“The English Patient:” A Post-Colonial Perspective

I have finally finished the novel “The English Patient” by Michael Ondaatje. I will admit at times I did find the novel a bit hard to follow, but overall it was a good read. My final analysis is based on the third part of the novel. I used post-colonial theory to analyze the last part of the book.

Firstly, the entire novel takes place during the events of World War II. The final part of the novel contains the final part of the war. I would just like to point out that this is a very good example of hegemony. Hegemony is a term used to refer to the domination and control of one country or class of people by another country or class of people. This is seen in World War II throughout the novel as the country Germany and the people within following Hitler’s power, are discriminating against the Jewish race. The people under Hitler’s control were called Nazis and Hitler was intent on destroying the entire Jewish race. All of the characters in the novel were amongst the chaos of World War II and played key roles.

When further analyzing the novel through a post-colonial perspective I discovered that the protagonist, the English patient, shows the difference between imagination and reality as well as nationality and citizenship. The English patient throughout the whole novel is thought to be English; however, it turns out that he is actually Hungarian by birth. When one of the other characters Caravaggio discovers the truth about the English patient while talking to him he wonders “who is he speaking as now”(Ondaatje 244). Almasy is the name of the English patient which is revealed towards the end of the novel. He is the focus point of the novel and he helps to highlight the difference between nationality and citizenship. He helped the Germans navigate the desert.

Furthermore, I also believe this novel shows how the nation and nationalism shape identities through colonial and anti-colonial nationalisms. The main characters are all exiles from their homeland and have all gathered at the villa at the end of World War two. Hana is a Canadian nurse that volunteered to serve in the war. Another character is Kip, who was a bomb disposal person in the British army. There is also Caravaggio who was a thief, also Italian-Canadian. Finally, there was the English patient, who was Hungarian and was a desert explorer that helped the Germans. All of these characters have recolonized in their own little space away from the destruction of the war, and their pasts.

However, if I was to analyze the characters using post-colonial theory, I would focus mostly on kip. Kip is adapted into English culture. He is viewed as different because he has an in-between identity, having brown skin. Kip is a Sikh which a specific type of religion. Towards the end of the novel Kip hears about the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and he becomes furious. He also learns who the English patient actually is. Kip gets a riffle and holds it at Almasy in anger. He doesn’t care about the real identity of the English patient; Kip believes that “when you start bombing the brown races of the world, you’re an Englishman”(286). Kips view towards the English is racist and aggressive. Kips brother told him to “never trust Europeans”(284). Overall kip is the character that I can see the post-colonial perspective.

Overall, the novel questions nations and nationalism. This can be seen through the racism, colonial, and anti-colonial nationalism. The novel also shows the theme of national identity through the characters of Kip, Hana, Caravaggio, and the English patient. The setting of the book in World War II also helps to show the post-colonial aspect of the novel.

 

 

Ondaatje, Michael. The English Patient. Vintage Canada, 1993.