This ISU has been a benefit to me in many different ways including improving my writing style, diction, reading more frequently, and expressing myself more clearly. I was daunted in the beginning at the enormity of the task, but I felt that the individual checkpoints reassured me in knowing I was doing well. For me to have handed in my assignment with no guidance would have been pointless, as the purpose of the ISU is to become better at writing and reading and research and thinking. So because of these checkpoints and micro due-dates, I thought the structure of the assignment was effective. This, coupled with the reader response journals and peer feedback was undoubtedly the best way to attack the ISU.
Personally, I felt as though I was beginning to write more passionately and clearly about The English Patient and Michael Ondaatje near the end of my postings, because I was internally developing an understanding of them just by fulfilling the tasks for the ISU. My strengths definitely lie in metacognition and synthesis, but my weakness is communication. This assignment has helped me recognise shape these strengths and weaknesses to allow for higher quality of performance and output.
Lastly, I view the most important aspect of this ISU to be the way it has helped me practise my reading and writing continuously. I've found the increase in vocabulary and poetic terms I've learned from The English Patient have been applied to other places for myself such as my Writer's Craft class and other English assignments. I feel more confident to express myself through writing because of the practice and feedback I've received. I just wish more school assignments were so heavily-laden with checkpoints.
November 12, 2008
Works Cited Post
Michael Ondaatje. The English Patient. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Vintage Books Canada, 1993.
November 4, 2008
Explication of Madness in The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje
All characters of this book are mad, but only by induction by the maddest one of them all: Hana. She is the constant, while all of the other characters are the variables. In the very beginning of the book, there is only an element of unspoken insanity when observing this character, as Ondaatje describes, “To Hana the wild gardens were like further rooms. She worked along the edges of them aware always of unexploded mines” (43). It is not until other characters start arriving that the externalization of this madness appears in other people. This explains why Hana is an inductive force of madness. It is arguable that madness is an internal affair, but with it, plot thickens. Hana has been afflicted by war, desensitized by death. “One night when one of the patients died she ignored all rules and took the pair of tennis shoes he had with him in his pack and put them on. They were slightly too big for her but she was comfortable” (Ondaatje 50). She is clinging to life by re-living the deaths of others. Polti’s seventeenth situation states that there must be a mad person and a victim, but in this case there are multiple victims.
The reason they are victims and not mere observers is because they are being sucked into Hana’s madness, both physically (Because they cannot persuade her to leave a heavily-mined area) and mentally (Because they are falling in love with her). An excellent example of a fusion of these attributes is the section of the Novel where Kip is defusing a mine inside a concrete ball. He can't decode it without help, and starts screaming for help, while Hana (Soon to be his lover) comes running out to help. Kip is stunned that Hana is so willing to help, but Ondaatje gives clues that Hana is actually suicidal, and has lost the essence of life. She wants the mine to explode, to kill them both in a cleansing wash of sanity, of death. After all, it is watching others die that was the cause of her insanity, so would not the opposite point of view elicit the opposite response? As it stands, Kip is the only character to escape this madness, leaving the house after his job is done. The parallel between a mad adventure and a precision job is remarkable. Kip rides the lightning for months, engaging to Hana’s insane core, while diffusing bombs by day. Ondaatje expresses this feeling of insanity perfectly as such: “Nurses too became shell-shocked from the dying around them. Or from something as small as a letter. They would carry a severed arm down a hall, or swab at blood that never stopped, as if the wound were a well, and they began to believe in nothing, trusted nothing. They broke the way a man dismantling a mine broke the second his geography exploded” (41). A graph of Kip's two personas would look like a line of his in-born sanity moving across the map in a straight, even line, while the line of his influenced insanity is darting in all directions, spiraling, going backwards, until finally meeting up with the line of sanity once more, when he leaves the villa. Personally, I think the only reason Kip came out of this is because he was the only previously unspent soul on the premises. Carravagio was incapacitated early on, “He raises his hands up as if to cup the quarter-moon. 'They removed both thumbs, Hana. See.'" (Ondaatje 54), and drowned his sorrow in Hana’s madness. The English Patient himself was too dazed and confused to understand what exactly what life was anymore.
This leads the Explication to the next point: What is Hana’s source of madness? Many clues draw towards this question, one of them being shell-shock. Desensitization is the cause of her dissonant common sense: “’I thought I was going to die. I wanted to die. And I thought if I was going to die I would die with you. Someone like you, young as I am, I saw so many dying near me in the last year” (Ondaatje 103). The English Patient is the manifestation of all of her loss. She cares for The English Patient much more than she cares for herself, which is another demonstration of the externalisation of her insanity: "'Now he's holed up in a Tuscan villa and the girl won't leave him. Simply refuses" (Ondaatje 29). I do not view The English Patient as a character himself, but rather as an oracle. He contributes only information to those who need it. Everyone accesses him at some point, but I believe this spurs the mutual madness into a tailspin, triggered by Hana. Later on, when Carravagio is pumping the English patient with morphine and interrogating him, Carravagio learns some frightening secrets. The information he provides is far too potent for the delicate existence of the other victims. Hana uses this oracle to keep her fire burning. He is the source of her madness, which she transcribes to others automatically just by keeping him alive. It is an impossible situation, because Hana is keeping the English patient alive in the way she couldn't for her father. She will never let it go because she feels she could give her life to repay the unknown debts to her father.
Another reason why Madness is the dramatic situation of the book is the lack of presence of any commonly-used theme or structure. This novel is extremely anti-archetypal because it explores the organic shapes of the human mind. There is little linearity regarding the thought-patterns of the characters in this novel. Ondaatje elicits this madness by tagging the reader as a part of the monotony, the boredom. He does this by describing very inane and pointless things as beautiful, full of life and meaning, which is exactly what a mad person would do if they were left to their own devices. "'I anted to touch that bone at your neck, collarbone, it's like a small hard wing under your skin. I wanted to place my fingers against it. I've always liked flesh the colour of rivers and rocks or like the brown eye of a Susan, do you know know what that flower is? Have you seen them? I am so tired, Kip, I want to sleep. I want to sleep under this tree, put my eye against your collarbone" (Ondaatje 103). Ondaatje allows the reader to fall under the influence of madness with the rest of them by showing the reader how to be amused by casual and bland things. He turns landscapes into stories and conversations into movies. This constitution is constant throughout the novel, and readers have to dig deep in order to find the commonly-found hero and the antagonist. The very structure of this book is a reflection of the mad mind.
The reason they are victims and not mere observers is because they are being sucked into Hana’s madness, both physically (Because they cannot persuade her to leave a heavily-mined area) and mentally (Because they are falling in love with her). An excellent example of a fusion of these attributes is the section of the Novel where Kip is defusing a mine inside a concrete ball. He can't decode it without help, and starts screaming for help, while Hana (Soon to be his lover) comes running out to help. Kip is stunned that Hana is so willing to help, but Ondaatje gives clues that Hana is actually suicidal, and has lost the essence of life. She wants the mine to explode, to kill them both in a cleansing wash of sanity, of death. After all, it is watching others die that was the cause of her insanity, so would not the opposite point of view elicit the opposite response? As it stands, Kip is the only character to escape this madness, leaving the house after his job is done. The parallel between a mad adventure and a precision job is remarkable. Kip rides the lightning for months, engaging to Hana’s insane core, while diffusing bombs by day. Ondaatje expresses this feeling of insanity perfectly as such: “Nurses too became shell-shocked from the dying around them. Or from something as small as a letter. They would carry a severed arm down a hall, or swab at blood that never stopped, as if the wound were a well, and they began to believe in nothing, trusted nothing. They broke the way a man dismantling a mine broke the second his geography exploded” (41). A graph of Kip's two personas would look like a line of his in-born sanity moving across the map in a straight, even line, while the line of his influenced insanity is darting in all directions, spiraling, going backwards, until finally meeting up with the line of sanity once more, when he leaves the villa. Personally, I think the only reason Kip came out of this is because he was the only previously unspent soul on the premises. Carravagio was incapacitated early on, “He raises his hands up as if to cup the quarter-moon. 'They removed both thumbs, Hana. See.'" (Ondaatje 54), and drowned his sorrow in Hana’s madness. The English Patient himself was too dazed and confused to understand what exactly what life was anymore.
This leads the Explication to the next point: What is Hana’s source of madness? Many clues draw towards this question, one of them being shell-shock. Desensitization is the cause of her dissonant common sense: “’I thought I was going to die. I wanted to die. And I thought if I was going to die I would die with you. Someone like you, young as I am, I saw so many dying near me in the last year” (Ondaatje 103). The English Patient is the manifestation of all of her loss. She cares for The English Patient much more than she cares for herself, which is another demonstration of the externalisation of her insanity: "'Now he's holed up in a Tuscan villa and the girl won't leave him. Simply refuses" (Ondaatje 29). I do not view The English Patient as a character himself, but rather as an oracle. He contributes only information to those who need it. Everyone accesses him at some point, but I believe this spurs the mutual madness into a tailspin, triggered by Hana. Later on, when Carravagio is pumping the English patient with morphine and interrogating him, Carravagio learns some frightening secrets. The information he provides is far too potent for the delicate existence of the other victims. Hana uses this oracle to keep her fire burning. He is the source of her madness, which she transcribes to others automatically just by keeping him alive. It is an impossible situation, because Hana is keeping the English patient alive in the way she couldn't for her father. She will never let it go because she feels she could give her life to repay the unknown debts to her father.
Another reason why Madness is the dramatic situation of the book is the lack of presence of any commonly-used theme or structure. This novel is extremely anti-archetypal because it explores the organic shapes of the human mind. There is little linearity regarding the thought-patterns of the characters in this novel. Ondaatje elicits this madness by tagging the reader as a part of the monotony, the boredom. He does this by describing very inane and pointless things as beautiful, full of life and meaning, which is exactly what a mad person would do if they were left to their own devices. "'I anted to touch that bone at your neck, collarbone, it's like a small hard wing under your skin. I wanted to place my fingers against it. I've always liked flesh the colour of rivers and rocks or like the brown eye of a Susan, do you know know what that flower is? Have you seen them? I am so tired, Kip, I want to sleep. I want to sleep under this tree, put my eye against your collarbone" (Ondaatje 103). Ondaatje allows the reader to fall under the influence of madness with the rest of them by showing the reader how to be amused by casual and bland things. He turns landscapes into stories and conversations into movies. This constitution is constant throughout the novel, and readers have to dig deep in order to find the commonly-found hero and the antagonist. The very structure of this book is a reflection of the mad mind.
November 3, 2008
Apologia of Micheal Ondaatje and The English Patient: Why Should Attention be paid to This Novel and Novelist?
The Novel The English Patient, is an epitome of its class, and deserves attention for various reasons. Firstly, Ondaatje highlights the subtleties of romance by using second-person narrative. Not all is known about the relationships in this novel, and therefore creates a sense of wonder and, more importantly, reader engagement. Also, this book is an excellent fusion of fictitious characters in real-world events. In this case it is World War Two. Ondaatje not only seamlessly incorporates an extrapolative interpretation of characters amidst the retreated territories of the Germans, but the empathy he elicits is extremely vivid.
The focal point of the novel is its unique structure: The narratives shift via large sections of dialogue, the flashbacks intertwine with each other, and the past is looped into the present and future. Ondaatje artfully ties these elements into a beautiful bow, whilst no gaps are present in the congruency of the past and present. As well, much repetition is used to convey the monotony of the period. Unique words and events and themes are used over again in varying situations, which create a sense of ‘return’. As one reads this novel, one will find that this sense of return is an important device used to portray insanity. It is also a subtle undertone used to support the other heavily-weighted themes of the book, such as deadness, madness and discovery. In fact, these themes might not be visible without the clever use of repetition. This ingenious syntax is most-likely an important cog contributing to the alleged acclamation of this novel.
As architecturally notable as the themes of this book can be, the subtlety of character development balances it. The malleability of the characters is a result of vagueness and ambiguity by design or otherwise. Ondaatje does not describe the appearance of a single character, and due to the madness of each character, their interactions are quite unorthodox. Either way, it allows for reader empathy, allows for the molding of characters. This is unique, and the strengths lie in the fact that there is room for the reader to personalize the characters, making this book more accessible and versatile.
The blend of style between exposition and romanticism is effective in expressing the insights into the human condition. Ondaatje successfully incorporates artistic description with personal insight and ideas of human nature. The novel deserves attention purely because one can learn so much about interaction with others in desperate times simply by enjoying the description in the novel. It is written like a poetic essay: there is always an underlying thesis to what Ondaatje is describing, which gives this novel weight, but does not impede the pleasure of reading it. In this case, this should be reason enough for someone to pick up this book because it is both educative and a joy to navigate.
On the other hand, Michael Ondaatje himself should be paid attention for many reasons. Most of his works are critically acclaimed, which means that even for the shyest reader, there is a good chance of picking up a good book when looking under ‘Ondaatje’. Also, this novelist has written other books following this successful archetype of multicultural interactions across time periods (such as Divisadero). His success is not the only thing to account when considering Ondaatje. His use of poetic devices-such as parallelism, metaphor, irony, and imagery-in prose deserves to be celebrated. He blends his stories together like a skillfully-masoned mosaic, fitting the pieces so that the separate stones create a beautiful picture, but the picture also represents something greater through theme. Also, another reason to credit the author more is the fact that he is still alive; he should be encouraged to keep writing so that the general public can continue to enjoy his works. After all, some of the greatest writers are deceased; ergo one should encourage a great writer of the current time to continue. He is a factory of imagination fuelled by his reading population, and should therefore be encouraged to continue to write and express.
The focal point of the novel is its unique structure: The narratives shift via large sections of dialogue, the flashbacks intertwine with each other, and the past is looped into the present and future. Ondaatje artfully ties these elements into a beautiful bow, whilst no gaps are present in the congruency of the past and present. As well, much repetition is used to convey the monotony of the period. Unique words and events and themes are used over again in varying situations, which create a sense of ‘return’. As one reads this novel, one will find that this sense of return is an important device used to portray insanity. It is also a subtle undertone used to support the other heavily-weighted themes of the book, such as deadness, madness and discovery. In fact, these themes might not be visible without the clever use of repetition. This ingenious syntax is most-likely an important cog contributing to the alleged acclamation of this novel.
As architecturally notable as the themes of this book can be, the subtlety of character development balances it. The malleability of the characters is a result of vagueness and ambiguity by design or otherwise. Ondaatje does not describe the appearance of a single character, and due to the madness of each character, their interactions are quite unorthodox. Either way, it allows for reader empathy, allows for the molding of characters. This is unique, and the strengths lie in the fact that there is room for the reader to personalize the characters, making this book more accessible and versatile.
The blend of style between exposition and romanticism is effective in expressing the insights into the human condition. Ondaatje successfully incorporates artistic description with personal insight and ideas of human nature. The novel deserves attention purely because one can learn so much about interaction with others in desperate times simply by enjoying the description in the novel. It is written like a poetic essay: there is always an underlying thesis to what Ondaatje is describing, which gives this novel weight, but does not impede the pleasure of reading it. In this case, this should be reason enough for someone to pick up this book because it is both educative and a joy to navigate.
On the other hand, Michael Ondaatje himself should be paid attention for many reasons. Most of his works are critically acclaimed, which means that even for the shyest reader, there is a good chance of picking up a good book when looking under ‘Ondaatje’. Also, this novelist has written other books following this successful archetype of multicultural interactions across time periods (such as Divisadero). His success is not the only thing to account when considering Ondaatje. His use of poetic devices-such as parallelism, metaphor, irony, and imagery-in prose deserves to be celebrated. He blends his stories together like a skillfully-masoned mosaic, fitting the pieces so that the separate stones create a beautiful picture, but the picture also represents something greater through theme. Also, another reason to credit the author more is the fact that he is still alive; he should be encouraged to keep writing so that the general public can continue to enjoy his works. After all, some of the greatest writers are deceased; ergo one should encourage a great writer of the current time to continue. He is a factory of imagination fuelled by his reading population, and should therefore be encouraged to continue to write and express.
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