Introduction
This essay articulates different ant war opinions deduced from multiple characters from the text. It is pertinent to note that love forms the basis of the anti-war sentiments. Despite the horrible experiences that people encounter during war there are lessons learnt that can be used to build a foundation for the future.
The performance of the strong man known as Megalo Velisario’s is one of the activities incorporated in the novel as peaceful engagement of different societies. In the contemporary world sports and games play a critical role for regional integration as well as multicultural positive interactions? Moreover, these sporting activities allow the young people to spend their free time in beneficial activities and not war. The visit of Megalo to the island of Cephalonia evokes different emotions across the residents. Many admire his strength including the lovely Pelagia “but every one admires strength and is seduced by it, including Pelagia.” (Bernieires, 23) He had travelled to many islands in the area and his performance drew large crowds from the towns. When the Velisario attacked father Arsenios for attempting to touch his gains from the performance infront of the crowd Pelagia differed with him. This was a show of confidence on her side at the age of seventeen she was able to face such a fierce individual. After the priest had left she said “you should not have done that, Velisario, it was cruel.” (Bernieires 27). This is a clear indication that she was a firm supporter of peaceful engagements where physical fights are not an option. To her the strong man should first seek forgiveness from the man of god before continuing with his act. However, this was not supported by other people from the village who were following through the act closely. It is pertinent to note that every human being has an intrinsic virtue that drives them to seek forgiveness and be peaceful. This was the case for Velisario after being challenged by the beautiful lady. He committed to apologize to the man of god for his actions after the act was over.
Antonio represents the ideology that war is not good for the society. It is clear to him that war is a detrimental development to the development of a society. Moreover, he bears the blunt of being separated from his sweetheart by the invention of Cephalonia. The lover of his life is Dr. Lannis well educated and mannered daughter Pelagia. Cephalonia is an island blessed with natural beauty and endowed with historical stories. The island has many beautiful physical features as well as historical features. The island is a representation of peaceful activities however; it was regularly a target for invasion by different forces due to its strategic location. The love stories that are articulated in the novel have their basis of existence in the island. On the other hand, the author has his hardline views on the motives of any war related activities and despises anyone who participated in the different invasions and battle field. This is clear in his reference to Dr. Lannis who offers his medical services to the people of the island without demanding a lot from them. It is pertinent to note that Mandras who was Pelagia’s lover was dehumanized by the war. His involvement in the war activities humiliated him in front of his lover (Bernieires 36; Harris 47).
Works Cited
Bernieires, Louis. Corelli's mandolin: a novel. New York: Vintage Books, 1995. Print.
Harris, Andy, and Terry Harris. Captain Corelli's island: Cephallonia. London: Pavilion, 1999. Print.
