”.
Therefore, the author uses Corelli’s role in the novel to show us the national identity of a typical Italian.

Social traditional barriers eradicated during WW1

Pat Barker expresses her thoughts and views about the social barriers, women especially, during the period of World War I through ‘Regeneration’. When the war broke out, all men (including young adults, males who are above the age of 18) were forced to join the army without questions. Their families, women, and children were not ready to let these men go but they had to. Therefore, the work that used to keep these men occupied was not running properly because there were no men working. Women came into the minds of the government, because they were the only one left. They were the last options. “middle-aged or elderly men, and women” – Pat Barker lists out the lucky ones who were allowed to stay back and avoid going to the war. The war, for the men was a tragedy and a destruction, that they had to face uncountable number of sicknesses and diseases, watching their mates’ deaths, living in the worst conditions that they could ever lived in. While for the women, the war, at first it was not an easy thing to leave these men, but then they were the only one left, they experienced freedom and liberation that they have never experienced before; raising their families on their own, being able to hang out with their friends, work in factories. These new freedoms made the women began to feel the power that they were getting, that they could live on their own and being responsible for their own lives. All through the novel ‘Regeneration’, we begin to see that women became more ‘manly’ in some ways, such as the way they talk, the language, and the way they act. “Raucous laughter”, “Eeh, I hope a man never tries to shove anything up her flue”, and “arseholes” are examples from the novel that show that the women had become stronger and more confident in their behaviours, mostly for the lower/working class women. The women’s advancements required time for them to adjust to their new rules and jobs, their new lives. “pulling”, “dragging”, and “donning” – these three words emphasise the idea that women are taking over the men’s roles in the society. Women are in charged of important meetings, jobs and also family-caring. The work they were getting used to was “even jolly for a time” – this proves that the women were enjoying their evolvement of roles in the society. The phrase “a group of women, thirty or forty perhaps sitting on the next table” that Pat Barker uses, lets us as the readers know that not only working-class-aged women were enjoying their freedom, but women of all ages were taking pleasure in this new change in roles in the society. “Subdued, they hadn’t yet managed to adjust” – all these new changes happened too quickly for the women to grab a hold of it, but no matter what they would fight for their freedom and independence. They were allowed to go to “men’s” places, ordering food not just cooking for them at home, being normal housewives, they were socializing, something so new that they have never experienced before. “Lizzy was keeping these young girls entertained…” – this tells us that women began to have stories to tell, knowing funnier and amusing things, and began to feel more freely and confident about themselves. Before the war women were seen as the lower sex, but when the war broke out, women gained their power and freedom. “She held her hand out to him in a direct way…” – women began to gain more confidence from taking over the men’s roles, while the men were losing their confidence. Men were emasculated, losing the male characteristics and being ashamed of them. Men were being injured, shot, and even for some men, who were facing difficulties doing normal things others can do such as walking or seeing, were seen as cowards and they have to live lives which they thought those were “half-lives”. It was not so easy for the men after the war, expecting their women to stay home and cook, looking after the kids, but everything was the opposite. The women were now working, making and spending their own money, and probably for some they were looking down to the men. Everything became the opposite for the men after the war. Destruction became disappointment.

Eradication of Social Barriers in the course of WW1

‘To what extent does Barker suggest that traditional social barriers have been expanded or eradicated during the course of WWI?’

Throughout the novel, Barker gives many points suggesting the traditional social barriers have expanded and also eradicated during the course of World War One. She shows these points by writing on topics such as emasculation, the role of Women during the war, their changed attitudes and freedom.

Firstly, she approaches emasculation to suggest the eradication of the traditional social barriers. Soldiers who were traumatized in the war were sent back for treatment and they were emasculated because they didn’t follow the ideals of a man at that time. Men who succumbed to their fear and broke down were seen as cowards and deserters. The ideals of a man were to be brave and restrain the show of emotions or sentiments because they were seen unfit for men. It was exceptionally emasculating to cry and many men who were sent to Craiglockhart War Hospital did cry. They had extremely traumatizing war experiences which were beyond their abilities of restrain. To show fear of anything at all was considered cowardice and men were expected to be unafraid, including horrific war experiences. One example from the book is Anderson, who had developed a phobia of blood from a traumatic war experience. He was a surgeon in the front and there he had treated a French soldier who was covered in mud and couldn’t speak a word of English. The problem was that even after Anderson treated all the visible wounds which weren’t all that visible thanks to the mud, there was a bigger wound covered up by the mud. Hence the soldier hemorrhaged and Anderson had to watch him bleed to death. This particular experience completely emasculated Anderson. He even had an emasculating dream about him being naked then wearing a corset, which only women wore to look more attractive. In the dream, he remembers wearing his uniform, which would represent a man’s pride and then he is naked which show that his pride has been stripped off of him. Here Barker uses symbolization to describe the emasculation of Anderson.

Secondly, Barker uses the role of women, their changed attitudes and their independence to show traditional social barriers disappearing. Women both lost and benefited from the war. They lost their precious husbands and sons but they got much more freedom and independence. All the men were in France but the factories had to keep running and the empty places left by the men had to be replaced by the women. Hence women now had better paying jobs. This also affected them so that they gained masculine traits. There are many examples in the book. Firstly, Prior, a character in the novel finds a group of women sitting in the café. This would not have been a common sight before the war. They were also not of the same age; 3 of them were younger than the other, Lizzie. They were all brought together by the war. They were talking and laughing loudly which was considered unacceptable prior to the war. Even the topic of their conversation was sexual, which would have been a very shameful topic to talk about in public for women prior to the war. The oldest one of the group, Lizzie, is entertaining the other girls with stories of sexual content with usage of vulgar language. This shows that women picked up masculine traits. Their language is also clearly uneducated. They also appear to be a little drunk and display undignified behavior. We also see that Sarah approaches Prior first which was very unlikely and she also “held out her hand to him in a direct, boyish way..” which shows that she is not behaving the way women did before the war. Sarah also “knocked them back” where “them” would refer to the drink she ordered/ this shows us how the women are free to drink alcohol. Here masculine characteristics are displayed again. Also, in the book there is a part which says “They seemed to have changed so much during the war, to have expanded in all kinds of ways, whereas men over the same period had shrunk into a smaller and smaller space.”, where the “They” refers to women. This shows us that while men are losing their confidence, women are gaining it. As the book progresses we can find more points to show the changing attitudes and increasing freedom for women. In the later part, we can find words such as “overalls”, ”cigarette” and ”sweat” which were uncommon among women in the previous to the war. They also use vulgar language frequently with examples such as “arseholes” and “bugger” and they also openly discuss the subject of homosexuality which would be a taboo topic and the way they speak display a lack of respect for men.

Hence, Barker suggests that social barriers had been eradicated during the course of World War One to a large extent and she shows many examples to support it. Throughout the war, women gained more and more masculine traits and also gained confidence while men lost their confidence.

Greek Involvement in WW2

Greece Involvement in WW2
Greece was involved in WW2 from October 28th 1940. That was when Italy invaded Greece from the state of Albania. Fortunately, Italy got pushed out of Greece back into Albania. This defeat of the Axis Powers forced Hitler to mobolise his German troops into Greece on April 1941. There was a great battle, to control the Greek forces which took six weeks and delayed the German invasion of the USSR. Some historians considered this the turning point of WW2 because this brought a winter state of battle for the German troops when against USSR which the German troops was not adapted to.
The German invasion of Greece was quick. However the Greek forces resisted on the island of Crete with immense force that caused Fallschirmjäger the elite German battalion the casualties of nearly 7,000 men. These heavy losses eradicated the hope of a successful and massive airborne invasion of the USSR and further expansion in the Mediterranean saving Malta Gibraltar Cyprus and the Suez Canal from other airborne invasions.
After the occupation of the Axis Powers, when they thought Greece was under their control a large scale resistance movement developed in the country. The resistance movement tied down large numbers of Axis divisions. However, due to political tension between the resistance groups, a civil conflict amongst them arose in late 1943 until the spring of 1944.
The exiled Greek government contributed greatly to theWW2. They formed their own military forces and fought alongside the British forces in the Middle East, North Africa and Italy. The Greek Merchant navies supplied the Allied forces with war merchandise.
Mainland Greece was liberated by the occupation of Germany when German forces withdrew after facing the advancing Red Army in October 1944. German garrisons still continued to hold out in the Aegean Islands until after the war ended. The country was overwhelmed by war and the harsh treatment during the occupation of Germany. Its economy became hyper inflated and many buildings and homes were left in ruin. Greece suffered the casualties of 300 000 men during the occupation and the Jewish minority was almost completely exterminated in the Holocaust. The civil war between the British and American-sponsored conservative government and communist guerrillas followed soon after.
The Greek contribution towards resisting the German troops in the islands of Crete delayed the German invasion of the USSR which allowed a winter state of Battle which gave the USSR a high advantage. Furthermore the fierce Greek forces made the Fallschirmjäger suffer the casualties of 7,000 men. This was extremely successful because this was the elite German battalion that was a part of a massive airborne invasion of the USSR. Many historians still believe that the source of the turnover in WW2 was due to Greek contribution. On top of that the Greek forces also contributed by resisting the Axis power and having an exiled Greek government that fought with the British Army in North Africa, Italy and Middle East. The same exiled Greek government supplied the allied powers with war merchandise as well.
Sho Suzuki and Daniel Lee

Social traditional barriers eradicated during WW1

In “Regeneration”, the reader will come across three very prevalent themes that are associated with expansion and eradication of traditional social barriers in the midst of World War 1. The three themes are Emasculation, Women’s Roles and Sexual Independence. During The Great War, the views, situations and roles had changed. When war broke out, women may not have been ebullient to send their beloved sons and husbands to war, but in a peculiar way, they were content with the war because they experienced a liberation they never experienced before, they were now the only people left to run factories, and they were responsible for their own lives and this made them feel powerful and this also instilled male characteristics in them, mostly in the lower/working class. So even though war brought death and destruction for men, it brought about liberation for women. We begin to see that women evolved in such a way because they didn’t want to go back to being submissive wives, they wouldn’t let their freedom be taken away so conveniently. Women slowly realized that they could establish their own life single-handedly outside of their home-makers role, “six days a week, but she liked to work.” And Barker sheds light on this through the following, “The smell of steak frying reminded him of home….” Here we see that Barker first establishes how the women were meant to behave in a traditional manner, but to follow that up, Barker uses Prior to go into a pub and chance upon a few middle aged and older women sitting there. And here Barker uses the phrase “a group of women, thirty or forty perhaps sitting on the next table. “ So here we see that FIRST Barker states clearly the expected role of women, but war brought about change and unexpected joy for women and hence, one would know find a traditional social barrier eradicated. It is eradicated because Barker sheds light on the fact that these women are now finally going out, and they aren’t just cooking for themselves, they are ordering food and socializing in a ‘mans’ place. And not only are these women young, but this war has united all women from all ages. The phrase “Lizzy was keeping these young girls entertained…” further emphasizes the fact that, prior to the war, these women were walking cardboard boxes with no experiences of their own, but now they had stories to tell, they had personalities to exuberate and they had responsibilities of their own. Also, traditional barriers to equality between the two sexes was eradicated, “She held her hand out to him in a direct way…” the aforementioned phrase sheds light on how women are now, during the war, perceived as no longer the lower sex and are now behaving openly in more boyish manners. In fact, almost everywhere one went, they were seeing how women were growing in confidence, women go out and “burst out into minor explosions of giggles” and have fun and they fall “in with the other girls” because, now society lacks the male presence and women have taken over every aspect of life back home. Although they aren’t fully adjusted to it, “Subdued, they hadn’t yet managed to adjust”, but they won’t give it up no matter, because even if they are working hard, they “appear to be jolly” even if they are in bad working conditions. Also, Barker uses Sarah and her girls to discuss Betty’s alleged abortion and this sheds light on how traditional social ideologies have been eradicated and in place of them, women push aside the idea of “the sole purpose of life being the need to reproduce” but rather, being open to abortion and contraceptives because this new role to them was much more exciting than being a ‘home-maker’ again. Also, not only did women become overly confident, they also indulged in open discussions about sex and were sexually independent. Something they wouldn’t have been prior to the war, Barker uses Sarah to emphasize on how women were approaching men openly and were being flirtacious and drinking one drink after the other. Also, they were openly discussing sex lives and indulging in vulgar, coarse, brash and sexual discussions, “arseholes, bugger”, “he went to the club”, even homosexuality which was taboo to discuss, was openly debated. And this sexual liberation sheds light on how they’ve lost their respect for men. “Raucous laughter” is a phrase that Barker uses to suggest the type of masculinity and vulgarity that encapsulates these women and how they have become, contrary to what pre-war society wanted them to be, sexual and otherwise independent.