Among struggles in literary works, identity crisis is probably the most prevalent, as this is a common occurrence in real life situations that readers can relate to. In The English Patient, a post-war novel written by Michael Ondatje, readers follows the stories of three men and a women--- a pilot burnt beyond recognition, a young nurse, a Sikh sapper and a spy--- who come together in the final moment of the World War II, struggling to resolve identity conflicts in the turbulent society. The struggling to find one’s identity is the most important part of life because in the process of recover losing identity one will grow to maturity. This is demonstrates perfectly in the English Patient by the brilliant narrative techniques, delicate use of …show more content…
The symbolic meaning of the villa shows an isolated world for characters struggling with identities. The villa’s appearance, described by Michael Ondaatje was, “built to protect inhabitants from the flesh of the devil, had the look of a besieged fortress, the limbs of most of the statues blown off during the first days of shelling. There seemed little demarcation between house and landscape, between damaged building and the burned and shelled remnants of the earth” (Ondaatje 43). But for this brutal and cruel way, it is hard to imagine how anyone could live in this ruins. If a house must have four walls and a roof and be safe for living, then this villa is no longer a house, it loses its values and identity. Its condition and characteristics once reflects and strengthen those of the characters. They are people with hurts and cracked souls and losing identities. Being transformed by the war, Caravaggio loses his thumbs and so can no longer steal; Hana loses her father and baby, as well as her homeland; the English patient loses the use of his body. Similarity the four characters all lose themselves, they have no identities in the face of the chaos of the war. Therefore it makes sense that Ondaatje portraits the stories of struggling to recover identities centered on this villa. The Villa also acts as a symbol of web, a web where traps them, both literally and figuratively. The place seemed …show more content…
In this novel, Almásy was born in Hungary, he was educated in England and lived in desert. Kip was born in India and joined the British army. As the patient says, “We were German, English, Hungarian, African—all of us insignificant to them. Generally we became nationless” (Ondaatje 138). Kip and Almásy was both born in one place and choosing to live elsewhere. However, Michael Ondaatje is also an “in-between” person just like the characters in his novel. Born in Sri Lanka, educated in England and settled down in Canada, Ondaatje has always sensed the importance of finding a root. In a sense, the novel The English Patient is a self-portrait of Ondaatje. It contains his bewilderment about his own uncertain origins—Sri Lanka, England and Canada. The novel itself is a bildungsroman in which the characters struggle and are gradually mature to finding their identity; the author Ondaatje also matures through his writing process. As for readers, the novel has advocate the importance of struggling to find one’s real self. In a word, Ondaatje’s novel is a really brilliant piece that achieves a triple-win
The conflict that the individual faces will force them to reinforce and strengthen their identity in order to survive. In “The Cellist of Sarajevo” all the characters experience a brutal war that makes each of them struggle albeit in different ways. Each of them have their own anxieties and rage that eventually makes them grow as characters at the end of the book. When looking at what makes a person who they are it becomes obvious that the struggles they have faced has influenced them dramatically. The individual will find that this development is the pure essence of what it truly means to be
There are many factors that lead to the development of an individual’s identity. Franz Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis” illustrates an extreme change in Gregor Samsa’s external identity and the overall outward effect it has on the development of his family. While James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues” illustrates a young man struggling to find his identity while being pushed around by what society and his family wants him to be. Both of these characters exhibit an underlying struggle of alienation but both also demonstrate a craving for belongingness. This conflict of trying to belong to something as well as satisfying the needs of society, has directly impacted their own individuality and the lives of the people around them.
The existential drama, No Exit by Jean Paul Sartre, and the absurd drama, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard both portray characters with an ambiguous sense of identity. While the characters in No Exit delude themselves with respect to identity and shirk responsibility for their identity-making choices, the characters in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead are primarily controlled by outside forces that confuse and limit their sense of identity. Both these authors do a fine job of portraying the relationship between identity and the outside forces
A narrative is constructed to elicit a particular response from its audience. In the form of a written story, authors use specific narrative strategies to position the ‘ideal reader’ to attain the intended understanding of the meanings in the text. Oliver Sacks’ short story The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat is an unusual short story because it does not display conventional plot development; the story does not contain conflict or resolution of conflict. The genre of the story is also difficult to define because it reads as an autobiographical account of an experience Sacks had with a patient while working as a neurologist. Although it is arguable that the narrative is a work of non-fiction, it is nevertheless a representation, distinct from a reflection of the real events. It is a construction, Sacks chose the elements that were included and omitted in the narrative and used narrative strategies to position readers to process the signs in the text and produce reach the dominant understanding. This blurring of truth and fiction is similar to that in the genre of ‘new journalism’. Although, rather than being a journalist writing a fictional piece of journalism, Sacks is a doctor writing a fictional medical analysis. To influence readers’ comprehension of the narrative, Sacks utilised the point of view strategy of subjective narration, atypical in this short story in that a characterisation or representation of Oliver Sacks is the narrator and Oliver Sacks the person is the real author. The story is character-driven rather than plot-driven and regardless of how accurate a depiction of the real people the characters are, they are constructions. Sacks gave the characters of Doctor P. and his namesake admirable and sympathetic trait...
Authors are frequently categorized in some ways by the particular era they are writing in. This often gives a sense of what message the speaker is trying to relay, and the context in which the author is writing. Addressing the issue of self identity through this context allows a
Ambiguity in literature after World War II reflects and explores issues of self and society. These two ideas often work against each other instead of coexisting to form a struggle-free existence. J. D. Salinger, Sylvia Plath, and Richard Heller illustrate this struggle with their works. These authors explore ambiguity through different characters that experience the world in different ways. Identity, while it is an easy concept, can be difficult to attain. These authors seek out ambiguity with the human experience, coming to different conclusions. Ambiguity becomes a vehicle through which we can attempt to define humanity. J. D. Salinger’s novel, Catcher in the Rye, Sylvia Plath’s novel, The Ball Jar, and Richard Heller’s novel, Catch 22 explore ambiguity experienced through an attempt to find self. Each experience is unique, incapable of fitting a generic mold created by society.
time period. Michael Ondaatje’s novel, The English Patient is set in the direct aftermath of this
The various ways in which manhood appear and emerge within cultures has an extensive examination and definition of the meaning of a man and how a man needs to be. The notion of manhood and masculinity is shown in the main characters of the works of J. M. Coetzee and Toni Morrison. Boyhood: Scenes from a Provincial Life by J. M. Coetzee and Home by Toni Morrison are both set in different places with different cultures which result in different meanings of what a man is. Coetzee’s autobiographical fiction novel, Boyhood, takes place in South Africa during the time of the conflicts of cultural identity and race. Boyhood tells the story of the main character John, a young boy who is smart, intellectual and sensitive. John always feels unique and different, he always thinks about himself and about his uniqueness. His uniqueness and alienation from his environment cuts him off as a child and affects his growing conditions and manhood. On the other hand, Morrison’s, Home, tells the story of the aftermath of the main character, Frank Money’s, life. Money, 24 year-old, participated in the Korean War and then got discharged from the Army. During the war Money, killed many lives, including the soul of a young Korean girl that he never forgets; Money’s two best friends were both killed during the period of the war. These events left Money with a Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which affected his sanity and manhood. While the literature shows how culture, race, people and events, can affect manhood this paper will study and explore the theme of manhood differently between the main characters Coetzee and Money.
In terms of literature, perhaps the focus should be on the way different kinds of people are represented and how they represent themselves. Representation is the means by which people formulate their identity. Some may wish to discard their traditional national identity, whilst others make a strong effort to maintain it. Hence there is a continuous dialectic between received...
Emotional discomfort can sometimes be perceived as mental instability. A person may look, act, or feel insane, when in truth they are just very uncomfortable in their own skin. The narrator has a genuinely difficult decision to make which far outside his comfort zone. He is choosing between a woman who has been like a mother to him and much needed job that he feels he may enjoy. This choice is tearing him apart from the inside out. From the ringing noises that interrupt his every thought to the skin he is scraping off. The author uses diction, syntax, and extended metaphors to express the complete and utter discomfort of the narrator, both physically and emotionally.
...rrison’s characters. Slavery has destroyed, or perhaps not allowed the development of one’s identity. Fortunately, this lack of identity can be restored by a change or discovery of a name. “Everyone knew what she was called, but nobody anywhere knew her name. Disremembered and unaccounted for…” (Morrison 323). Identify is important because it tells us and everyone else who we are and what we stand for. Without a name, you are without an identity. Without and identity, you are without remembrance. Without remembrance, you are undefined.
Whether we know it or not we all develop a sense of personal identity throughout our lives. Personal identity is the development of the way you view yourself as well as the way you want others to perceive you over the course of your life. For some people this may be more difficult than others because developing a sense of personal identity can be a lifelong journey whereas for others it can be as simple as getting through a certain situation and then realizing what you’re capable of. Personal identity crises not only occur in real life with everyday people but also in works of literature as well since they depict characters or speakers who struggle with the concept of personal identity. Examples of works of literature that
One’s identity is the most important lesson to be learned. It is vital part of life knowing who you are in order to live a fulfilled life. Without knowing your identity, and the way you perceive life, it is difficult for others to understand you, along with a struggle to live a happy life. In Sylvia Plath’s “The Bell Jar,” Esther Greenwood struggles to find her own identity, and in the process, she develops a mental illness which helps her discover the person she is on the inside.
The interdependence of memory and identity is not unproblematic. Self-assessment and assessment of the characters in the novel will lead one to realise that manipulation of the past is integral...
Zora Neal Hurston’s book, Their Eyes Were Watching God, reveals one of life’s most relevant purposes that stretches across cultures and relates to every aspect of enlightenment. The novel examines the life of the strong-willed Janie Crawford, as she goes down the path of self-discovery by way of her past relationships. Ideas regarding the path of liberation date all the way back to the teachings of Siddhartha. Yet, its concept is still recycled in the twenty-first century, as it inspires all humanity to look beyond the “horizon,” as Janie explains. Self-identification, or self-fulfillment, is a theme that persists throughout the book, remaining a quest for Janie Crawford to discover, from the time she begins to tell the story to her best friend, Pheoby Watson. Hurston makes a point at the beginning of the novel to separate the male and female identities from one another. This is important for the reader to note. The theme for identity, as it relates to Janie, carefully unfolds as the story goes on to expand the depths of the female interior.