Michael Ondaatje’s The English Patient
World War II was a traumatic and life-changing experience for all who lived through the
time period. Michael Ondaatje’s novel, The English Patient is set in the direct aftermath of this
turbulent and violent era. Each of his characters is effected by the death and violence that go
hand in hand with war; Hana in particular is profoundly changed by her experience as a nurse in
an Italian hospital. Hana is a woman in ruins, both physically and mentally; by looking at her
experiences with death and her relationships to the English Patient, Kip, and her surroundings,
she can be seen as a representative of the victims of war, a complex human face on the backdrop
of the battleground. By comparing these traits of hers with the psychological perspective on death
and war, Hana is shown to begin life as an innocent child, though subject to human fears and
mortalities, death and war permanently handicap her to the joys of life.
Hana is born in Canada, far removed from the war-torn Europe that will someday ruin
her. Throughout the text, Ondaatje mixes flashes of Hana’s past into the narrative through other
characters or by her own tale to illuminate her ultimate loss of innocence. One of the most
important insights of Hana comes from the character Caravaggio. When he is reminiscing about
the past with her, he talks of many things, including a birthday party where she sang on a
barstool, prompts him to observe that “you didn’t know the exact words but you knew what the
song was about” (Ondaatje 53). He remembers a carefree Hana, sweet and innocent, who
understood the melody of life, even if she did not understand all the details. This...
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...ow this transformation extends further over time, from the quiet town of Amiens to the liberty of 1970s London. Their resistance to the horrors of the War, to patriarchal systems and to social formalities led to significant turning points in the novel, giving us the sense of a theme of revolution on a personal and social level throughout making it the core element of the novel. The differences between the pre-war and post-war period are contrasted episodically by Faulks, and via the female protagonists, he is able to represent very openly how society has transformed. Faulks is able to very cleverly wrong foot the modern reader with the initial realist portrayal of a oppressive husband, illicit relationships and the gore of war. However, it serves only to provide him a platform from where he can present a more buoyant picture of societal and personal transformation.
Imagine living in such a time period, where thousands of children are confused and families are scared. That is what life was like during World War II. In the story, “Keeping Memory Alive”, the author, Elie Wiesel, discussed why remembering the concentration camps is important. “The Uprooting of a Japanese-American Family” by Yoshiko Uchida describes daily life in the internment camps. Both stories are connected by sharing their feelings about the unfair treatment received during World War II in the 1940s.
A heroine's journey usually involves a female protagonist, however, the relationship with this story structure goes much deeper in this book.
I was born in 1943, in the midst of this war. And I sense now that my life is still bound up with the lives of those who lived and died in this time. Even with Heinrich Himmler. All the details of his existence, his birth, childhood, adult years, death, still resonate here on earth. . . .
At first she was a little confused but then began to be more patient. The Character arc changes throughout the story in very slight ways. At first the narrator sounds playful and childish. However, getting towards the end of the story, the narrator becomes more patient and a little more mature.
women and the people who have been misjudged and looked down upon.Minerva died a heroine
World War II opened a new chapter in the lives of Depression-weary Americans. The United States of America had an unusual importance in the war, it had been spared the physical destruction that had taken place throughout the world. Americans on the home front did not see the fighting and brutality as other countries experienced it. However, the events and changes on the home front due to the World War transformed America. One of the greatest conversions was that of the American woman. Women around the country were transformed from the average house wife into a person with a voice and most importantly a purpose.
World War II was a global event that forever changed the world. From devastating events to heart wrenching stories, World War II bore witness to some of the most heinous acts against humanity. A debate exists over the differences between the history and the memory of the war. From historians to the way societies remember it, the war impacted everyone. Many argue that the United States entered the war for ulterior motives others remember its involvement as a necessity in order to prevent a more catastrophic outcome. Whether one remembers the war because they lived it or because they read about it differences of opinions still exist regardless of historical evidence or witness accounts.
The result of World War II had tragic results for Japan, Germany, and also Italy. The United States and the Allies came out victorious once again but the cost of war greatly affected all the countries. Germany, Japan, and Italy now have more debts to pay and also lost much of their territory once again. The war took many lives and also ended up destroying many beautiful cities. World War II showed how not just the soldiers were affected in the war, but everyone in all the different countries were affected by the war.
Characterization: Her character becomes very confident and self-forgiving as shown from this passage. What she used to do was only because she was trying to recover from her deceased husband.
World War II was one of the deadliest wars we know of in history, with as many as sixty million casualties, most of whom were civilians. It impacted a lot of countries, almost all over the world, which is why the name is given. This war impacted many countries in the world, and damaged almost all of the countries involved greatly. It also led to the downfall of Western European countries as world powers, leaving it to the Soviet Union, and the United States. The war started in 1939 and ended in 1945, with the invasion of Poland and the Axis surrender, respectively.
influence all her life and struggles to accept her true identity. Through the story you can
An example is her torture during the majority of the book. In 6th grade she went to her friends party, and to her astonishment, a couple began making out in the closet. She called her mom to tell her what was going on and her mom told the mother ...
...e relationship with men, as nothing but tools she can sharpen and destroy, lives through lust and an uncanny ability to blend into any social class makes her unique. Her character is proven as an unreliable narrator as she exaggerates parts of the story and tries to explain that she is in fact not guilty of being a mistress, but a person caught in a crossfire between two others.
tragedies that befell her. She is an example of a melancholic character that is not able to let go of her loss and therefore lets it t...