In the novel, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, the characters Carlo and Mandras have some similarities and differences. It is shown in the way de Bernieres shows the reason they join the war, Carlo is to find love within the Army and he found Francesco and Mandras is to love Pelagia. De Bernieres shows how they are changed in the course of war, Carlo through the lost of Francesco and Mandras is losing himself from the horrible experiences of war. As well as how de Bernieres portrays Carlo and Mandras through his writing, which this emphasises the stated points.
Their reason of joining the war is not for a greater good for their country. It is connected to the theme of love. Carlo reasons to joins the war is to find love in the Army in which he hopes he obtained a pure way of loving someone, and he found Francesco. De Bernieres Carlo loves toward Francesco through Carlo poetical description of the beauty of Francesco, “he was like one of those elegant, lanky cat” these flowing words create a simile to show how slender and healthy Francesco is. Different to Mandras, he joins the war to show to the people that he can be important and he wants the acceptation from Pelagia and the doctor, so that Mandras is worthy to love Pelagia. Their reason to join the war is different, but it is similar in the way that both of them are seeking and wanting to gain something in the war that can satisfy their love to someone.
The war brings both of them sorrow. Carlo loses Francesco, this show Carlo’s love to Francesco as well as emphasise the tragedies of war toward Carlo. Carlo is heart broking and grieved as the consequence of war. However, he is still sane and powerful. Contrast to Carlo, Mandras becomes unbearably mad in a sort of way; he is the ‘shadow’ of his former self. This clearly shows through the different images that de Bernieres delivered before and after the battle at Arsernos. Before the war, Mandras is shown as “a man like Adam” a simile de Bernieres creates to show that Mandras has the pure beautiful handsomeness like Adam, which is god perfect view of man. After the battle, he is described as “a most horrible and wild” which is an image of complete savagery that possibly shone in a man. These contrast images shows the downfall of Mandras through the course of war, which is damaging him far physically than Carlo.
It is different how their love is answered. Carlo confessed to Francesco at the last moment of Francesco’s life. In someway Francesco accepted Carlo loves but he is unable to gives it back as obviously he is dying. However, Carlo is content that the man he loves knows that he love him even though Francesco is unable to give it back. Compare to Carlo, the love between Mandras and Pelagia is clearly shows that it is fading. Pelagia’s love to Mandras is different which clearly shows through the length of the letters that she wrote to him without reply. As well as with the new personality, Mandras is quite disturbing and somehow mad that turned Pelagia’s love into pity. In the end both of their love is lost but in different form. Carlo’s love is lost because Francesco is dead but it still life on in his mind. Mandras’s love to Pelagia turned to be demanding toward Pelagia which he lost the love he once had from Pelagia.
De Bernieres ways of writing changes for different character and different situations. To shows the sorrow and the tragedies of war on to Carlo which create sympathies toward Carlo from the reader, de Bernieres conveys Carlo thoughts and feeling in form of a diary like letters. To emphasise the madness of war on Mandras and creates disgusted feeling as well as pitied from the reader onto this character, de Bernieres viewed the reader as a third person perspective that as well as through the thought and feeling of Pelagia toward Mandras. De Bernieres creates different way of viewing the characters to set a different mood as well as emotion toward that particular character. Carlo is mostly sympathy and sadness and Mandras is pitied and angered at the end.
The characters Carlo and Mandras are both different and similar. They are both victim of war and the war creates sorrowful impacts onto them. However the ways they accepted and received from these experiences are different. Carlo continues to fight so that he can die an honourable death. Mandras changes entirely different both inside and outside which later on the novel he lost his life from the dismissal of Pelagia and his own mother.
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