Concealed
Identities
‘The English
Patient’ by Michael Ondaatje
For. Mrs.
Arrowsmith
Course: ENG-OAI
Date: 4th
June, 2001
Life is composed of trials and tribulations, accomplishments, lessons and experiences and various other emotions. However, there are certain experiences in one's life that permit reflection on one's past actions and simultaneously discover the nature of one's true identity. In The English Patient, it is the improbable circumstances of war that captures the diverse lives of three individuals: Kip, Hana and Almasy, and allows them to dig deep into thoughts and come to terms with their identity.
Truth may be concealed and one may convince themselves otherwise, however it alters the path to living a reality. Kirpal Singh, a Sikh with a turban originally from the Punjab, but trained to be a British sapper, was one such individual. He was a hardworking bomb-disposal expert who was very loyal to the British and in his naiveness, he expected the same from the British. The English! They expect you to fight for them but won't talk to you. Singh. And the ambiguities.' (Pg. 188) However, once he met Lord Suffolk and described him to Hana as 'the best of the English" (Pg. 185), he fell back into his hole of innocence.
Kip's brother and Caravaggio were two individuals who tried to convince him that racism still existed and that he was being blind. His brother whom he considered to be the hero of the family was even jailed because 'he refused to agree to any situation where the English had power.' (Pg. 200) Despite this indifferent treatment to his brother, Kip still remained in the dark and instead progressed in his ability to hide in silent places. He was good at" it from a very young age. This is what his brother's public battles against war did to his personality. Kip began to hate confrontation, accept anyone/anything that was to come in his path and therefore, lived a silent life. Even when Caravaggio pleads to
Hana to stop obsessing over the English patient, he breaks out in a temper out of frustration and attempts to shed some light on Kip's unappreciated loyalty to the
English.
"The trouble with all of us is we are where we shouldn't be. What are we doing in Africa, in Italy? What is Kip doing dismantling bombs in orchards, for God's sake? What is he doing fighting English wars?"(Pg.l22)
This is when Kip begins to think as Caravaggio's words have hit him real hard.
The climax reaches when Kip is at the foot of Almasy's bed with a rifle pointing to the burnt patient on the bed. It is the radio station filling Kip with betrayal and horrifying acts on the part of the English towards the Indians that causes his outrage and thus blaming the English patient because he 'thinks' he is English.
"My brother told me. Never turn your back on Europe. The deal makers. The contract makers. The map drawers. Never trust Europeans, he said. Never shake hands with them. But we, oh, we were easily impressed - by speeches and medals and your ceremonies. What have I been doing these last few years? Cutting away, defusing, limbs of evil. For what? For this to happen?" (Pg. 285)
As the novel comes to an end Kip spares the patient. He lives life with the whole truth and away from his past naiveness. He becomes a doctor, has a family of his own and accepts the injustice and betrayal of the world and the ongoing existence of racism. Indeed he feels his brother was the true hero all along.
In the period of time that Hana served in the war and later on, the English patient, she underwent a search of her purpose in life and the essence of her identity. Hana was a young nurse who faced many horrific experiences. She was abused by injured soldiers when she denied them nothing but the request of getting intimate with them as their dying wish she was accused of deserting the army when she thought it to be the best of interest to stay back and nurse the English patient in the Italian villa, and worst of all, she was shattered at the idea that her father was left to burn to death when she, being a nurse, was unable to tend to him. It seems that one of the reasons Hana also decided to stay back at the Italian villa was because she had had enough of the war. She was 'sick of being treated like gold" (Pg. 85) because she was female. She wanted to leave the army and go home, but there was no one home except her stepmother whom she had not conversed with since her father died because it was too painful. She even courted a man and admitted to Caravaggio that she had been pregnant once but purposely lost the child because the father was killed at war.
'After that I stepped so far back no one could get near me. Not with talk of snobs. Not with anyone'; death. Then I met him, the man burned black. Who turned out to be, up close, an Englishman." (Pg.85)
The ongoing traumas and depressing experiences are what caused Hana to lose the
essence of living and instead tent to the dying English patient.
Hana begins to discover her soul and identity when Kip comes to their life.
The passion they shared was vital as she longed to play the role of female. There was something about him she wanted to learn, grow into, and hide in, where she could turn away from being an adult." (Pg. 52) By living through the war and undergoing the traumatic experiences, both Hana and Kip needed to share love to make their souls complete. Kip realise this when Hana broke down in his arms after diffusing a mine and admitting to him:
"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. I didn't feel - scared. I certainly wasn't brave just now." (Pg. 103)
Despite the willingness to die, she also has to live because she feels obliged to keeping the English patient alive since she says she is a 'nurse.' She obsesses with him and Caravaggio tries to convince her not to tie herself with 'a ghost!' "You have to protect yourself from sadness. Sadness is very close to hate. If you take in someone else's poison - thinking you can cure them by sharing it - you will instead & store it within you." (Pg. 45) But Hana continues to live her life of loneliness and time and time again she searches for faith and meaning.
Hana comes to terms with her identity and the loss of her father after the climatic peaks with Kip and Almasy in the novel. When Kip was brought out of the darkness and into an outrage that his loyalty had been betrayed, Hana felt Kip slipping away from her and she knew their relationship would not be the same. And when she learns of Almasy's true identity and the affair that costed his lover's life, Hanna began to face reality and understand her identity. She was a war nurse. After understanding what Almasy went through, she agreed to end his life with morphine as per his request. She began to take charge of her life and the first step was writing to Clara, her stepmother, informing her about plans to return home. It was about time she came out of the cocoon of misery and dealing with her father's death. She continues to discover her identity even though 'she, at even this age,. thirty-four, has not found her own company, the ones she wanted.' (Pg. 301) The unearthing of new information or indulgence of past events is what uncovered the mystery of the English patient's identity. The sharing of his past adventures and turbulent love affair gradually leads Caravaggio to fill in the missing gaps as he shared his thoughts with Hana:
‘I thought that at first. He was very like Almasy. A desert lover as well. He had spent his childhood in the Levant and knew the Bedouin. But the thing about Almasy was, ..." (Pg. 165)
However, the irony of the mystery is that the English patient schooled in England but could also speak German!
The personality of Almasy was very queer indeed. His affair with Katharine brought the worst out in him as he learned that the thing he hated most was 'ownership' when she questioned him. Did he not believe in holy matrimony that he thought it was moral to have an affair with his friend's wife?
"I don't think you care - that this has happened among us. You slide past everything with your fear and hate of ownership, of owning, of being owned, of being named. You think this is a virtue. I think you are inhuman." (Pg. 238)
He doesn't respond to these statements by Katharine to defend himself, therefore accepting Katherine's accusations. This is not to say that he did not love her. Oh he did indeed. But although a gentleman, his responses and obsession with her sometimes (as he often did with the base of her neck) clashed with his gracefulness. One time he drunkenly disgraced himself at a farewell dinner for Maddox. Even though Katharine and Almasy were not lovers at the time, Katharine questioned him 'Can't you see you are driving us all mad?" (Pg. 239) Instances as these summed up the personality of Almasy to be unbalanced and inconsiderate.
The admittance of Almasy's true identity led to more unanswered questions and news. Caravaggio kept up the interrogation with Almasy until he filled in his gaps of curiosity and then informed Count Ladislous de Almasy that his life had been under close eye of the British intelligence. Almasy ended up betraying the English and teaming up with the Germans and as a result it costed him his friend's life, Maddox. Maddox was hurt deeply by the betrayal of his friend at war and Clifton, Katherine's husband, was also deeply wounded by his backstab. In the end the actions of Almasy proved to be very selfish and costed a lot of lives. Although his affair with Katharine didn't last long, it is difficult to sympathise with his losses after the immortal nature of his identity is revealed.
In conclusion, the situations experienced at war resulted in some grace period of reflection for the diverse lives of the three main characters. The end result varied from healing of the soul and sadness of the heart to the expected death of the English patient. It is Michael Ondaatje's finest work that has not only narrated a fictioned piece but has also entwined hidden lessons with a wealth of researched history.
Bibliography
Ondaatje, Michael. The English Patient. Toronto: McClelland &
Stewart Inc., 1992.
Teachers Comments: A good piece of
work! 88%