In the Skin of A Lion Michael Ondaatje

Narrative Techniques
Central Metaphor
-

A device where meaning is changed, or transferred, from one entity to another.

It involves a concept. The meaning is longer and deeper than a metaphor, more
difficult to define due to its overriding nature.
o Alices puppet show = a trope for the plight of the worker/migrant
experience
o
they were like targets. All the puppets looked stunnedon this dangerous new
country of the stage. Their costumes were a blend of several nations. Pg.121
Puppets as a metaphor for the immigrant class; they are the targets of
political exploitation, stunned and lost. The metaphor is made most
obvious by the fact that the stage is a strange new country through which
the puppets must travel, controlled by their dark puppeteers. They are
indeed a blend of several nations all coming together to form the
amorphous mass that is the working class.

Intertextuality
-

Textus: a woven fabric

links between different texts
o gives texts greater depth

The joyful will stoop with sorrow, and when you have gone to the earth I will let my
hair grow long for your sake, I will wander through the wilderness in the skin of a
lion. The Epic of Gilgamesh

Story of identity, friendship, love, loss and tragedy themes which echo
throughout the novel
The Skin of a Lion refers to an ancient practice of storytelling in which the
storyteller would don the skin of a lion, denoting him as the narrator. This
emphasizes Ondaatjes notion of demarcation, echoing Patricks quest to find
himself, to emerge from the darkness in the skin of a lion. He dons this skin
largely through his experiences of tragedy and loss; he is formed from these
experiences. More importantly, it reflects Ondaatjes need to emphasize that
this is a story which explores the very nature of storytelling itself, something
emphasized by the epigraph which follows.

Never again will a single story be told as though it were the only one. John Berger

This again emphasizes the narratological approach Ondaatje has to the novel;
he constantly reminds us that this is a story, that this is his way of exploring
the nature of storytelling itself. It also reveals the structure which the novel

will take; it is immediately made clear that this is a story which is made up of
many smaller ones, a kaleidoscopic view of human experience which
enhances the nature of the story.
there was an eclipse. The mourners stood still while the Finish Brass Band played
Chopins Funeral March into the oncoming darkness and throughout the seventeen
minutes of total eclipse. Pg.166
Reference to Chopin is an example of intertextuality used to further
emphasize the grief by associating it to an aural experience.
She likes his theatrical style. There are some novelists whose work actors love but
who could not write simple scene for a stage. They write the scenes actors dream
pg. 140

Ondaatje again discussing his own narrative style; he does have a very
theatrical style, writing almost in scenes and acts rather than chapters. He
references Conrad, an example of intertextuality, to pay homage to him and to
compare himself to Conrad, not in greatness, but in style.

Photography
Even in archive photographs it is difficult to find him. Again and again you see the
vista before you and the eye must search along the wall of sky to the speck of burned
paper across the valley that is him, an exclamation mark, some-where in the distance
between the bridge and river. Pg.36

The reference to photography emphasizes the nature of the novel; Ondaatje is

constantly trying to capture these moments in time as if he is a photographer
capturing the untold stories. There is a sadness in this notion because these
moments are so real that when they are disappear it seems almost tragic.

In the tunnel under Lake Ontario two men shake hands on an incline of mud. Beside
them a pickaxe and a lamp, their dir-streaked faces pivoting to look towards the
camera. For a moment, while the film receives the image, everything is still, the other
tunnel workers silent. Then Arthur Goss, the city photographerclimbs out into
sunlight. Work continues Pg.109

Ondaatje emphasizing his own approach to narrative; a capturing of moments

in time as if he is a photographer, capturing moments that will be lost to
history. These moments are unique and special, specific; there is a tragedy in
his capturing of them because once taken, the moment is lost forever.

Art
The moment of cubism.pg.37

This is a moment of convergence prior to the divergence into multiple

perspectives, which are later converged into a new totality in Ondaatjes
reference to Patricks life as a mural
o The novel itself seems a moment of cubism; Ondaatjes narratological
approach emphasizes the fact that no story can be told as though it
were only one. Instead, Ondaatje wishes to give many stories, many
perspectives, all of which contribute to Patricks final mural. Thus
his writing seems almost cubist; cubism emphasized this notion that
the only way to capture the essence of form was to show it from many
angles, which is precisely Ondaatjes aim in storytelling.
o Also, cubism was a very geometric and fragmented art form; similarly,
Ondaatjes novel is written in fragments Patricks love of Clara,
Temelcoff, Caravaggio all fragments which somehow fit together to
from the masterpiece that is Ondaatjes novel.
o Cubism was a strong reaction against artistic conventions such as the
illusionism that proceeded from scientific perspective; in a similar way,
Ondaatje has moved against traditional literary conventions to create
his own method of storytelling and perspective. Cubism was a merging
between the realistic and the abstract, very similar to Ondaatjes
combination of realism with poetic imagery.
o Finally cubism is an art; Ondaatje constantly emphasizes the nature of
art, as only the best art can order the chaotic tumble of events.
Ondaatjes book is almost a work of art as he paint pictures with
words, Patricks story is described as a mural a mosaic in which
many different pieces come together to form the whole. Such is
Ondaatjes novel, a beautiful fragmented work of art.

The silent film brings nothing but entertainmentall events governed by fate and
timing, not language and argument. The tramp never changes his opinion of the
policeman. The truncheon swings, the tramp scuttles through the corner window and
disturbs the fat ladys ablutions.

Another reference to art; the silent film. Ondaatje constantly feels a need to
emphasize the power of art, here again a reference to an early art form, the
silent film. Ondaatje pays homage to entertainment of silent film and also the
genres great Charlie Chaplin, perhaps a personal illustration of his love for art
and how it has influenced him. However here the metaphor is much more
powerful, more succinctly describing the nature of the society of the time; the
tramp who scuttles is the immigrant, the worker, the poor. He is downtrodden
constantly by the greater forces of power, namely the law as the policeman.
Meanwhile the fat lady representing the rich in this capitalist society
engorged and fattened, performs ablutions, perhaps futilely attempting to wash
away her sins. The tramp disturbs this ritual and is accordingly punished.
However Ondaatje points out that the poor immigrant/workers plight is
already doomed because it is governed by fate, i.e. the greater powers of
government, religion, etc. and timing, the unfortunate nature of the era in
which he exists where intolerance of other cultures is rampant in contrast to
present day attitudes. His fate cannot be governed by language because he
has no hold over it, and thus no chance for argument. It is perhaps also a

reference to the cinematic qualities of the novel with its verbal 'close-ups', pan
shots, long shots, etc. and its fragmentary almost scene-like structure.
If he were an artist he would have painted them but that was a false celebration.
What did it mean in the end to look aesthetically plumaged on this October day?
What would the painting tell?

A reference to Ondaatjes own painterly style; he seems to be questioning his

own style. He seems to also challenge the audience to find some meaning in
his own style. It is almost as if Ondaatje is anguished by the inability of his
writing and painterly style to truly convey the truth of the workers plight

She likes his theatrical style. There are some novelists whose work actors love but
who could not write simple scene for a stage. They write the scenes actors dream
pg. 140

Ondaatje again discussing his own narrative style; he does have a very
theatrical style, writing almost in scenes and acts rather than chapters. He
references Conrad, an example of intertextuality, to pay homage to him and to
compare himself to Conrad, not in greatness, but in style.

Only the best art can order the chaotic tumble of events. Only the best can realign
chaos to suggest both the chaos and the order it will become. Pg.152

It appears Ondaatje has found some order from the chaos, given us some
insight, delivering a powerful message, a hope for the future. He describes
what he believes is the true nature of art, through his own art, literature.

Sighting of her breasts. Trompe loeil. An artist has picked up a pencil and made a
fine cross hatched shadow and so they come into existence. Pg.166

Perhaps the best example of Ondaatjes painterly style. He literally draws

Alice with words, creating her more vividly, more poetically in our minds.
This allows us to associate more with Patricks grief; the remembrance of tiny
beautiful details that make the pain so much worse.

Chiaroscuro
Light imagery functions on a thematic level as well as a structural level in that it
reminds us of how perspective can give voice to the hidden or shadowed voices of
history. The character, Caravaggio, whose occupation as a thief is regularly described
as an art in itself, gets his name from the renaissance painter, Caravaggio, who was
famous for his chiaroscuro techniques.
Talk, you must talk. Pg.39

Here there is a strange reversal; Temelcoff up to this point has been silent, powerless
in the face of the Harris and his mastery of English. Here, however, he is no longer
intimidated and he shows that he too can speak English. Yet now he is in control, he
holds our attention and has greater status in the scene through his ability to speak in
Ondaatjes dialogue. The nun, remaining silent, is obscured, merging into the
darkness. This is another example of Ondaatjes chiaroscuro, though here it is not
through light and darkness but through sound and silence; Temelcoff speaks, and so
our attention is drawn to him, and thus we become more aware of him as a character.
Alice, on the other hand, is silent, and thus there is no emphasis placed on her. This
also serves to incite a certain amount of curiosity about the nun as we become
somewhat curious to know why she is silent, why in darkness, which makes the
revelation that she is Alice at the end of the book all the more powerful; we the
audience join the dots left by Ondaatjes darkness, and as such we become more
satisfied with the reading.
the grid above them on the upper level, hardly visible, where the puppeteers must
have been lying in darkness.

Another brilliant use of this light vs. darkness phenomenon; again there is a
section in darkness, the darkness itself drawn to our attention yet remaining
hidden. The upper level refers to the higher levels of power; indeed later in
the book this is the mezzanine which Harris walks on to search for Patrick.
Therefore we can surmise that the darkness hides puppeteers who control the
lives of the puppets, the workers.

Almost immediately the electric lights were turned off, leaving only the glow from
oil lamps pg.121

Ondaatje again sets the scene as a director lights a stage or a movie set; the
audience retreats into darkness, thus our attention is no longer drawn to them
but towards the action that follows on stage. It is not important for us to know
their details at this moment, however there is still some light, which illustrates
that though they are in darkness, they must not be forgotten, for the forgotten
people of darkness has just as much claim to legitimacy as those of light.

He swung the amber beam from side to side, and everywhere he turned, the light
picked out faces and arms that no longer looked like puppets but relaxed humans, a
shadow conference.

Chiaroscuro; like Ondaatjes novel, Patrick is searching for stories, searching

for characters to bring out of darkness and into our light, forcing us to realize
that what is in darkness, though unseen, remains significant, inviting us to
speculate on the possibility of characters existing outside the authors
perception.

Patrick switched off the light and stood there. His eyes remembering the scarlet, the
puff of a blue sleeve pg.126

Chiaroscuro again, but here it more succinctly depicts the reasoning behind
Ondaatjes use of it; he is attempting to create a more human novel by evoking

the nature of memory in his narrative. Once we experience something, it is

captured in the darkness of our subconscious, and in order to elicit the
memory, we must recall its fragments, the fragments that are most pertinent, in
order to realize the whole.

Role of Language
Language ... provides the terms and the structures by which individuals have a world,
a method by which the real' is determined... language itself implies certain
assumptions about the world, a certain history, a certain way of seeing.
(The Post-Colonial Studies Reader, eds. B. Ashcroft, G. Griffiths and H. Tiffin, p. 55.)
Police Chief Draper, who has imposed laws against public meetings by foreigners.
So if they speak in public, in any language other than English, they will be jailed.
Pg.139

By taking away their language, he has taken away their power; they cannot
communicate properly in English, thus they cannot unite to become powerful.
Thus the emphasis on gesture as a language.

The silent film brings nothing but entertainmentall events governed by fate and
timing, not language and argument. The tramp never changes his opinion of the
policeman.

The tramps fate cannot be governed by language because he has no hold

over it, and thus no chance for argument. Ondaatje here implies therefore that
with language will come power.

Few of them spoke English but they knew who he was. Pg 31

Ondaatje makes us aware that these are foreign people; they are immigrants
who do not speak the language and thus are relegated to the harsh manual
labours of the bridge. Ondaatje is emphasizing that language is power; Harris
speaks English and thus he holds the power, whereas the workers, without
language, are nothing. This is echoed by the puppet show.

If he did not learn the language he would be lost. Pg.49

Emphasis again on the relationship between language and power; without

English Temelcoff would be lost, unable to gain any kind of status. He must
therefore learn English and through this assume a new identity.

he was brought before the authorities, unable to speak their language. He stood
there assaulted by insultsThe others began to pummel him but not a word
emergedHe fell to the floor pleading with gestures the large puppetcould say
nothing. It stamped its foot to try and bring out language. Pg.122

The hero becomes tragic, constantly pummelled and assaulted by insults,

beaten down by the authorities and yet completely unable to defend himself,
unable to gain any power or status because he is unable to speak their
language, another illustration of the power of the English language in society.
Ondaatje transforms the room so that it is full of noise but devoid of language,
the immigrants divided by language yet united by cause. Ondaatje is able to
succinctly portray the immigrant struggle, bound by the divide of English, yet
desperately trying to bring out language.

Power and Authority

the grid above them on the upper level, hardly visible, where the puppeteers must
have been lying in darkness.

Another brilliant use of this light vs. darkness phenomenon; again there is a
section in darkness, the darkness itself drawn to our attention yet remaining
hidden. The upper level refers to the higher levels of power; indeed later in
the book this is the mezzanine which Harris walks on to search for Patrick.
Therefore we can surmise that the darkness hides puppeteers who control the
lives of the puppets, the workers.

Harriswalks onto the mezzanine above the pumping station. pg.244

Alludes to the notion that Harris, representing the government and the higher
class society is above the working class, looking down, always oppressing.

This was his first child and it had already become a murderer. Pg. 33

Ondaatje creates the notion of Harris as an evil character, a murdering tyrant,

through the bridges personification into an evil being. This emphasizes the
constant oppression of the workers.

Harris had dreamed the marble walls, the copper-banded roofsHarris was building
for himself. For a stray dream hed always had about water

The futility of powerful men; the beautiful descriptions of the glory of Harris
dream seems to come in a bitter contrast to the previous descriptions of the
brute harshness the workers have endured, further making us realize the
corruption inherent in power and a sympathy for the workers so destroyed by
the whimsical dreams of these men.

You could forgive the worst man. You forgive him and nothing changeswhy leave
the power in his hands? pg. 128

Ondaatjes point of view is most succinctly embodied in Alice; she states

Ondaatjes credo in order for change to occur, action must be taken. We
cannot afford to retreat like Patrick; to change society we must act, which

Patrick does end up doing. The need for action is constantly referenced in the
novel through the emphasis of the relationship between action and heroism; It
became a hero not by size but by gesture and detail of character. Pg.121
You name the enemy and destroy their power. Start with their luxuries their select
clubs, their summer mansions. Pg.130

Ondaatje seems to be almost directly imploring the audience to take action,

blatantly illustrating his disregard for the rich and capitalist society, enforcing
his own Marxist perspective.
This also seems to echo other events later in the novel; Patricks destruction of
the hotel and Patricks attack on the Waterworks. Both extend directly from
this one moment. Another example of the novels integrity.

Narratological Approach

Preface at start of novel Ondaatje reveals the way the novel is structured and
therefore his own narrative techniquqe
This is a story a young girl gathers in a car during the early hours of the morning.
She listens and asks questions as the vehicle travels through darkness She listens to
the man as he picks up and brings together various corners of the story, attempting to
carry it all in his arms. And he is tired, sometimes as elliptical as his concentration on
the road, at times overexcited
Creates narrative context and reveals how Ondaatje will be presenting his
narrative
o Reference to narrative voice and its manipulation
o Narrative itself revealed as a patchwork brings together various
corners of the story.
Infers the story will explore the natur of storytelling,
notion of metafiction
o Memory that will be the basis of this storytelling
because it is the basis of all stories
This accounts for the fragmented and
meandering nature of the story
The first sentence of every novel should
be: Trust me, this will take time but
there is order here, very faint, very
human.' Meander if you want to get to
town (p. 146).
o Circular nature of narrative story is elliptical
o Character in the story as a narrator
o Third person perspective
Create a sense of alienation to force the audience to think about
the very nature of storytelling
Further enhanced by beginning the story at the end
emphasizes that this story is a reconstruction,

challenging our perception of the authors role,

encouraging us to view him as someone who creates
order from chaos
He draws attention to the novels various styles and techniques to emphasize
the notion that this is a story, not a spontaneous creation, but a work of art
governed by certain rules and conventions
There is a constant referece to language its power to change our perceptions
and create reality.
Therefore the central meanings of the text are
authority power, and language
Patrick as the searcher
o ISL originally an investigation into Ambrose Small; Ondaatje recalls,
I became much more interested in the minor characters ... I suddenly
thought of a vista of Upper America where you had five or six people
interweaving and treading kind of parallel lines, but somehow
connected at certain times.
Locates book in an ideologicalcontext
I did an enormous amount of readingabout the Bloor
Street Viaduct for example. I even had some friends
help me with research on the book ... and I can tell you
exactly how many buckets of sand were used, because
this is Toronto history, but the people who actually built
the goddamn bridge were unspoken of. They're
unhistorical!
o Echoed on page 145 The articles and
illustrations he found in the Riverdale Library
depicted every detail about the soil, the wood,
the weight of concrete, everything but
information on those who actually built the
bridge.
Ondaatje reminds us that official history
is the product of ideology
Employment of metafiction; through Patrick we discover different stories
which are cructial in the meaning, purpose, and structure of the novel.
Book as a celebration of immigrant experience; celebrates immigrants who
built Toronto by telling their forgotten history
o However we are constantly reminded that this story has been
constructed to such a purpose only the best art can order the chaotic
tumble of events. (p. 146)
Ondaatje challenges accepted views of history; they do not tell the whole
story, his truth of Torontos creation
o This is furhter emphasized by the novels structure; the fact that he
doesnt tell the whole story but leaves gaps leads us to accept his view
about history. By telling a few personal stories, he widens our
experience of Canadian history.
We are encouraged to challenge accepted beliefs by looking
alternative readings which hcallenge the beliefs and values of

our dominant culture these are the readings which are the
only defence of marginalised, colonised people
Achieved through language
o Gives characters vitality and voice to make his message clear
Alice becomes an activist for the migrants
Temelcoff see how he is a part of history and so tell his soty
Enables Patrick to tell his story
Patrick eventually rejects his destructive nature,
realizing that dynamite is deceptive and self-destructive
when used for revenge. Patrick rejects this in favour of
the liberating and constructive power of language.
Patricks road towards realizing his identity as a
storyteller, assuming the skin of a lion, involves
experimentation in destruction to realize its misgivings.
The last scene therefore represents Patrick shedding all
his previous attachment to destruction so that he can
assume his true form.
o This transformation is not random, but depicts
clearly Ondaatjes integrity when Alice
describes the nature of storytelling, reminding us
that in order to become a storyteller, you must
assume a new persona, a skin;
even a silent daughter could put on the cloak
and be able to break through her chrysalis into
language. Each person had their moment when
they assumed the skins of wild animals, when
they took responsibility for the story. (p.157)
This emphasizes the notion that it is language that gives
the marginalised people a voice powerful people
therefore deny their right to protest in any language
other than English, knowing that without it they are
nothing
Patrick is withdrawn and silent like his father; this parrallels the silenced
voices of history
Temelcoff
o Realises he is a part of history when Patrick shows him the photograph
Nicholas is aware of himself standing there within the
pleasure of recall. It is something new to him. This is what
history means ... Patrick's gift, that arrow into the past, shows
him the wealth in himself, how he has been sewn into history.
Now he will begin to tell stories (p. 149).
Echoes epic of Gilgamesh Arrow
Alice
o Puppet show
Importance of people without language
Puppets represent marginalised immigrants; from them
rises the immigrant hero (who has)linked them all (p.
116), but could say nothing (p. 116) in the face of

the authorities (p. 117). This hero is what Alice strives

to become, what Temelcoff is, and what Patrick
becomes; they at last gain a voice, tell the story.
Reference to his use of metaphor you reach people through metaphor (p.
123).
o Ondaatje has indeed reached us through his manipulation of narrative
and his unique style, through creating moving and powerful metaphors.
Structural technique of having five different characters interwoven in the story
ilustrates his aim to show the motives of the powerless. Ondaatje shows his
awareness of the nature of his narrative by drawing attention to his control
over characters; Patrick never believed that characters lived only on the
page. They altered when the author's eye was somewhere else. (p. 143)
It is Ondaatje accompanying their heroes clarif[ying] motives (p. 82) that we
see in this section, tranforming his characters befor our eyes
o Patrick who knows nothing of the place, who is like water ... easily
harnessed (p. 122) discovers, that he is part of something greater, part
of the great mural that is his life and his country.. His own life was no
longer a single story but part of a mural, which was a wondrous night
weball of these fragments of a human order ... the detritus and chaos
of the age was realigned. (pp. 1445)
Ondaatjes story moves away from traditional linear narrative to create a more
fragmented and richly layered narrative which more succinctly depict human
nature; the web that Patrick suddenly realizes he is a part of.
o This narrative allows Ondaatje to give his own history; linked not by
cause and effect or linear time, but through human experience, which
cannot be altered by authority, thus he resists the official history. He
reveals there are many stories to be told; he chose workers and
immigrants, but there is darkness yet to be enlightened.
This is shown at the end of the book as the narrator tells us that:
the houses at this hour, beautiful and large, stray lights on within them, and he could
see the faint interiors, their privacy and character revealed, each room a subplot
(p. 243)

Ondaatjes novel remains deeply political; he challenges our accepted views

by making the marginalised into the heroic, champions out of migrants and
workers.
Poetic style
o Novel informed by imagery and symbols gives reader aesthetic
perspective in contrast to realist novels
A human story like the one he is trying to tell must be filled
with poetic beauty
o Reader engages more with the beauty of the poetry than if he knew
every angle, every thought of every character
Thus Ondaatje has contrived a narrative style which
complements, both structurally and thematically, his overall
aim of opening up history to interpretation. We come to realise,
through his style of writing, that there are as many meanings as
there are readers: of his novel and, allegorically, of history.

The large figure began to distinguish itself from the others. It became a hero not by
size but by gesture and detail of character. Pg.121

Ondaatjes again emphasizing his awareness of his own narrative and

character creation; his characters do indeed emerge, demarked and
distinguished from the rest. They become heroes not through their status, for
they are for the most part downtrodden individuals, but through action and
strength of character. Like Temelcoff and his heroism on the bridge, Alice and
her acts of heroism for her cause, Caravaggio through his skills as a thief, and
finally Patrick becomes a hero in his attack of the waterworks. All these
character become distinguished through their action and strength; this is the
nature of Ondaatjes character creation.

The hero linked them all. Pg.121

This is a direct reference to Temelcoff, another hero who links everyone, yet
another illustration of Ondaatjes textual integrity, his characters echoing
constantly throughout. It is also perhaps a reference to Patrick, who is the sole
link between all the characters in the book.

its a metaphor. You reach people through metaphor.

Another illustration of Ondaatjes awareness of his own narrative, further

developing his meta-fiction style narrative. He does indeed reach us through
metaphor, for example the puppet show;

the way Clara dissolved and suddenly disappeared from him, or the way Alice
came to him it seemed a series of masks or painted faces, both of these women like
the sea through a foreground of men.

Again Ondaatjes narratological approach; his characters appear and

disappear, only to reappear again as painted faces as characters from his
memory. Another reference to water..

Patrick never believed that characters lived only on the page. They altered when the
authors eye was somewhere else. Outside the plot there was a great darkness, but
there would of course be daylight elsewhere on earth. Pg.149

Ondaatje again referencing his own beliefs concerning narrative; his

characters disappear somewhat mysteriously; we are left to imagine what life
they must lead in the darkness. This again emphasizes that what is in darkness
has just as much claim to importance as what is in light. This is echoed in
Ondaatjes views of the immigrant working class.

the wood removed like hardened bandages to reveal the piers. Pg.150

This alludes to Ondaatjes storytelling; his characters are like hardened blocks
of wood which, as he moves backwards and forwards through time, become
slowly revealed.

His own life was no longer a single story, but part of a mural, which was a falling
together of accomplices. Patrick saw a wondrous night web all of these fragments of
a human orderthe detritus and chaos of the age was realigned. Pg.151

Again Ondaatje reveals the nature of human life through his storytelling; we a
re not part of a single identity, but of a greater universal web of cause and
effect.

The chaos and tumble of events. The first sentence of every novel should be: trust
me, this will take time but there is order here, very faint, very human. Meander if you
want to get to town. Pg.152
- Reference to novels structure
o Very Faint
Looseness, blurring, demarcation
o Very Human
Corporeal, flesh & blood
Warmth/loneliness
Love/loss
Separation
o There is order here
There is light from the darkness
- The two are linked; human order is very faint, replicated by the faintly, loosely
ordered narratological structure

This reveals Ondaatjes insight into the nature of human experience; his
narrative structure does at times appear chaotic, meandering through time,
giving fragments of information, and yet so too is the human life; our
experience is chaotic in our minds, a kaleidoscope of memories that somehow
make up who we are. This is what Ondaatje is able to create through his
narrative; fragments of Patricks life and those around him that come together
to create Patrick himself.

The cornet and the saxophone and drum chased each other across solosfell
together and rose within a chorus. He saw himself gazing at so many storieshe
could add music by simply providing the thread o f a hum. He was the interactions,
saw how each one of them was carried by the strength of something more than
themselvesthe street-band had depicted perfect company, with an ending full of
embraces after the solos had made everyone stronger, more delineated. Pg.152

Thus Ondaatje also gives a brilliant insight into the nature of relationships; it
seems in this one metaphor he has embodied the nature of our relationships
and those within the story, as we come together in passionate love, and then
drift solo, like Clara and Patrick, Alice and Cato. Yet all the while Patrick
remains the summation of all these relationships; more than anything

Ondaatje depicts the nature of our relationships in transforming us into who

we are.
why is it that I am now trying to uncover every facet of Alices nature for myself?
pg.154

Undoubtedly Ondaatje is aware that his characters, even Patrick, remain

always so dark they seem almost alienating. He never reveals their true
nature, never allows us to truly know them, and here he questions the
audience in always wanting to know every detail of a character.

all these fragments of memoryso we can retreat from the grand story and stumble
accidentally upon a luxury, one of those underground pools where we can sit still.
Those moments, those few pages in a book we go back and forth forever. Pg.154

Ondaatje illustrates his awareness of the nature of storytelling, for ultimately

it is the moments of stunning visual or emotional beauty which emerge from
the novels deeply poetic style that keep us within this story, despite their
fragmentary nature.

He has come across a love story. This is only a love story. He does not wish for plot
and all its consequences. Let me stay in this field with Alice Gull. Pg.168

Ondaatje references the nature of love stories, a postmodern comment to the

reader on his own approach to narrative in which the characters seem to have
more control than he does. (Fowles)
Ondaatje himself seems to be grieving bitterly about his feeling of having to
advance the plot in some way and yet his remorse in that to do this he must
kill his beloved character, all because the reader is always wanting more than
just a love story

- The narratological reading continually reminds us that we are just reading a story; it
is simply a loosely structured story of people, and this is present throughout the text =
textural integrity

Identity
under six stars and a moon. Pg. 4
Now he is part of the evening water, the reflection of dock lights rolling off him. Six
stars and a moon. Pg. 180

Patrick has no identity of his own, and his only way of gaining a temporary
one is through light. "And he himself was nothing but a prism that refracted
their lives,". This reflects Patricks nature; he absorbs the light, the identity,
which shines out from his friends and amalgamates it so it becomes part of his
own. Thus he only becomes a political activist after his relationship with Alice
Gull. Patrick is the moon; he can only reflect a stars light. When reflecting

light from the six stars, the main characters in the novel, Patrick is able to gain
a temporary identity. In the final scenes of the book, he becomes part of the
darkness, anonymous, but he continues to reflect the stars and the moon;
Ondaatje is emphasizing Patricks reflective nature further by illustrating that
the celestial metaphor is him.
Sits in the darkness of the room as if he has had enough of light. Pg. 37

Another reference to light and darkness. Ondaatje has just created Temelcoff
as a character who is solitary, alone, in constant limelight. Yet it appears that
Temelcoff does not want this heroism, this singularity, but rather he would
prefer to melt into the darkness of anonymity. This emphasizes a powerful
theme in the novel; identity. It seems as if most the characters have some sort
of loss of identity, be it Temelcoffs historical disappearance, of Patricks
moon and stars phenomenon, the characters seem to be either rejecting their
identity by slipping into darkness, or searching desperately for an identity,
clawing towards light. This phenomenon of demarcation occurs throughout the
novel; here Temelcoff wishes to shed his identity, yet he his marked. Patrick
wishes also to disappear, which is particularly evident in the final scenes of the
novel where he must shed his identity to enter the waterworks and find his true
identity, his true skin of a lion. This is key to understanding the book; the skin
of a lion which characters seem to constantly take on and off. This passage
also echoes Ondaatjes narrative technique of chiaroscuro, in which he
emphasizes some things in light and leaves others in total darkness.

The Body
He took it, the white character, and they passed it back and forth between them till it
no longer existed, till they didnt know who had him like a lost planet somewhere in
the body. Pg.71

Again this emphasis on the bodily, however here it holds a deeper meaning;
Patricks semen becomes a metaphor for his identity as it is a part of him, his
manhood. It is passed between them, just has Patricks identity is constantly
passed between the various characters of the book, as Patrick himself becomes
lost in other peoples bodies, in other peoples worlds.

the huge instrumentslooked like frozen organs of the body.pg.123

Just another reference to the bodily, corporeal nature of the immigrants,

emphasizing the identity-through-the-body idea.

An hour after dusk disappeared into the earth the people came in silence, in small
and large familiesemerging from darkness mothlike, walking towards the
building. The movement was quickly over, the wave of bodies had seemed a shadow
of cloud over the slope. pg.120

Reference to light; again this notion of identity, the people emerge from
darkness, from nothingness, from anonymity, suddenly into light, the light
formed by their own identity, the newly formed immigrant identity which
Ondaatje himself was such a part of and is thus so desperate to illustrate

Police Chief Draper, who has imposed laws against public meetings by foreigners.
So if they speak in public, in any language
other than English, they will be jailed. Pg.139

Ondaatjes combination of fictional situation and characters that we associate

with, and historical fact, to create a story that is more real, more richly
layered, and thus a message that is more significant.

Constructing of the Self as a Hero Corporeal Elements of the Novel

Traditionally in English literature the body has been regarded as a transparent

vessel for thought
o The author seldom emerges as the main vehicle for thought; this is one
of the main convention Ondaatje seeks to break
The novel is rife with references to the living body, references to physical
sensations
Pain, hunger, grief
o Bodies appear abused by manual labour
o Bodies are painted, died and tattooed
Demarcation
o Regular references to blood
Realization that body is more than a machine
Barker the body has certainly been among the subjects lost to history
o Ondaatje emphasizes the fact that these bodies are invisible to history
No body counts of the poor who died in wars
To the rich, the body is only important as a rare coin, a piece of financial
property.
o In he novel there is a focus on men whose bodies are not important
This forces us to think on those forgotten bodies, the forgotten
stories
o 3 of these men emerge as heroic in their own right
Temelcoff constantly described through acts of physical
heroism
He reached out to catch the figure while his other hand
grabbed the metal pipe edge above him to lessen the
sudden jerk on the rope. The new weight ripped the arm
that held the pipe out of its socket and he screamed
Pg. 33-4
Caravaggio figure of great skill through his physicality as a
thief
Patrick becomes heroic through his extremely physical act of
heroism at the end of the novel
The book is also filled with descriptions of manual labour

o Bodies are made to be machines

We are reminded through their pain that they are human
they had consumed the most evil smell in history,
they were consuming it now, flesh deaththey would
die of consumptionthey were paid one doll a day.
Pg.137
Bodies are also illustrated as means of communication
o Gesture
a hero not by size but by gesture. Pg.121
Allows us to recognize their unity in labour
Epigraphs
o Gilgamesh
Masculine story, heroism, friendship and grief
Both wear the skin of a lion
Constant suggestions of heroism
o Never again will a story be told as though it were only one.
Novel will be an exploration of narration
Temelcoff embodies a hero
o His body works as an extension of his mind
o He works intuitively
He knows his position on the bridge like mercury moving
across a map
o He is a recluse he knows his body better than his soul
o Saving of the nun represents a superhuman act
Awareness of one another through the body
o Patrick is invisible except by touch
Caravaggio
o Body-awareness necessary for his job
Steals from the rich
Works alone
o Body works by instinct
his body porous to every noise.
o Recognizes the importance of hiding his body to survive
Removes demarcation
Painted body dyed bodies of tanners
o Are saved through disappearance
o He is always aware of his desires
Mushroom factory; not afraid to ask for bodily desires
Awareness of sexuality
She pins the earringbeginning a tattoo of blood.
Awareness of both the bodys strength and fragility
Never denies his body but celebrates it
Both of these characters fulfil superior masculine stereotypes through the body
o Patricks awareness, his final realization of identity, comes through an
act of intense physical heroism

Foregrounding the body; Ondaatjes exploration reclaims the body as a site of

meaning, as an extension of the essential selfOndaatje explores the part the
body plays in the development of the essential self
He explores how men feel about their bodies
Body and mind become whole when he assumes the skin of a lion, becoming
the storyteller
o So at this stage in his life his mind raced ahead of his body
Early on in the novel Patricks body is behind his mind; he
spends the novel forcing his body into intense pain so that
perhaps it will catch up to his minds conclusion. This occurs in
the final culminating scene.

Identity Ondaatjes Construction of Patricks Identity as a Parallel to Torontos

Patrick arrives at union station to begin life anew

o He himself becomes an immigrant
o He enters modernity
A world of Contradiction, alienation, new possibilities
He was now ever to himself.
He sees a man well-dressed with three suitcases, shouting in a different
language.
o This represents a juxtaposition between two immigrants
Patrick sees him as a reconstruction and extension of his own
self
o Patrick is lost to the high air of union station
3rd person this creates an affinity between Patrick and the
foreigners as both become transformed by their time in the city
Ondaatje blurs recognized orders of identity
o Overlapping stories
Trauma of immigration
Alienation of arrival
He develops what he feels to be the true identity of Toronto
o He refigures and re-presents its expansion in the 20s
The development of industry
o He develops a personal history of the city, an identity formed by
individual bodies and cultures
o He remaps Toronto
Class struggle
A city under construction
Socially, architecturally, and industrially
o Represented through the viaduct, the waterworks
and the railroad
o Symbolically challenges ideas of divergent social and historical
meaning

Destabilizes views of Canadian society created by historians

and politicians
This is achieved by an emphasis on linguistic and
cultural diversity
Development of Torontos identity is mirrored by Patricks own development
o He establishes himself in the nexus of the working class
o His identity develops as an extension of other cultures, Greek and
Macedonian, possibly reflecting a weakness in Canadian culture,
augmented by the richness of these various races, reflected by the fact
that Patrick is happiest among these alien people
His personal growth is a move away from his anglo-heritage
Catos letters reveal the identity of the Finnish loggers,
however this only serves as a realization of his separation from
other cultures
o However it is not only the people that create the citys identity, but also
their relationship, something mirrored by Patrick
Connections within his life Alice and Hana
o Also, through Patrick research, we gain an understanding of the social
classes within history
PoV of marginalised history.

Story of Lovers and Grievers

Love
They were sitting on the floor leaning into the corner of the room, her mouth on his
nipple, her hand moving his cock slowly. An intricate science, his whole body
imprisoned there, a ship in a bottle. Pg.71

Lovers. This extraordinarily graphic description of sex seems to ooze

physicality; Ondaatje emphasizes the skin, the sexual organs, bodily fluids,
kissing, touching. This creates a very strong physical description of love,
which further emphasizes the carnal desire and pleasure which Ondaatje is so
keen to illustrate. We powerfully witness Patrick and Claras love through
physical sensations; this makes their love much deeper as we ourselves seem
almost to experience it. Patrick is imprisoned here, trapped in his love of
Clara.

Grief Grief is a reference point, focused on by the characters and the inertextuality
of grief, explored through
- Poetic expression
- Physicality of grief
- Change of tenses
Pg. 166 - 173

Patrick is wearing the skin of a lion, demarked by his grief. In grief he finds
some sense of identity.

Grief is made real in this section by

- Intertextural references
there was an eclipse. The mourners stood still while the Finish Brass Band played
Chopins Funeral March into the oncoming darkness and throughout the seventeen
minutes of total eclipse. Pg.166

Grief embodied; another reference to darkness. Here Ondaatje allows grief to

permeate into the physical surroundings, the sun, the air, to transform them
into an oncoming darkness of despair. While this describes Catos funeral, it
resonates to Patricks grief and is a pathetic fallacy for the death of Alice.
Reference to Chopin is an example of intertextuality used to further
emphasize the grief by associating it to an aural experience.

- Shift in narrative person

Thats what you said, Alice, that made me love you most. Made me trust you.
Pg.167

Use of the 2nd person; this apostrophe directs the characters remorse directly
to the audience making it seem more relevant and more personal.

- Shifts in tense
I was dancing with someone else and could see youthey sit in a field. They sit in
the red and yellow and gold dcor of the restaurant

This change of tense from the pluperfect or past perfect tense into the past
tense illustrates the nature of the mind, a change from a present reaction of
grief expressed in apostrophe creating greater relevance, to a sense of sad
reflection on what was and what might have been.
The narrative slips into memories of movements and conversation, of
tenderness and fragility with sudden beautiful imagery; no mans land
between carriages.

New Historicism
Question rather than accepts the established representation of political and social
conditions of the time in which a text was set/produced. New Historicism theory gives
an alternative reading. It asks what is missing from texts as well as noting what is
actually present.

Eg Maritime Theatre 1938; social, civil construction, cultural

political events are noted.
There are over 4,000 photographs from various angles of the bridge in its time-lapse
evolution. Pg.28

Again emphasizing that this is a story to be told from different angels.

Ondaatjes story is like the bridge; built by the experience of many different
characters and viewed from many different angles.

Even in archive photographs it is difficult to find him. Again and again you see the
vista before you and the eye must search along the wall of sky to the speck of burned
paper across the valley that is him, an exclamation mark, some-where in the distance
between the bridge and river. Pg.36

Emphasizes the obliviousness of history; here we have this amazing hero

which Ondaatje has so brilliantly crafted, and yet to history he is nothing,
barely a smudge on the photos. This dichotomy almost frustrates us into
seeing the disregard history has for the worker, which strongly echoed
throughout the novel.

In the tunnel under Lake Ontario two men shake hands on an incline of mud. Beside
them a pickaxe and a lamp, their dir-streaked faces pivoting to look towards the
camera. For a moment, while the film receives the image, everything is still, the other
tunnel workers silent. Then Arthur Goss, the city photographerclimbs out into
sunlight. Work continues Pg.109

The nature of official history; posed moments of feigned happiness to

transform the cruel and difficult lives of the workers into heroic struggles of
patriotism and happy workers. This, for Ondaatje, represents the greatest of
lies; to distort the truth of history so that those about whom lies are told have
no power to change it. Ondaatje emphasizes a need to re-examine history by
showing us different perspectives to find a more accurate truth.

He read up on everythingthe deaths of workers fleetingly mentioned, the story of

the young nun who had fallen off the bridgean article on daredevils.They would
not print the photograph of a nun Pg.150

Ondaatje is possibly revealing his own research methods, but more

importantly he is bringing together the various elements of the story, united
by their forgotten nature. Through Patrick, Ondaatje is able to challenge the
nature of history and explore the untold. Patrick researches the official
histories backwards, which emphasizes the non-chronological order of the
narrative. Patrick, like Ondaatje, has a particular emphasis on the workers
the decision to use night crews and the night deaths that followed. Ondaatje
shines his literary light on the fact that workers deaths are only fleetingly
mentioned, on how They would not print the photograph of a nun. More
than anything the light reveals how the official history lists everything but
information on those who actually built the bridge. (pg151) Through his
fragmented story and incomplete characters, Ondaatje alienates the audience

to force them to think about the issues he wishes to drive forth through his
constant emphasis on the hopeless plight of the worker.
To locate the evils and find the hidden purity. Official histories and news stories were
always soft as rhetoric. Hines photographs betray official historyrooms one can
step into cavernous buildingswhite faces give the young children the terrible look
of ghosts. official histories, news stories surround us daily, but the events of art
reach us too late, travel languorously like messages in a bottle. Pg.152

Indeed Ondaatje becomes like the photographer Lewis Hine who he so

admires. The whole novel is a sequence of snapshots, be it the horrors of the
tanning room, or the gruesome conditions in the tunnel, Ondaatjes poetry
creates these stunning images which continue to emphasize the miserable
plight of the countrys never-mentioned. Like the photographs, Ondaatjes
images are like great and dark rooms, through which only Patrick is able to
move through, and once again only because of the fragments Ondaatje offers
us. He reinforces the anonymity of the workers, disappeared from the
histories, disappearing in the dark tunnels, like the white faces of the
children Hine photographed. Again Ondaatje emphasizing how the workers
have drifted and disappeared like ghost from history. The real history, the
peoples history, does not occur in straight chronological lines; it is a strange
web of events and peoples and cultures, all hopelessly intertwined, and so
must Ondaatjes story be woven. Ondaatje, through his unconventional
structure, attempts to tell the true events through his art, his poetry, and yet
even he realizes bitterly that the story has come too languorously, too late.

Historical Obliviousness in In the Skin of a Lion

Novel narrates together stories

o Immigrants and marginalised people
Displays a concern with personal storytelling
o story a young girl gathers
o Framework opens and ends the novel
Gives coherence to the novel
o Introduces 2 audiences
Hana = textural audience
Reader = extra-textural audience
The reader becomes the recipient of both
the micro and macro stories
Novel also has a circular quality
o Interrelated stories converge in concentric circles
o part of a mural which was a falling together of
accomplices
o Subtle but explicit
Emphasis on the notion that historical accounts leave no space to articulate
personal narrative or account for complexity of the human experience.
o Balance between macro and micro narratives allows for a privileged
celebration of the private personal narrative, the private history

Caravaggio and Temelcoff are painfully aware of their anonymity to history

History is associated with anonymity, however, Ondaatjes history is enhanced
by personal narrative
Patricks narrative reflects the construction of history out of bits and pieces of
memory
Patricks need to discover Clara and Alices pasts parallels the audiences need
to uncover the nature of the fiction
o Alice refuses to speak of the past, much as history refuses to tell the
truth
o Uncovering Clara is like opening a drawer and finding another mask
o So to do we search through the fiction, trying to find the true
story, only to be confronted by another illusion.
Patrick must take ownership of his history to become demarked
o The novel represents a coming to terms with his own story
o At the end of the book he acknowledges his own story;
Lights, he takes the stage
Ondaatje creates an intimate space between audience and characters, a
polyphony of voices.
o The reader gets to know various perspectives through
o Fragmented stories
Indeterminate
o Silences and absences in the story
Need active participation from the rader
o Privileging of fragmented perspectives of people who lived in
historical perspective = allows us to celebrate and wonder at the
inclusivity of the human experience
Heterogeneity

Marxist Reading
Focus on conflict of class interest and oppression of working class
Marxist critics discuss that al texts must be read in relations to the society from which
they emerged writing is a political act, therefore its reading must take into account
political considerations.
They can feel the bricks under their kneecaps as they crawl backwards towards the
bridge, their bodies almost horizontal over the viscous clack river, their heads drunk
within the fumes. Pg.29

Emphasizes the harsh attack on the senses that the workers must endure. Also
emphasizes the role of the body in the story; this is a very carnal story, one
created by the flesh. It is filled with this sort of description of the onslaught of
stimuli upon the senses.

This was his first child and it had already become a murderer. Pg. 33

Ondaatje creates the notion of Harris as an evil character, a murdering tyrant,

through the bridges personification into an evil being. This emphasizes the
constant oppression of the workers.

He reached out to catch the figure while his other hand grabbed the metal pipe edge
above him to lessen the sudden jerk on the rope. The new weight ripped the arm that
held the pipe out of its socket and he screamed Pg. 33-4

Here Ondaatje emphasizes the skill of Temelcoff, and through him the skill of
the worker. He creates the character of Temelcoff not so much through
description as through action; this creates a feeling that he is a man of action,
always attentive and agile. Moreover, Ondaatje is emphasizing once again the
corporeal aspect of humanity; the pain endured is strongly physical, his
characters are very much of the flesh.

He is solitaryHe is burly on the ground and then falls with terrific speed, grace,
using the wind to push himselfHe is a spinner. He links everyone Pg.36-7

Ondaatje uses brilliant imagery, intermingled with moments of poetry such as

repetition, alliteration, etc. to create Temelcoff as this beautiful hero. We
therefore immediately transform Temelcoff into a hero and thus sympathize
with him and his plight, and accordingly the plight of all workers

I got about twenty scars all over meAlso this under my chin that also broke my
jawPg. 39

Again this emphasis on the corporeal, on the harsh, carnal nature of a workers
life, covered in scars from the battle that is his daily life. We sympathize more
with this near tragic hero, and sympathise with Ondaatjes Marxist cause.

He is a fragment at the end of the steel bone the derrick carries on the end of its
sixty-foot boom. Pg.42

Ondaatje is making us aware that Temelcoff is only one very small part in a
very great machine that is the working class. He transforms Temelcoff into
part of the construction, part of the machinery; this emphasizes the notion of
bodies as mere tools for the construction of the dreams of men like Harris.
There plight is made more desperate as they disappear into the machinery.

Harris had dreamed the marble walls, the copper-banded roofsHarris was building
for himself. For a stray dream hed always had about water

The futility of powerful men; the beautiful descriptions of the glory of Harris
dream seems to come in a bitter contrast to the previous descriptions of the
brute harshness the workers have endured, further making us realize the
corruption inherent in power and a sympathy for the workers so destroyed by
the whimsical dreams of these men.

The semicircle of oil lamps cast yellow onto this section of the pumping station
onto the generators, the first few rows of the audience, the mosaic tiles, and brass
banisters. Pg.121

Another example of Ondaatjes effective use of light; here the light

transforms the audience of immigrants into a part of the machinery. This
emphasizes the view that workers are no more than machines to be exploited
for the dreams of powerful men, something Ondaatje is trying to combat.
Also emphasizes the fact that the workers built this place and yet they are
trespassers.

pissing where they work, shitting where they eat. Pg.117

Vulgar physical and unpleasant; used to make us feel a sense of disgust to

create some sense of sympathy.

You could forgive the worst man. You forgive him and nothing changeswhy leave
the power in his hands? pg. 128

Ondaatjes point of view is most succinctly embodied in Alice; she states

Ondaatjes credo in order for change to occur, action must be taken. We
cannot afford to retreat like Patrick; to change society we must act, which
Patrick does end up doing. The need for action is constantly referenced in the
novel through the emphasis of the relationship between action and heroism; It
became a hero not by size but by gesture and detail of character. Pg.121

You name the enemy and destroy their power. Start with their luxuries their select
clubs, their summer mansions. Pg.130

Ondaatje seems to be almost directly imploring the audience to take action,

blatantly illustrating his disregard for the rich and capitalist society, enforcing
his own Marxist perspective.
This also seems to echo other events later in the novel; Patricks destruction of
the hotel and Patricks attack on the Waterworks. Both extend directly from
this one moment. Another example of the novels integrity.

they had consumed the most evil smell in history, they were consuming it now,
flesh deaththey would die of consumptionthey were paid one doll a day. Pg.137

Harshness of the workers conditions; through an emphasis on the senses

combined with words like evil and death, Ondaatje creates a truly horrific
experience for the audience to witness these conditions. Accordingly we
sympathise with his ideology.

The rich are always laughingthey keep you in the tunnels and stockyards. They do
not toil or spin. Remember that pg.138

Ondaatjes again blatantly stating his total disregard for the rich, who are
predatory.

Immigrants
Few of them spoke English but they knew who he was. Pg 31

Ondaatje makes us aware that these are foreign people; they are immigrants
who do not speak the language and thus are relegated to the harsh manual
labours of the bridge. Ondaatje is emphasizing that language is power; Harris
speaks English and thus he holds the power, whereas the workers, without
language, are nothing. This is echoed by the puppet show.

Two of Nicholas friends died on the trip. An Italian showed him how to drink blood
in the animal pens to keep strong. pg.48

Emphasizes the difficulty immigrants had to endure on the journey to Canada

in the hopes of the better life. This makes the hardships they then have to
endure one they arrive in Canada all the more tragic. This is Ondaatjes
creation of the immigrant identity; one of hardship and suffering. This is
coupled with his emphasis on the Marxist point of view. Through this he is
depicting what he feels is the true Canadian identity. It is also another example
of Ondaatjes emphasis on the corporeal; the carnality of blood as the sole
means to survival emphasizes the quintessential role of the body in the
survival of humanity.

If he did not learn the language he would be lost. Pg.49

Emphasis again on the relationship between language and power; without

English Temelcoff would be lost, unable to gain any kind of status. He must
therefore learn English and through this assume a new identity. Here another
reference to identity; the migrant must shed his own identity and assume a
new one if he is to gain power. The book also represents a struggle of these
immigrants to hold on to their identity; the puppet show is an excellent
example of this as the immigrants are at last able to shed the language, shed
the assumed identity and rejoice in their own. Patrick cannot do so because the
immigrant identity is not his identity and thus he remains isolated.

Most immigrants learned their English from recorded songs, or, until the talkies
came, through mimicking actors on stage. Pg.50

Here is another reference to the striving of the immigrants to learn English;

these people must mimic the actors, this dual reference to acting emphasizes
their assuming of another identity in order to gain a place in the world. It is
also another reference to art; he illustrates theatre as an art form capable of
having a great impact on society. Here the theatre is a metaphor for the
immigrants need to both conform yet still retain their former identity.

An hour after dusk disappeared into the earth the people came in silence, in small
and large familiesemerging from darkness mothlike, walking towards the
building. The movement was quickly over, the wave of bodies had seemed a shadow
of cloud over the slope. pg.120

Reference to light; again this notion of identity, the people emerge from
darkness, from nothingness, from anonymity, suddenly into light, the light
formed by their own identity, the newly formed immigrant identity which
Ondaatje himself was such a part of and is thus so desperate to illustrate.
Reference to families; importance of family in immigrant life.
Reference to bodies: nature of the body as being an integral part of the human
identity they are reduced to bodies because to the greater powers, even to us,
that is all they are. Yet Ondaatje is trying to make us realize that they are more.

It was a party and a political meeting, all of them trespassingpg.120

Ondaatje emphasizes his own political nature through the political nature of
the immigrants. Thus while it is a celebration of their cultures, it is also an act
of rebellion against the greater powers, all of them trespassing. This final
comment also carries with it a certain tragic irony; they built these waterworks
through extreme hardship, and now they are trespassers, trespassers in a
building they are a part of, further emphasizing the tragedy of the workers
plight.

Almost immediately the electric lights were turned off, leaving only the glow from
oil lamps pg.121

Immigrants plunged into darkness, into the darkness of anonymity; they

disappear into one great anonymous group of workers and migrants, uncared
for by the world, simply nothing. Ondaatje very clearly blends them into one
large group, much in the same way as they existed in the eyes of the
government, simply one amorphic group of bodies to be exploited.

they were like targets. All the puppets looked stunnedon this dangerous new
country of the stage. Their costumes were a blend of several nations. Pg.121

Puppets as a metaphor for the immigrant class; they are the targets of political
exploitation, stunned and lost. The metaphor is made most obvious by the fact
that the stage is a strange new country through which the puppets must
travel, controlled by their dark puppeteers. They are indeed a blend of several
nations all coming together to form the amorphous mass that is the working
class.

The other puppets included a prune-faced rich woman, a policeman, the sly friend,
the family matriarch. Pg. 121

Ondaatje has reduced the entire nature of society into just a few puppets, who,
as stereotypes, act as metaphors for its various elements. The rich, the law, the

con, and the family. The puppet is the immigrant, lost in a world of all these
things, fighting to form his own identity. He begins bound by wood and
strings, controlled by puppeteers, but suddenly breaks free to form a new
identity. This has echoes to Ondaatjes previous mention of silent films and the
characters contained therein.
gesturing him down with laws. The human puppet, alien nave and gregarious,
upset everythingdark and young. He wore a Finnish shirt and Serbian pantshe
was brought before the authorities, unable to speak their language. He stood there
assaulted by insultsThe others began to pummel him but not a word emergedHe
fell to the floor pleading with gesturesthe caricature of culture. The only sounds on
stage were the grunts of authoritythe large puppetcould say nothing. It stamped
its foot to try and bring out language. Pg.122

Ondaatje takes us further into the immigrant world by deepening and

extending his metaphor of the immigrant, the human puppet, nave and
gregarious. The puppet is furthered as an embodiment of all cultures, with a
Finnish shirt and Serbian pants, illustrating the nature of Torontos immigrant
underbelly. Moreover, the hero becomes tragic, constantly pummelled and
assaulted by insults, beaten down by the authorities and yet completely
unable to defend himself, unable to gain any power or status because he is
unable to speak their language, another illustration of the power of the
English language in society. Ondaatje transforms the room so that it is full of
noise but devoid of language, the immigrants divided by language yet united
by cause. Ondaatje seems to revel in his simplification of the immigrant plight
through metaphor as he creates a true caricature of culture. Through his
dramatic descriptions and extension of a powerful metaphor, Ondaatje is able
to succinctly portray the immigrant struggle, bound by the divide of English,
yet desperately trying to bring out language.

Characters
Temelcoff
He reached out to catch the figure while his other hand grabbed the metal pipe edge
above him to lessen the sudden jerk on the rope. The new weight ripped the arm that
held the pipe out of its socket and he screamed Pg. 33-4

Here Ondaatje emphasizes the skill of Temelcoff, and through him the skill of
the worker. He creates the character of Temelcoff not so much through
description as through action; this creates a feeling that he is a man of action,
always attentive and agile. Moreover, Ondaatje is emphasizing once again the
corporeal aspect of humanity; the pain endured is strongly physical, his
characters are very much of the flesh.

He is solitaryHe is burly on the ground and then falls with terrific speed, grace,
using the wind to push himselfHe is a spinner. He links everyone Pg.36-7

Ondaatje is again emphasizing the heroic nature of Temelcoff through his

action; though he is a worker, though he may be uneducated, he remains a
figure of supreme skill and grace when he is on the bridge. Ondaatjes constant
repetition of He is emphasizes his masculinity but moreover his solitary
nature; he is the link between all workers, and as such he stands alone, singled
out from the rest. Ondaatje uses brilliant imagery, intermingled with moments
of poetry such as repetition, alliteration, etc. to create Temelcoff as this
beautiful hero. We therefore immediately transform Temelcoff into a hero and
thus sympathize with him and his plight, and accordingly the plight of all
workers

Even in archive photographs it is difficult to find him. Again and again you see the
vista before you and the eye must search along the wall of sky to the speck of burned
paper across the valley that is him, an exclamation mark, some-where in the distance
between the bridge and river. Pg.36

Like above, this creates Temelcoff as a solitary tragic hero, lost in a world of
labour, but moreover it emphasizes the obliviousness of history.

He knows his position in air as if he is mercury slipping across a map. Pg.38

Heroism of Temelcoff, again, in his extraordinary awareness and skill.

However it also emphasizes Temelcoff as a traveller; his position on the bridge
is only transitory, and soon he will disappear from the narrative into shadow,
from a bridge worker to a baker, and eventually from all knowledge and
history.

Alice
Alices paleness and suppressed energyAlice sweeps back her wet hair. A sudden
flinging of sheet lightning and Clara sess Alice subliminal in movement almost rising
up into the air pg. 79-9
the rest of her ascent lost to darkness till the next brief flutter of lightpg.79
In Kostas house he relaxes as Alice speaks with her friends, slipping out of English
and into Finnish or Macedonian.pg.139
she is agile, a dancer as much as an actress moving fluidly through rooms.
Pg.153

The nature of Alice; she is fluid and constantly able to change to suit her
situation, though always she remains constant to her wild passionate spirit.
She is able to assume various identities, illustrated by her mastery of other
languages; however, unlike Patrick who attempts to embody totally these

identities, she is able to merely wear them as masks, illustrated by the

references to her being an actress. She is able to maintain her own true
identity; a free and passionate political spirit. This depicts Ondaatjes textural
integrity in character, as she remains in this constant state throughout the
book. This is particularly significant when we first meet her and we have no
idea of who she is or what her importance, if any, is to the story or to Patrick;
we do not know her as a character, yet when we do eventually understand her
she retains that quality, thus she is subtly introduced to us, emerging later like
a ghost from the past, retaining her wild nature. Ondaatje describes her as
being lost to darkness; indeed after this scene she does disappear from the
narrative, so much so that she is for a time forgotten, that is till the next brief
flutter of light Like many of Ondaatjes characters she drift in and out of
focus. Thus Alice becomes a depiction of Ondaatjes textual integrity; through
content, as she retains her character throughout, through structure, as, like
Ondaatjes story, she constantly drifts in and out of light, something
fundamental to Ondaatjes story narrative, and finally through style as her life
is revealed in small fragments of light, not herself as a whole, much like the
novel and its other characters. Alice herself becomes a metaphor for Ondaatje
and his story; she only gives few details, she is a dancermoving fluidly
through rooms. much as Ondaatje dances in and out of the various rooms that
form the characters and events of the story, as it remains always a mystery
thus always intriguing.
Alice is fundamental in the development of Patrick; On pages 129-30, we
witness the strength of Alice as she finishes Patricks sentences, criticizing his
languor in becoming a work horse because he has the choice to become
something more because he has language; she gives him a political perspective
beyond the blank existence of a labourer she has delivered him out of
nothing (pg.158) She gives him a greater drive in life through her political
views. She fills the physical void left by Clara. She gives him a family, love
and personal intimacy. She gives him a sense of community and family, she
gives him Hana, his greatest drive.

Patrick
He was born into a region that did not appear on a map until 1910 pg.11
o He was born into nothingness, born in anonymity. His quest, therefore, must
inevitable be to free himself from this, to find his true self.
Hazen Lewis was an abashed man, withdrawn from the world around him pg. 15
Hazen Lewis did not teach his son anything, no legend, no base of theory. Pg.19
o Even his own father was a marginalised character, retreated from the world.
Naturally Patrick followed this example retreating into marginalised worlds
like the immigrant and working classes.

in case there were remnants, little seeds of explosive on his apparelHis father
took off his shirtand threw it on to the campfire. The shirtsprayed sparks. There
were abrupt lessons like this. It was strange for Patrick to realize later he had learned
important things pg. 19
o Patricks identity is formed, but at the time he does not realize it. Again this
emphasis of action and gesture over words; Ondaatjes characters are an
exploration of the self through the body. Also the little seeds of explosive
seem to reference the possibility of something powerful, passionate, and
dangerous.
So at this stage in his life his mind raced ahead of his body pg.23

Early on in the novel Patricks body is behind his mind; he spends the novel
forcing his body into intense pain so that perhaps it will catch up to his minds
conclusion. This occurs in the final culminating scene.

he would be an outsider. Pg.124

The nature of Patrick, always an outsider, no matter where he goes.

Like water, you can be easily harnessed, Patrick. Thats dangerous.

Again water as a motif; Alice is described as water also, yet she represents the
strength and flexibility of water, able to settle in any area but willing to
explode in force. Patrick embodies water as the passive vehicle, flowing
constantly around and through other objects.

You believe in solitude, Patrick, in retreat. You can afford to be romantic because
you are self-sufficient. Pg. 128

The nature of Patrick; a creature of solitude, in constant retreat from the truth
that surrounds him, from his own true identity. He is romantic, he is a true
lover, yet he exists in the shadows of others.
o Even the descriptions of his character come not from himself but from
other characters

He was suddenly aware that he had a role. Pg.131

Patrick begins to form an identity; Alice has delivered him from anonymity,
suddenly giving him a role as her lover, as Hanas father. Yet still this is only
an extension of her identity; he is yet to form his own.
o She has delivered him out of nothing. pg.158

His own life was no longer a single story, but part of a mural, which was a falling
together of accomplices. Patrick saw a wondrous night web all of these fragments of
a human orderthe detritus and chaos of the age was realigned. Pg.151
Patrick had reduced himself to almost nothingdeliriously anonymous.

The people on the street, the Macedonians, were his only mirror. Pg.117
A searcher gazing into the darkness of his own country, a blind man dressing the
heroine. Pg.164-65

Fragments of story forcing him to become involved.

Water as a Motif
Harris had dreamed the marble walls, the copper-banded roofsHarris was building
for himself. For a stray dream hed always had about water

Water again appears as a motif; here it represents the overreaching power of

Harris. Like the water of his city, his power extends to all areas, exerting its
tremendous pressure and crushing all those in its path.

Like water, you can be easily harnessed, Patrick. Thats dangerous.

Again water as a motif; Alice is described as water also, yet she represents the
strength and flexibility of water, able to settle in any area but willing to
explode in force. Patrick embodies water as the passive vehicle, flowing
constantly around and through other objects.

Patrick drives his head under water and his body followsPatrick swims in
darkness. Pg.241

Last Scene
This is perhaps the best example of Ondaatjes textural integrity; he brings together all
elements of his narrative. All his stylistic elements emerge; the poetic descriptions of
the waterworks, the use of chiaroscuro to emphasize certain elements of the
waterworks, and the use of highly physical descriptions to heighten the tension
through physicality. He also references his structural elements; he drifts between
characters, Caravaggio, Patrick and Harris, showing their different points of view and
depicting different elements of the story. In terms of content he seems to tie up many
elements of the story; Patricks early childhood through the cows, his father through
the dynamite, Temelcoff through his heroic acts, and finally Alice through his very
presence in this place that meant so much to both of them. His repeating motifs such
as water and blood emerge, as do his symbols such as light and darkness, representing
the constant struggle of Patrick between anonymity and identity, freedom and
entrapment. Finally he also conjoins all thematic concerns of the novel; Marxist
perspectives, emphasizing the tyranny of capitalist governments over the working

class, his narratological approach to narrative, his emphasis on the obliviousness of

history to the working and immigrant classes, and finally and most crucially the
nature of identity; Patricks identity and the identity of Toronto are shed and then
rebuilt in this one scene.
On deck Giannetta watches Patrick, a small lantern beside them, the only light on the
boatThen the men climb down into the rowboat, absolute blackness around them.
Only the filtration plant blazes on the shore a half-mile away. Pg.240

Again Ondaatje setting the scene through lighting; the darkness that surrounds
them highlighting only specific images, hiding others. He immediately draws
our attention to the filtration plant, the sole aim of this operation.
Also refers to identity; Caravaggio and to a greater extent Patrick lose all
sense of demarcation in the darkness.

They both wear dark trousers. Patrick is invisible except by touchDemarcation

No words. Pg.240

Again this loss of identity; Patrick is reduced to nothing, his identity emerging
only from the sensations of the body, he is nothing but physicality. Ondaatje
reduces his identity to be formed entirely by his physical presence.
Demarcation is emphasized in italics as if to more obviously explain his point.
Again this lack of language as slowly every trace of identity is stripped from
Patrick

the mouth of the intake pipe which is there to stop logs and dead bodies from
being drawn in. pg.241

A direct reference to Patricks past with the loggers, the dynamite, the water;
all elements of Patricks past being slowly tied together; as his identity is
stripped from him; he relives more and more of his past to uncover his true
identity. Patrick seems to be entering the belly of the beast, preparing for
reconciliation with his shadow; Harris embraces all that Patrick detests, but he
also has true dreams, a concrete identity. Patrick must overcome Harris to
understand his own self.

The lemon-coloured glare from the waterworks delineates the east end. Caravaggio
could lean forward and pluck it like some jewel from the neck of a negress. pg.241

Ondaatje seems to be referencing his own use of Chiaroscuro; the waterworks

is defined by light, yet he makes us aware that there is shadow, that shadow
also holds truth and knowledge. It is this west end of darkness which Patrick
must immerse himself.
The comment of Caravaggio echoes Giannettas action of plucking a sequin
from Patricks hair, further emphasizing the loss of light and identity.

The lights of the amusement park are slowly being turned off, past midnight. pg.242

This reference to light is particularly powerful; the image of an amusement

park at night, the lights glinting softly, is immediately drawn in our minds.
However there is an added irony here in that this building is far from an
amusement park; rather it is a place of pain and hardship, which Patrick soon
discovers.

Gasping, the mouthpiece dry, empty, torn out of his mouthNow he needs light.
pg.242

Again the body, the needs of the body. Now even Patricks body is being
destroyed, it is dry, empty, his last remaining element of his identity is taken
from him in the darkness. It is now that he most need light, most needs to find
himself if he is to survive.

He hangs from one arm. pg.243

Direct reference to Temelcoff, hanging from the bridge. Patrick begins to echo
the heroism of Temelcoff as he begins to understand himself.

There was, he remembers, temporary light. pg.243

Ondaatje seems to be saying; he did have an identity, many identities, but they
were just temporary. He was the moth, drawn towards light, for a time
enraptured in its warm glow, but those lights have gone out, and Patrick must
find his own light. This is a story, a journey to find light.

He can taste blood if he puts his tongue outside his mouth. And he can taste blood
which comes down his nose pg.243

Another reference to the body, echoing the many other references to bodily
fluids, blood in particular. It heightens the physical tension of the action and
brings together elements of the story.

among the grey machines, touching them to see if they are hot pg.243

Reference to the cows at the beginning of the story; here they are transformed
into machines, perhaps depicting the industrial development of Canada, the
working class no longer farmers but factory workers. Moreover it unites the
storys various elements.

King Solomons mines. Pg.244

Intertextuality; reference to this story allows the audience to more easily grasp
the concept presented. King Solomons mines were filled with danger yet
ultimately the most unimaginable treasures. This is indeed Patricks journey
through the waterworks; wrought with danger, yet ultimately finding a final
treasure in discovering his own true nature.

Harriswalks onto the mezzanine above the pumping station. pg.244

Alludes to the notion that Harris, representing the government and the higher
class society is above the working class, looking down, always oppressing.

the corridor where he had searched for her and found her, bathing beside a candle
among all those puppets

Reference to Alice and the puppet show, emphasizing the metaphors that
emerged from that scene as it is recalled in the readers imagination. This
represents Patrick finally coming to terms with her death as he returns to their
first meeting point.

he gets up, puts on his clothes, and begins to attach the blasting caps onto the
dynamite. pg.244

Revisiting another important aspect of his past; his father. Dynamite is the
symbol of his father, and by amalgamating himself to it, he experiences a final
reconciliation with him, and thus a realization that he is a part of his identity
which he forms now by revisiting his past and simultaneously Ondaatje ties
together all elements of the book.

Think about those who built the intake tunnels. Do you know how many of us died
in there?
- There was no record kept. pg.248

Marxism and historical obliviousness.

I was dreaming about projects that for the city that had been rejected over the years.
Wonderful things pg.249

Ondaatje also wants us to realize that Harris did have great dreams, that he did
shape Torontos identity, however we must realize that this came at a cost.

He lay down to sleep until he was woken from a dream. He saw the lions around him
glorifying in life; then he took his axe in his hand, he drew his sword from his belt
and fell upon them like an arrow from the string.

Epic of Gilgamesh; Patrick has finally destroyed the lions that have haunted
him, he has come to terms with himself and his identity, and he can finally be
content to shed the skin of a lion; the story has ended, his story has finished.
He no longer need the lions, he has found himself.

Textural Integrity Example

Pg.7 10 & pg. 255 256

Similarities
-

Structure
o Not entirely unified; first section shifts tense, second does not
o We get a sense in both sections that the story is one of many
Loggers each room a subplot
Language
o Colours brought up and continued
o Tranquil, before dawn peace
Content
o Early morning, the beauty of nature at this time
o House, people living
Contrast loggers conditions to second-floor balconies
(Marxist)
o References to light
o Ownership (of land particularly), cow owners/landlords garden
o Sweat of loggers/sweat of Patrick
o P wakes up in the pre-dawn

The author as reader

Reader told that the author deoes not solely control reality: never again will a
single story be told as though it were the only one.
o Comes as a warning that this will not be a didactic novel, but that we
should seek our own interpretations of the book
Echoes Ondaatjes concern to highlight the individual personal
stories to highlight their forgotten nature
This concept of the reader creating the meaning of the
book rather than the author is postmodern concetp
which emerged in the late 60s, most significantly in
Roland Barthes essay on the death of the author
Manipulation of narrative voice challenges accepted narrations
of history giving voice to other stories
Structural significance; allows Ondaatje to enter the book and
remind us that this is a story we are reading, a story he
constructed, and thus a story he has ultimate control over.
This realization forces us to question the role of the
author in the narrative
Narrative technique creates thematic device affecting the
structure of the text; when we realize this a sense of order
emerges as he endeavours to make us realize that our memories
and experiences are all fragments of a human order(p. 145)
held together by the extreme looseness of the structure of
things (p. 163).
Ondaatjes notion of the omniscient narrator is one that
has realign[ed] chaos to suggest both the chaos and
order it will become. (p. 146).

Ondaatje challenges our perception of truth in revealing a number of realities

to the reader, however simultaneously he makes us aware of the power of the
author in manipulating meaning, many times blatantly; All his life Patrick
Lewis has lived beside novels and their clear stories. Authors accompanying
their heroes clarified motives.(p. 82)
Patrick never believed that characters lived only on the page. They altered
when the authors eye was somewhere else. Outside the plot there was a great
darkness, but there would of course be daylight elsewhere on earth. Pg.149
o Ondaatje again referencing his own beliefs concerning narrative; his
characters disappear somewhat mysteriously; we are left to imagine
what life they must lead in the darkness. This again emphasizes that
what is in darkness has just as much claim to importance as what is in
light. This is echoed in Ondaatjes views of the immigrant working
class.

Postmodern Context
Postmodernism not an overarching philosophy but attempt to explain current
trends in various aspects of modern culture
Postmodern elements of the story
Challenging the notion of a single or objective reality
o Reality is an interpretation by the audience
Never again will a story be read as though it were only one
Reality, history, can no longer be seen as a single reality
but as a system of interpretations
Challenging accepted readings of history
To locate the evils and find the hidden purity. Official
histories and news stories were always soft as rhetoric.
Hines photographs betray official history
History can be challenged; the difference
between fact and fiction lies in the readers
perception
Focus on human need to find an order in events, a systematic
structure, a pattern in the chaos of events he challenges this
notion by creating a story which is non-sequential and
somewhat chaotic but which continues to have a poweful
meaning
Suggests that art plays a role in the construction of our
perceptions, making constant references to art;
The moment of cubism.
Questioning of where the reader derrives meaning
o
Regular shifts in speaker, narratro, and reader; this challenges our
perception that meaning is derrived from a constant and stable source;
each time we believe we have found a fount of meaning, Ondaatje
shifts so that we may explore a new one
Thats what you said, Alice, that made me love you most.
Made me trust you. Pg.167

Use of the 2nd person; this apostrophe directs the

characters remorse directly to the audience making it
seem more relevant and more personal. Also challenges
us to find meaning directly from the character.
o Cinematic techniques give a different point of view again; the author is
directing our attention as to where to look and what to see
Almost immediately the electric lights were turned off,
leaving only the glow from oil lamps pg.121
Ondaatje sets the scene as a director lights a stage or a
movie set; the audience retreats into darkness, thus our
attention is no longer drawn to them but towards the
action that follows on stage.
Ondaatje also challenges our perception of language by depicting how
different societies create reality through language
o If he did not learn the language he would be lost. Pg.49
Emphasis on the relationship between language and power
o It became a hero not through language but through gesture and
action.
Heroism through action; a disregard for language which still
creates power
Emphasis on the nature of storytelling to challenge our perceptions of
narrative
o The first sentence of every novel should be: trust me, this will take
time but there is order here, very faint, very human. Meander if you
want to get to town. Pg.152
He blurs boundaries between genre
o Historical fact
Police Chief Draper, who has imposed laws against public
meetings by foreigners. So if they speak in public, in any
language other than English, they will be jailed. Pg.139
Ondaatjes combination of fictional situation and
characters that we associate with, and historical fact, to
create a story that is more real, more richly layered, and
thus a message that is more significant.

Poetic imagery
Caravaggio could lean forward and pluck it like some jewel
from the neck of a negress. pg.241
Poetic description of the nature of light and darkness
o Fiction and fantasy
they were like targets. All the puppets looked stunnedon
this dangerous new country of the stage. Their costumes were a
blend of several nations. Pg.121.
An authorial playfulness and teasing of the reader
o He has come across a love story. This is only a love story. He does not
wish for plot and all its consequences. Let me stay in this field with
Alice Gull. Pg.168
Ondaatje himself seems to be grieving bitterly about his feeling
of having to advance the plot in some way and yet his remorse
o

in that to do this he must kill his beloved character, all because

the reader is always wanting more than just a love story

The Postcolonial Context

Rejects universal truth for local and specific notions
Novel challenges dominant narratives & gives voice to untold stories of
colonised people
o The human puppet, alien nave and gregarious, upset everything
dark and young.the large puppetcould say nothing. It stamped its
foot to try and bring out language. Pg.122
Ashcroft in Key Concepts in Post-Colonial Studies define postcolonialism as
dealing with the effects of colonisation on cultures and societies (p. 186) and
post colonial reading as a way of reading and rereading texts... to draw deliberate
attention to the profound and inescapable effects of colonisation on literary
production; anthropological accounts; historical records; administrative and
scientific writing
Reading rejects lib humanist views on the universal nature of texts to explore
issues of cultural differences in texts
o Culture becomes a mixture of conflicting ideas
The caricature of culture.
Celebrates notion of multiple meanings and interpretations
Canada has a history of resisting colonialism
o Novel also examines dominant political and economic structures and how
these serve the interest of the dominant class
Two of Nicholas friends died on the trip. An Italian showed him
how to drink blood in the animal pens to keep strong. pg.48