In the first five chapters of the novel, de Bernieres leads the reader into five main focal points. Within this section he establishes two sort of characters. On the one hand, we have the historical characters who most people recognise and that have contributed significantly to the world history: Hitler is occasionally mentioned, while Mussolini, 'The Duce' is prominently featured in chapter two: with Metaxas they serve to build the main historical context of the novel. On the other hand we have the fictional characters, created by de Bernieres; his characters feel convincingly real we perhaps accept them as more real, because they are placed in a documented historical context. In turn this leads us to either grow sympathy or an antipathy towards them because we can relate more personally to the wider arena.

Dr. Iannis is the first character we encounter in the novel. Through him, we discover his role as a doctor in the community, the

community he serves and lives in and it is he who finally leads us into the setting of the novel "The half forgotten Island of Cephallonia...", through his writing of: "A personal history" We detect right away that Doctor Iannis is a sophisticated man who is highly respected in the community. His language and knowledge feels richer and more refined in comparison to that of his patients. In fact this may trigger our deductions about the community: small, simple-minded but with strong religious beliefs. Religion feels considerably important in this community, because biblical language recurs constantly in their language : "Christ have mercy...all the saints and Mary protect us...God rest her soul...". In addition his ability to make a joke in French "un embarras de petit pois" suggests that he's a cultivated man, "He spoke the French words in a mincingly Parisian accent, even though his irony was apparent only to himself". Though his language and education is definitely more elaborate than that of his patients , we never suspect of him acting superior; on the contrary he treats everyone equally. We feel we are more likely to grow a sympathy towards him, as we feel his character is of a genuine sort, this apparent when his payments are compensated by gifts and food and "offer(s) of sexual intercourse" , rather than money.

The agent that causes Pelagia's and Mandras' relationship to fail, is Mandras' social inferiority. As a result of this, Pelagia kills his innocence" Can't be myself when I'm with her" this is an indication to the start of his self-destruction. When Pelagia declares her love to Mandras at the "same time doubts assailed her like an invasion of tiny invisible devils." Moreover when she noticed "that his soldiers had peeled raw...she was surprised, even disappointed, for it revealed that the lovely boy was made only of flesh, and not imperishable gold. This suggests that their union is not one "of the mind and the spirit" but in contrary they are only infatuated by each others exterior appearance and status. A stable marriage between the two would be very unlikely. Mandras like Carlo experiences the destruction of war, however, we only experience the war through Carlo's eyes, but we can relate it to Mandras' experience also. In fact these two characters, can easily be described !

De Bernieres introduces him at an early stage in the novel because he is also the link that brings Mandras and Pelagia together, and therefore de Bernieres creates yet another possible thread in the novel. In this chapter, de Bernieres introduces the beginning of Pelagia's voyage, the start of her Odyssey. Velisarios, in addition, is used as a parallel to Carlo. Their strength and physical appearances are very similar, and have many likenesses, nevertheless once led into Carlo's thoughts we can implicitly read in other aspects.

In one of Pelagia's letter to Mandras, she mentions that while Kokolio's wife read her fortune, she is told that "someone would come from far away and change my life forever" the reader can deduce that Corelli is perhaps anticipated here. Yet, it also suggests a possible link to Carlo. In fact, in one of his last 'omosessuale' chapters, Carlo for the first time shifts the reader away from Francesco and the war in Albania and for a very short instant mentions and refers to Captain Antonio Corelli and the island of Cephallonia: "Here in the sunny secluded island of Cephallonia with it's genial inhabitants...Here in Cephallonia I fill my dreams with reveries of Captain Antonio Corelli..." Even though, we feel that Carlo's sections are written at pre

Some common words found in the essay are:
Dr Iannis, Doctor Iannis, Corelli Moreover, Julia Division, Mandras Carlo, History Cephallonia, Corelli's Mandolin, Can't I'm, Antonio Corelli, Atlas Velisarios, de bernieres, dr iannis, grow sympathy, island cephallonia, historical context, de bernieres introduces, bernieres introduces, captain antonio corelli, novel discover, dramatic monologue, antonio corelli, link brings, de bernieres creates,
Approximate Word count = 2427
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)