Relationship between Mandras and Pelagia in Captain Corellis Mondolin - Assignment Example

Relationship between Mandras and Pelagia Louis de Bernières’ “Captain Corelli’s Mandolin” is complex novel based on an episodic structure that takes readers from a clam of life on Cephalonia island to the vigorously packed life in Mussolini. Throughout the journey, readers appreciate livelier atmosphere in the saint’s party, the brutal conflict in Albania, the political celebrations in Athens, discourses on the history of Greek and the challenges facing modern combatants. The storyline takes different approaches including the first person and third person; this style breaks boredom in readers. Throughout the novel, the use of variegated styles oscillating between a flow of awareness, social comedy, dispatches, and detailed narrations some of which involve unattractive, but factual historical experiences is uniquely superior. Additionally, the core themes surrounding military campaigns not only display a sense of richness; they take the readers back to the World War through a near-first account of the direct and indirect impacts of the mid-twentieth century conflict. The film adaptation from the book also visualizes the developments which transpired as captured in the manuscript; however, it is a bit shallow and the story is told from the director’s point of view. Moreover, with the fast transition of the various scenes in the film, it is apparent that readers will have a deeper insight into the developments than the film viewers. The original story begins with an account of the developments that transpired at the initial stages of World War II. Dr Iannis is depicted as having a comfortable stay with his daughter Pelagia in Cephalonia, an island off the Greek coast. When he is off-duty, the medic spends his precious time penning interesting political stories about the island. Pelagia runs the domestic chores, plays with her friend Lemoni, and dates Mandras. Mandras is an intellectually inferior but handsome fisherman. This sense of tranquillity will not stand when Greece is engulfed in the military activities. The impending war significantly changes the relationship between Mandras and Pelagia. Mandras makes a marriage proposal to her, and in response she looks “… at him a moment, and a silence flowered between them, the kind of silence that obliged her to answer his proposal” in affirmative (Bernieres 80). Immediately after their engagement, Mandras is deployed in the snow-capped training military grounds. His return from the gory Albanian military engagement affects his relationship with Pelagia. After the outgunning of Greece, Mandras becomes a pale shadow of his former self, and though Pelagia is willing to rehabilitate him, her morale dies away. In these scenes, the film and the book are both interesting literary pieces that help to express some of the deeper thoughts in the novel. But, whereas the relationship between Mandras and Pelagia is more explicitly told in the novel, the film transforms the readers’ illusion into some kind of brief reality. In both literary pieces, the story’s primary pleasure around the couple lies in appreciation, the attraction of naturalism which is defiled by modernism. As a result, the more vivid depiction of Pelagia in the film technically compliments the manuscript in cultivating a sense of reality in her love for Mandras despite his change to the worse. Mandras’ relationship with Pelagia is depicted in the novel as having been gravely affected by substance use and the chaotic situation on the battlefields and the unforgiving weather. Watching this film creates the picture of an ordeal than cannot be noticed in the novel. The film fades any form of suspicions that one may develop while reading the book, making the audience approve of the traces of substance abuse by Mandras. By watching the film, it is easier to connect the negative response and messages that the fisherman directs to his fiancée after his excursion. Conversely, the novel is satirical; its reading enables one to get a feeling of a benign humour in the interaction of the two lovers after the man’s return from the unforgiving conflict-prone environment. This is clearly depicted in the carefully written tragicomedy that unfolds between the former lovers. In the movie the humour is more manifest in the unfolding film noir qualities, in which case, Pelagia’s readiness to help his love cope with life, his attempted rape by his love, and her eventual withdrawal from the violent relationship are evidently interesting. The greatest shortfall of the film compared with the book lies in the audience’s confinement to the views of the director. Notably, the film’s visual richness is so intense that it fades away the less concrete evocations which hover around one’s mind after going through manuscript. This is normally unfavourable. Nonetheless, the aural impression in the movie makes the film richer than the book; for instance, before joining the Elakas, Mandras’ aural qualities are very positive, smooth and full of love for Pelagia, but after his comeback, he adopts a harsher, unapologetic tone depicting his newly-acquired violent traits and faded feelings of love. As a result, listening to Pelagia and Mandras speak is somewhat an odd experience that Bradshaw terms as qualities of “…a droopy, disappointing film … It has some of the unhappiest casting to be seen and dodgiest accents to be heard in the cinema” (1a). Despite the criticism the richness of the tone of the two lovers in the film is noticeably rich and immense creativity of the director and the actors. Essay # 2 Comparison of the last parts of the book and movie scenes The last parts of both the movie and the film are full of drama; from the chaotic and rapidly evolving situation on the battlefields, the scenes in the movie and the novel depict the ultimate “Corelli’s War”. The Corelli’s war can be traced to earlier scenes of the story, however. The “war” is a culmination of Pelagia's broken heart, which prior to the war, she unequivocally entrusted to Mandras, the fisherman whose mission in the military was to fight alongside the communist forces against the Allied forces. Whereas the novel clearly depicts the gory scenes involving Mandras ignoring a female villager lynched for conspiring with foreign soldiers; stories that have a bearing on the ultimate Corelli war, the film briefly draws the attention of the audience to the defining moments in the conflict. Bradshaw in his critique reads partiality in De Bernières’s work, arguing that the author “testily defensive about his alleged right-wing bias in the depiction of the Greek communist partisans” (a1). Anyhow, Mandras, whose actions and inactions are directly linked to Corelli’s final victory in the battle for Pelagia, attempts to redeem himself towards the end of the story. Unlike in the novel, it is notable that the film gives massive prominence to the attractive purity of Pelagia's affection in the equally rich setting. The cool, attractive setting embodying comfort is depicted as amazingly similar to the innocence of an Italian soldier, that the gory consequences and realities of conflict, chaotic scenes and betrayal are bizarrely trivial. This means the final scenes of the story portray a paradigm shift in the nature of the war. Corelli and Pelagia seem more relaxed and subdued by emotional wars than the physical altercations in the earlier scenes of the battlefields. The two characters are depicted as similar to children in their love life; people who are stuck in the dark settings that most of the twentieth century films embodying the style pride themselves in. The shift of war to the more peaceful one appeals to both film viewers and readers who anxiously scan for poetic justice in the literary piece, even as the richness of the story is fraught with cutting episodes of suspense, and irony which in this story have been seamlessly blended. The readers and the audience anxiously await a formalization of the relationship between Pelagia and Corelli in a marriage. In conclusion, the book offers a better ending than the film, because it allows readers the space to make a self-reflection about the events. For instance, the novel is move vivid in the description of the aftermath of the earthquake on the island, which had resulted in massive losses and guilt among those who feel that their responses to the situation were not adequate enough. Pelagia is one of the people who are haunted by the thought of failing to give her father adequate help. As time goes by, she receives postcards from anonymous senders from key global cities. Corelli’s final victory in seeking Pelagia’s hand in marriage is told with greater detail than can be offered in any movie. De Bernières brings the reader up to speed with a new Pelagia nurturing her maturity in readiness for a marriage union at almost the same time Antonia marries Alexi. Pelagia is depicted in the book as enjoying a unique closeness to the new family, and even names the couple’s child after her father. The child’s innocence and the evolution of the characters from physical to intellectual radicalism is better captured in the novel in which, as Corelli’s new civilian character, Alexi’s radicalism is evident his legal profession. According to De Bernieres, he “could not only prove that when a rich man evaded taxes, it was a crime against society…” (399). Notably, when Drosoula establishes a taverna in her former residence, Pelagia draws nearer to have an insight into the business. And upon the proprietor’s death, she takes over the running of the tavern, hiring a music entertainer to give life to the premises. Iannis joins Corelli’s band due to his love for music. The story finally ends, though ironically, with Corelli’s ‘victory’; he returns and informs Pelagia of his intention not marry her. In spite of her resentment under the weight of two betrayals, Corelli manages to cool her tempers by persuading her to accompany him of on a visit to the hut, which served as their first rendezvous several years earlier. Works Cited Bradshaw, Peter. Captain Corelli’s Mondolin. The Guardian, 4 May 2001. Web. 3 Dec. 2013. < http://www.theguardian.com/> De Bernieres, Louis. Captain Corelli's Mandolin. New York: Random House, 1998. Read More