Power, Reality, and Absurdity Theme Analysis

Because of the way in which Captain Corelli's Mandolin makes use of a variety of perspectives and narrative styles, it's able to explore how power functions from a number of angles: Mussolini, the fascist dictator of Italy, tells the reader directly about his plans to conquer Europe; Hector, the leader of the Greek rebel group ELAS explains how communist theory provides the justification for cheating and then killing Greek peasants; and Dr. Iannis notes on numerous occasions how powerful "megalomaniacs" from Philip of Macedon to Mussolini himself abuse their power. Both despite and because of these narrators’ wildly differing viewpoints, the novel explores how, within the contexts of Mussolini's fascism, Greece's rebel communism, and World War Two as a whole, leaders manipulate their political power and use it to warp perceptions of reality, both their own and that of others. In this way, the novel exposes these leaders as fundamentally hypocritical, as they're far more interested in power simply for the sake of having it than anything else.

In Mussolini's narration prior to the Italian invasion of Albania, he speaks to an unnamed and unrecorded underling and demonstrates exactly how much power he has, how intent he is on gaining more, and how ridiculous this fixation makes him look. He shows impressive vanity by asking his underling to hold a mirror for him so he can find his best angle from which to be photographed, and then goes on to show how his power as Il Duce, the dictator of Italy, affords him the ability to fundamentally shape reality. He makes numerous references to fabricating attacks by the Greeks and throws out a number of other "facts," such as the notion that planting trees on mountains will naturally create more snow and, in turn, will create men coldhearted like the Germans. He further erroneously states that "fascist economics are immune from the cyclic disturbances of capitalism"--something that he insists is correct, regardless of his listener’s apparently telling him that the opposite appears to be true. When combined with his petty attitude and, specifically, his exaggerated and emotional explosion when a cat enters his chambers, these lies create a portrait of him that insists that his power to dictate what's considered reality isn't actually enough to keep him from seeming ridiculous--even, and especially, in the eyes the soldiers who are supposed to be fighting for him. This in turn discredits him and his goals in the eyes of the rest of the characters who are aware he's hiding the truth or fabricating information, though many high-ranking Italian generals must continue to outwardly support those delusions.

Though Mussolini is the novel's primary example of a power-hungry ruler, it also offers Mandras's introduction to Hector and the Greek communist rebel group ELAS as another example of the ways in which hunger for power is shown to be ultimately destructive and ineffective, even to those within the leader’s organization and those it purports to help. Mandras is initially entranced by Hector's promise to teach him to read, but Mandras eventually becomes intoxicated by a political system that promises him power and that is shown to be just as corrupt and convoluted as Mussolini's fascism. Though the rebels claim to be fighting for Greece, in reality, they steal from civilians and other Greek military groups, brutally murder innocent people when they attempt to stand up for themselves, and refuse to help other Greek forces defend the country against either the Italians for the Germans. Further, just as the Italians recognize that Mussolini is full of lies and half-truths, none of the Greeks believe the ELAS is truly out to help them either. In short, by diving into the ways in which Mussolini and ELAS attempt to manipulate those in their inner circles as well as everyone else, the novel ultimately proposes that the kind of power that Mussolini and ELAS enjoy is fundamentally corrupt. Rather than making either Mussolini or ELAS into the heroes that they believe themselves to be, that power actually turns them into absurd caricatures of absolute power run wild--and fools nobody but those also hungry for power.