Captain Corelli’s Mandolin: Chapter 6 Summary & Analysis

Carlo says he found his family in the army. There, he was immersed in a male-dominated world and didn't have to flirt with women. At first, he's sent to Albania. Carlo is transferred from unit to unit and marches around for seemingly no reason, but finally he lands in the Julia Division. There, Carlo discovers the joy of being a soldier. He explains that soldiers love each other in a way entirely different from any other kind of love--they become intimately knowledgeable about each other and are there to support each other.

The one thing that spoils this is that none of the soldiers knows why they're in Albania, and plenty of soldiers, including Carlo, are communist and don't feel good about rebuilding the Roman Empire. He feels haunted by the sneaking suspicion that his cause is pointless, especially when Count Ciano golfs and Mussolini shoots cats. Carlo insists he's not a cynic, but he does know that whomever wins the war will get to say how things happened. He knows too that Mussolini has made it clear that the Greek campaign was a win for Italy, but Carlo says this is a lie. Carlo suggests that history should only consist of anecdotes of the "little people who are caught up in it." For Carlo, the Greek campaign destroyed his patriotism and brought on the greatest tragedy of his life.

Carlo explains that Socrates said that the genius of tragedy is the same as in comedy, but that the comment isn't explained in the text. However, Carlo says that what happened in Greece illustrates the truth of Socrates' statement. He begins by admitting that he fell in love with Francisco. Francisco was gorgeous and smiled constantly. Francisco wasn't secretive about the fact that he despised Mussolini and mocked him incessantly. He adopted a mouse named Mario who lived in his pocket.

Carlo admits that the soldiers knew nothing about what was going on at the top; all they knew was that their orders often contradicted each other. However, he says there were definitely clues that they'd be ordered to invade Greece: they built roads leading towards Greece, and he doesn't believe that the Greeks killed the Albanian Daut Hoggia. He explains that he learned from Dr. Iannis later that Hoggia was no patriot; he was a murderer, a thief, and a rapist. Carlo explains that what follows is an account demonstrating that the Italians started the war, not the Greeks. If the Italians lose, his writings might tell the world the truth.