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Identities in the Spaces of Flows & Fragmentations

Identities in the Spaces of Flows & Fragmentations. The English Patient: Introduction. Michael Ondaatje was born on September 12, 1943 in Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka).

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Identities in the Spaces of Flows & Fragmentations

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  1. Identities in the Spaces of Flows & Fragmentations The English Patient: Introduction

  2. Michael Ondaatje was born on September 12, 1943 in Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). As a result of his father's alcoholism, Ondaatje’s parents eventually separated in 1954 and he moved to England with his mother 1962-64, Ondaatje attended Bishop's University in Lennoxville, Quebec. 1965 -- B.A. at University of Toronto Michael Ondaatje

  3. Michael Ondaatje • Before Anil’s Ghost, Used to be criticized for • not writing much about Canada and Sri Lanka, or writing in a “politically correct” way. • the use of violence (e.g. the inclusion of atomic bomb)  his response: trying to find a balance between ‘gentleness and violence’” (Leckie 29).

  4. The English Patient: Setting Places: 1.the Villa San Girolamo in Tuscany; a nunnery, a field hospital, and a besieged fortress e.g. 11, 12, 29, 43; 2.South Cairo; the desert; 3.Kip: Lahore the English countryside Time: 1.right after WWII 1945; 2. 1943 the first Canadian infantry p. 49; 3.South Cairo1930-1938: 1936

  5. EP: Summary wk 1 • Chap I: The Villa: Hana’s taking care of EP, her reading, the villa, the desert, and the desert tribes; • Chap II: In Near Ruins: Hana and Caravaggio in near ruins; their respective experience of the War and its influences on them, their memories, the arrival of Kip • Chaps III: Sometime a Fire Kip’s presence in the Villa and his past;

  6. EP: Summary wk 1 • Chap 4 – South Cairo 1930-1938 • EP’s reminiscence of desert expedition; Clifton and his wife join them in 1936; falling in love (voice  dance “gave you my life”); • Chap 5 – Katherine • nightmare; their relationship (calmness  violence) • her first ride with him; (hates his assumption) • what each of them hates; Almasy's wounds and being disassembled - wall pp. 155-56

  7. EP: Summary wk 2 • Chap VI: the Buried Plane -- Caravaggio’s intrusion into the EP’s storytelling--the ending of 1942 told the first time. (p. 175) • Chap VII: In Situ (meaning: in the natural or original position or place 1940) -- Kip’s story of being trained as a sapper; Kip vs. his brother; Erith, where Lord Suffolk die;

  8. EP: Summary wk 2 • Chap VIII: The Holy Forest: Kip’s experience; Kip and Hana (217 - ). • Chap IX: The Cave of Swimmers -- EP’s story of love re-told to Caravaggio (with two endings/interpretations of the ending) • Chap X: August --the endings: birthday party; Hana and Kip’s communication; Kip’s experience of defusing bombs in Naples, Kip’s sudden departure, Hana’s homecoming.

  9. Questions about Fragmentation and Reconstruction • How does the War influence the three characters we have seen so far? • Why do you think the desert winds and the tribe’s customs are important? How is the EP related to them? • How do the Bedouins treat the EP, as opposed to Hana’s way of treating him? • Reading: What is the importance of reading—for Hana and for the EP? • Memory: Why is the novel’s narration fragmentary? What do the characters’ memories reveal about them?

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