Here is the synopsis of our sample research paper on Vasilis Arvanitis. Have the paper e-mailed to you 24/7/365.
Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 3 page book review that argues that Stratis Myrivilis, in his novel Vasilis Arvanitis presents a hero who often seems paradoxical in that his behavior frequently seems to violate his cultural norms. While there is seeming incongruity, a closer examination of this work, informed by background knowledge of rural Greek culture, shows that Myrivilis takes an ethnographic approach to the life of his protagonist so that the choices that are dramatized should be understood within the context of the novel as powerful cultural expressions. It is against the backdrop of Greek village life that Myrivilis portrays his hero Vasilis and this dictates the nature of the heroism that is central point of the novel. Bibliography lists 1 sources.
Page Count:
3 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_khvasm.rtf
Buy This Term Paper »
Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
incongruity, a closer examination of this work, informed by background knowledge of rural Greek culture, shows that Myrivilis takes an ethnographic approach to the life of his protagonist so that
the choices that are dramatized should be understood within the context of the novel as powerful cultural expressions. It is against the backdrop of Greek village life that Myrivilis portrays
his hero Vasilis and this dictates the nature of the heroism that is central point of the novel. Machin (1998), in discussing this novel, argues that Greek rural cultural
morality prescribes a strict set of cultural mores. Briefly, it is a mans first duty to protect the women of his family, then his village and then his nation. This
code was forged by centuries of outside occupation. The centuries of occupation have also made the rural Greeks of Crete very adaptable. As they go by an internal sense of
morality, rather than acknowledging the legal codes of outsiders, they may cooperate with their enemies when it suits their purposes and then swiftly turn against them as circumstances dictate. For
example, the manner in which Vasilis goes from working for the French tobacco company to working against it mirrors the way in which rural Greeks could swing easily from apparently
working for the occupying Turks to anti-Turk resistance (Machin, 1998). Vasilis, similarly, changes his role, both in relation to the Turks and to the tobacco company, but in every case,
his behavior is motivated by his pursuit of freedom and justice (Machin, 1998). According to Machin (1998), Vasilis in 1943 became a rallying cry against the German occupation. As
this suggests, this figure embodies the supreme Greek cultural ideal of manhood and is also reflective of the time in which the novel was written. As such, and in the
...