the english patient

Unlike many stories which are set during the Second World War, in his novel The English Patient, Michael Ondaatje does not bring the bloody and cruel scenes of war directly to the readers. Instead, he turns to a comparatively peaceful and insular Italian villa in the hills. Four people live in this villa are the main characters in this story. They are Hana, a Canadian nurse, an English patient, whom Hana is taking care of, David Caravaggio, who is an old friend of Hana¡¯s father, and Kip, a Sikh working as a sapper in this area. Their intersectional memories and conversations present a poetic and dream-like novel.
The English Patient displays these four people¡¯s destinies which are forever changed and shattered by the war. In the war, their lives are completely damaged, and they have been taken away so many things: family, love, health, face and even name and identity. Each of them is badly hurt either in the body or in the spirit. In this sense, they are all patients suffering ...