Captain Corelli and A farewell

A detailed Summary of Captain Corelli and A farewell

Discuss how Ernest Hemmingway and Louis De Bernieres present the effects of war on the individual in 'A Farewell to Arms' and 'Captain Corelli's Mandolin.'

Although some critics disapprove of De Bernieres' portrayal of life in Greece during world war two(1), in particular his depiction of the Germans, there is no doubt that he succeeds in bringing to life the hideous and brutal world that he sets out to create,

'They fell to their knees, their hands flailing....their mouths filling with the dry and dusty tang of blood.'

This vivid and horrific description of Italians being lined up and shot by the Germans causes the picture, as one critic said 'to rush into reality, colours and touch and taste.'(2) Compare this to an almost identical scene in 'A Farewell to Arms' and we can automatically see that these writers have set out to depict war and the people involved in the war in very different ways,

'We stood in the rain and were taken out one at a time to be questioned and shot.'

Hemmingway's simplistic style has the effect of creating a very poignant and isolated scene, De Bernieres however achieves this poignancy with intense description and realism. This contrasting description seems to be the major differing aspect of the

'Pelagia was weeping....'we haven't seen him for days,' she wailed. 'I just know he's dead.''

Hemmingway uses the first person narrative voice, of Frederick Henry, throughout the whole of the book, therefore causing Henry to become very much the central character and the character with which the reader has empathy for. However, the alternating narrative voice in 'Captain Corelli's Mandolin' enables the reader to develop close relationships with many of the individuals in the book, for example with Carlos,

'I knew that I had been hit and leaned over and put my hand on my knee. My knee wasn't there.'

'I joined the army because the men are young and beautiful, I admit it.'

De Bernieres shows how the war invades their private, home life, something that we do not see in 'A Farewell to Arms' because both Catherine and Frederick are away from their natural environment, Frederick 'an American in the Italian army' and Catherine, an English woman in Italy. The effect of the war on many of the characters in 'Captain Corelli's Mandolin' is therefore shown in a much more internal and intimate way because their everyday lives are disrupted and affected by it without them consciously choosing to be part of it, like Catherine and Frederick do. De Bernieres further increases the closeness of the relationships between his characters and his reader by using an internalised first person narrative, whereby we hear the characters stream of thoughts,

The narrative voice in 'A Farewell to Arms' remains coolly detached throughout, and although we hear Frederick tell Catherine how much he loves her on various occasions, it is rare that we gain an insight into his thoughts on their situation,

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Approximate Word count = 2354
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English