The English Patient - Michael Ondaatje (1992) - The complexity of identity

Extract

[...] However, the readers get to learn that: "All pilots who fall into the desert--none of them come back with identification" (30). This implies that there are people in the desert who steal the name tags of the Englishmen. The fact, therefore, is that somebody else could be using the name and identity of the English patient. The other irony in the name "English man" is the fact that in this novel, the person who identifies with it has no idea, or at least does not want to remember. [...]

[...] After rescuing Kathrine from a crash, the English patient runs while carrying her. They have an intense love affair. However, Katherine wishes to maintain her British identity while the English patient insists on adjusting it to fit the desert description, thus abandoning her class and name. In the end, he is unable to rescue Kathrine when help comes. He says that "the only name I should have yelled dropped like a calling card into their hands, was Clifton's" (252). Kathrine's identity had been deferred suiting the desert environment, but that change eventually left her dead. [...]

[...] The English Patient - Michael Ondaatje (1992) - The complexity of identity Introduction Michael Ondaatje's thriller novel, The English Patient tells the stories of various characters after the war that disrupted their lives changed their culture and challenged their identity. Most of the characters have endured traumatic experiences that Ondaatje makes apparent by employing different literary devices that keep readers glued to the novel. Imagery has primarily been used to enable readers to experience the world of the characters. As the story unwinds, the reader cannot help but notice the names, environment, and memories that make national identity complex. [...]

[...] They have deferred their national identity because it has ceased to reflect who they are now that the war has ended. Their freedom, however, comes when they start to verbalise their pain through stories of the past. The reader can traverse the lives of all the characters and understand how their identities have been made complex. Ondaatje helps the reader to understand through the use of imagery, irony, sarcasm, and suspense. Work Cited Ondaatje, Michael. The English patient. London: Bloomsbury Print. [...]

[...] Thus, Hana did not want to return to Canada because, in as much as it was her country of origin, she felt displaced from it. At the end of the novel, she agrees to go back to Canada. However, it is apparent that with everything that she has experienced, her identity is now more complicated. Second, it is ironic that the title of the book has the same name as Ladislaus de Almasy, and yet the reader cannot quickly get to this realization. [...]