Identity and Personality

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   In The English Patient, Michael Ondaatje presents few but significant incidents when people mistake one's identities as one's personalities or vice versa. It is the prejudice that is deeply rooted in human nature, often called "Judging the book by its cover". Everyone in villa assumes the identity of Almasy as English because they are convinced by how Almasy behaves and talks. However, Almasy is like English because he has his education there, not because he is English. He is actually Hungarian. He calls himself and Kip "International bastards". Kip is a character who is judged by his identity, not his personalities. Because of his exotic looks and skin colour, he is mistaken as incomprehensible and quixotic man. However, he is actually devoted to helping Britain, not growing hatred due to oppression. Kip feels left out in the society and adopts self-sufficiency to protect himself from others. Kip, however, makes mistakes, too. When he hears the dropping of atomic bomb on Japan, he goes mad and threatens to kill Almasy, who he thinks as a symbol of white men. Kip runs away without killing Almasy and after few years, he wonders about Hana. This ending is not what I expected, but I understand that it was necessary to have this ending to make us feel uneasy. If this novel ended with a plain happy ending with Hana marrying the Kip, then it wouldn't have deep insight to our lives. However, by making Kip go back to his own society and follow the rules there, Ondaatje illustrates how people can be so easily mistaken and decieved. However, I do not think that Kip's decision is good. I think he should have thought about how it was necessary for U.S. to drop an atomic bomb on Japan to end the war.

Interesting Character - Madox

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   As I read on, I found one character very interesting. Madox is a friend of Almasy who goes to the desert for exploration like Almasy. He always carries a book called Anna Katherina, just like Almasy carries Histories. Even though his book is about adultery, Madox stays faithful to his wife. He expresses his feelings very openly and directly. This maybe the reason why he shoots himself right at the church when he realizes the church was promoting the idea of war. Almasy's comment, "Madox was a man who died because of nations" (pg.242) describes Madox as a man of his beliefs. While reading this part, I was absolutely shocked how he would just kill himself while listening to the sermon with his wife. If I were Madox with such beliefs, then I would just shoot the priest and claim that the priest is no interpreter of God because he promotes the idea of mass murder. I would not want my wife to see me suicide and my body lying there, crushed and transformed into a red ragged doll. In wars of propaganda, people like Madox are the victims of the war because they would do anything for their beliefs, which might have been adulterated by media. R.I.P. Madox.

Analyzing Kip...

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   Kip is a second son of his Sikh family from Punjab. His family had the tradition of assigning jobs to the sons, first joining army, second becoming a doctor, and third becoming a businessman. However, due to the war, the soldiers had to be marked with yellow chalks on their body and the first brother of Kip's family was insulted by this. Refusing to join the army, he went to jail and Kip, instead, joined the army because he is kind of a guy who takes orders. Kip is comfortable with being a subordinate and he does not want to be in charge of things. When Lord Suffolk died due to bomb explosion, Kip became the "big guy" in the field. However, in his narrative, he directly mentions that he is more comfortable with being an invisible member of the group. From this chapter, we learn that Kip, even though he does not thoroughly realizes it, is feeling left out of this whole English society and as the English patient says, "[fights] to get back to or get away from [his homeland]". Because he is so used to being alone, he develops a way to defend himself, being completely alone in his thought. However, as he arrives at the mention and meets Hana, Kip starts to change, wanting to develop his relationships with Hana further.

Katherine

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   After writing about the love of the English patient, I got interested in Katherine's character. Even though Katherine first notices the English patient trying to strangle her in her nightmare and she dislikes his over-politeness, she falls in love with the English patient. When I was reading this part, I kept reading the passages again to make sure that she hated the English patient. I just couldn't understand how her increased hate for him turned into love. This was not the only quizzical part I read. Katherine, when dating the English patient secretly, hits him and bruises him. Why would she do such things to her lover? Does she have a multiple personality disorder? Is she a sadist? Well, the only logical explanation for her weird behaviors may be her guilt toward her husband, Geoffrey Cliffton. However, this does not explain much of her behaviors. Then, what are understandable behaviors? Does she just have awkward ways to express her love?

Love of the English Patient

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   Even though Hana loves the English patient, he still clings on to the love of his past, Katherine. The English patient, a desert explorer in 1930's, first meets Katherine when Geoffrey Clinton comes to desert with his plane to help the desert expedition. Katherine is the wife of Geoffrey, but she soon falls in love with the future "English patient". Their love for each other grows day by day and soon, the English patient, who abandons everything for exploring desert, becomes obsessed with his love for Katherine that he cannot live without her. Katherine feels the same way, too, but she is afraid to tell the truth to her husband, so she leaves the English patient. From the past love story of the English patient, I could see his past characteristics. He was a passionate lover and a solitary person. I am very looking forward to read more about him and Katherine's love story and how they resolve their conflict between their love and morality.

Effects of War

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   As I read along the novel, I began to notice the effect of war on the characters. At first, I only regarded the Second World War as an explanation for the circumstances of the villa, Hana taking care of the English patient who has lost almost half of his body. However, the war played bigger role than I expected. Not only physical appearance of the English patient was affected, but his mind changed from being a gregarious explorer to being a storyteller of his unfortunate, but rather healing experience. Hana became shell shocked by the news of her father's death and Caravaggio became very cautious after he got his thumbs cut off by Germans. After reading up to Chapter 3, I started to wonder: "Is there a way for citizens of war fighting country to escape from the influence of the war?" With this question in my mind, I realized that I was in a position to be affected by a potential warfare: Korean war. If the long lasted state of armistice between North and South Korea were to break and our country goes to war, then what should I do? Should I stay in Canada and just wait for the outcome? Or should I go back to Korea to fight as a soldier? I'm not sure what to do now, but sooner or later, the time to make decision will come. I hope I become ready to make that decision, and moreover, I hope North and South unite without any tumults.

At the Verge of Teenage-hood and Adulthood

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   When I started reading this novel at first, I did not understand how Hana could be so brave and determined at her age. She was twenty, which is the age I will reach in two years from now, and she is taking care of a burned English patient in a Italian villa that is surrounded by implanted mines. One small mistake and she will be done for. However, she doesn't seem so fearful at all, taking the cautiousness as a game to play. More and more I read on, I find Hana's personalities somewhat childish. On the other hand, her personalities have some adult qualities, too, such as dealing with sex and death. Ever since she became a nurse in this villa, she saw numerous deaths and was hardened by the experience. However, after the nurses left, she decides to stay in villa, taking care of the English patient, due to her emotional attachment to him. Considering her divided aspects of personalities, she doesn't seem so mature now. Maybe she is confused with her state now and is clinging on to the English pateint, whom she seeks love and comfort.