Paintings and allusions in English Patients - Essay Example

Paintings and Allusions in “The English Patient” Introduction The English Patient, a recipient of the Man Booker Prize and the Governor General’s Award, was written by a Sri Lankan-Canadian novelist, Michael Ondaatji. The story is based on the lives of four individuals which are slowly revealed by the protagonist, who in turn, happens to be a critically burnt man. The other characters include a Canadian nurse, a Canadian thief and an Indian Sapper serving the British army. The plot involves a small Italian villa which is “living out the end” of the World War II and has somehow managed to survive the wrath of a war torn planet. (Barnes and Noble) The Significance Of The picture of Isaiah in Sistine Chapel The author’s representation of a unique connection between disasters in the human history and the atomic bomb explosions in Japan takes a new turn when Kip enters the Sistine Chapel. Out here, the apocalyptic prophesy of Isaiah interlinks the bombing of Japan with the biblical apocalypse. The reference comes to light when Kip surveys the chapel with his rifle telescope, “reached the great face and was stilled by it, the face like a spear, wise, unforgiving. (77)”. When Kip asks a fellow soldier about the true identity of the face, he learns that it is indeed the “great face” of Isaiah. The painting is a clear depicting of the catastrophic prophecies of Isaiah with regards to the Satanic bombing of Japan. The novel thus challenges the apocalypse (the nuclear bombing) by highlighting a community oriented eschatological society (through the means of Kip). (Ondaatje, 1993, p. 83) The Significance Of The Queen Of Sheba The Queen of Sheeba, also known as “queen of the south” in the Hebrew bible, is in reality from a South African origin, which apart from other things, talks of king Solomon. In the book, The English Patient, her chastity is symbolized by the statue of Virgin Mary. In the passage from Isaiah 60:0; “And they from Sheeba shall come; they shall bring forth gold and incense; and they shall show forth the praises of the lord.” This is a clear indication that Sheeba is indeed a provider of wealth and a friendly giver. Out here, the chastity of Kip was given a tight joust when catastrophe struck on Japan in the form of an atomic bomb. (Ondaatje, 1993, p. 74) David & Goliath By Caravaggio David and Goliath is a painting by Master Caravaggio, who happened to be an Italian Baroque master. Out here, David is shown as a conqueror who has the Giant of the Goliath by the hair. The Biblical David is a young boy who had the capability of defeating the champion of Philistines. While David’s arm, leg and flank have been depicted in light, as is Goliath’s severed head, it has to be noted that the painting is symbolic to an action which has no victory attached. Caravaggio has painted Goliath’s face as that of terror, wherein his tongue is rolling, his eyes are wide and his mouth is wide open in terror. The painting is a symbolic representation of the anarchy which struck the Japanese state. Likewise, you also need to keep in mind the helplessness of the English Patient. Even Caravaggio in the English Patient is handicapped. Likewise, Hana is shell shocked by the proceeds of the war and has yet to recover. Kip on the other hand is absolutely stunned at the proceedings and his myth that the western civilization is by far the best is contradicted by the inhuman bombings in Japan. (Ondaatje, 1993, p. 76) Status Of Virgin Mary’s Significance The status of Virgin Mary is a grim reminder of the sacred times which bathed the length and the breadth of the globe before the onset of the war and hence the significance of this statue, which Kip incidentally glimpses through the telescopic site of his rifle, is to leave behind the apocalyptic eschatology by suspending the historical times and entering the religious times in an imaginative manner. Although Kip is a Sikh, he recognizes the need to dispel the anarchy of the war and seek solace in the arms of Virgin Mary. This, he thought, was how the people in this war torn zone managed to remain sane. Kip says, “These were not romantic people. They had survived fascists, the English Gauls, Goths and Germans. They had been owned so often it meant nothing. But this blue and green plaster figure had come out of the sea, was placed in a grape truck full of flowers, while the band marched ahead of her in silence.” (79) Hence, despite being owed so often by different civilizations, “these people”, had a collective desire to believe in the chastity of Virgin Mary. This following sentence explain it all- Likely because they had been “owned so often,” these oppressive people turn to the “collective desires to unfree humanity,” embedded in the rituals (Wolin, 262) (Ondaatje, 1993, pp. 84-85) Collage Amongst Pictures And Allusions Formulated by Elliot in the early days, numerous writers from the war torn zone have been known to formulate their stories on similar basis and have expertly defined war as a wide scaled destruction using pictures and allusions as their painting brush. The historical authority of this novel, with special regards to the times when the boundaries are being drawn, is a clear reminder of the anarchy of the war and the ethno-religious infighting, with special regards to Sri Lanka and Yugoslavia (Minghella, 1995, p. xi). The various allusions and paintings, which we have discussed above, are a clear reminder of the fact that the personal boundaries of an individual, with special regards to Kip, are redrawn on the basis of new ethnic and religious principles. A parallel between medieval warfare and the allied campaign in Italy have also been explicitly depicted through the means of both allusions as well as the paintings. The languages, cultures and languages of Hana, Caravaggio and Kip can be traced to a hypothetical root, with their culture dating between 10,000 and 5,000BC (Fledderus, 1997). These Indo Europeans are now known as Aryans. Kip corresponds to Perceval , who happens to be a “traveling knight”. Besides, Kip is also seen as a “warring saint” by Hana and is described through angels, Gods and saints. Kips visit to the Sistine chapel is symbolic to Perceval’s experiences in the “perilous chapel” Caravaggio, on the other hand is a “knight like figure” and has been portrayed as a “lover and not a family man.”(117) (Goldman, 2005) Conclusion Paintings and allusions play vital important role in the novel entitled “English Patient”. While the paintings at the cave were a clear description of the lives led by people in the Stone Age, their symbolic representation to both Almsay and Kip was that of an escapist, who ached to stay confined to their ironic utopia. Likewise, Caravaggio, the thumb less painter was not a physical representative of the art but happened to be a clever tool for extracting information. While the others stood still in the Cave of Swimmers, it was indeed Caravaggio who took the final plunge. Works Cited Barnes and Noble. (n.d.). Sparknotes: The English Patient: Michael Ondaatje. Retrieved December 2, 2008, from Sparknotes: http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/englishpatient/canalysis.html Fledderus, B. (1997). "The English Patient Reposed in His Bed Like a [Fisher?] King": Elements of Grail Romance in Ondaatjes The English Patient. SCL/ELC. Minghella, A. (1995). THE ENGLISH PATIENT. The Saul Zaentz Company. Goldman, M. (2005). Rewriting Apocalypse in Canadian Fiction: Apocalypse in Contemporary Canadian Fiction. McGill-Queens Press - MQUP. Ondaatje, M. (1993). The English Patient. Vintage Books. Read More