I agree to a great extent that Ondaatje’s ‘In the Skin of a Lion’ has a continuing appeal because of the unheard voices presented in the novel. Ondaatje allows his audience to have individualised responses to the unheard voices by rejecting the role of a typical omnipresent narrator, who would tell the story from one point of view. By doing this, Ondaatje allows his audience to take control over the way they interpret the text, allowing them to have unique opinions regarding the issues raised throughout the novel.
Ondaatje’s purpose was to awaken his responders to the injustices of history. Ondaatje used his authorial intervention to make use of his fragmented plot, shifting perspectives and intertwining stories to challenge his audience into thinking about the inequalities of history by placing emphasis on the unheard voices in society. Ondaatje demands a continued appeal from his audience due to his unique story telling style that positions the reader to reconsider how we interpret stories. Ondaatje achieved this through his fragmented novel structure. However, he is able to maintain textual integrity through language, continuing motifs such as light and the development of multiple realities. Ondaatje style of composing both interreges and frustrates his audience. Ondaatje also appears to have a lack of compassion towards certain characters in the novel with some, such as Patrick’s father Hazen, being introduced and immediately disregarded and never referred to again while other characters, such as Clara, make repeated appearances throughout the novel. Communication and the lack of communication is a major theme throughout the novel. …show more content…
The ability to successfully communicate sometimes resembled the delicate balance between life and death. This is demonstrated to the audience in the chapter ‘The Bridge’. “Talk, you must talk.” This first person didactic language is the first verbal form of communication performed by Temelcoff, who until this point has remained silent. Temelcoff faces death if he does not alarm those above him that he and the nun are hanging below. A Marxist reader may interpret this as Ondaatje proposing that those without a voice are left to die. This would mean that people without a voice, such as the workers, are left behind in history. The power of language, or the lack of power that is associated with language difficulties, is a key theme throughout the novel. Without a basis on the language the migrant workers lose all sense of power over their lives and are even faced with jail time if they speak in their native tongue. “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.” Through the quotes authorial tone it is evident to the audience that by the migrants having their native language stole from them, they have lost their power. It can be suggested that the migrants begin to retain some of their power by attending the illegal gatherings on Sundays. It is at one of these meetings that we are both introduced and reintroduced to the character Alice. The puppet show when we are re-established to Alice is one of the most powerful and significant scenes in the novel. During the puppet show, one of the puppets, who we later discover is Alice the nun from ‘The Bridge’, comes to life in both a physical and symbolic representation of the frustration felt by the migrants. The lack of language and ability to communicate with the wider population means that migrants don’t have a voice in society and reduced to “bang on the wooden floor as if to plead for help.” This metaphoric action demonstrates to the audience that lack of power felt by those who are unable to express themselves through language, becoming an unheard voice. The lack of power associated with language difficulties can …show more content…
Ultimately, the novel develops and maintains appeal due to Ondaatje’s ability to present the viewpoints of individuals not heard within traditional forms or narrative. It is Ondaatje’s ability to make his responders develop an emotional connection to his characters, forcing them into developing feelings that mature into interest and allure to the unheard voices in the novel, that ‘In the Skin of a Lion’ has a continuing
Ondaatje’s purpose was to awaken his responders to the injustices of history. Ondaatje used his authorial intervention to make use of his fragmented plot, shifting perspectives and intertwining stories to challenge his audience into thinking about the inequalities of history by placing emphasis on the unheard voices in society. Ondaatje demands a continued appeal from his audience due to his unique story telling style that positions the reader to reconsider how we interpret stories. Ondaatje achieved this through his fragmented novel structure. However, he is able to maintain textual integrity through language, continuing motifs such as light and the development of multiple realities. Ondaatje style of composing both interreges and frustrates his audience. Ondaatje also appears to have a lack of compassion towards certain characters in the novel with some, such as Patrick’s father Hazen, being introduced and immediately disregarded and never referred to again while other characters, such as Clara, make repeated appearances throughout the novel. Communication and the lack of communication is a major theme throughout the novel. …show more content…
The ability to successfully communicate sometimes resembled the delicate balance between life and death. This is demonstrated to the audience in the chapter ‘The Bridge’. “Talk, you must talk.” This first person didactic language is the first verbal form of communication performed by Temelcoff, who until this point has remained silent. Temelcoff faces death if he does not alarm those above him that he and the nun are hanging below. A Marxist reader may interpret this as Ondaatje proposing that those without a voice are left to die. This would mean that people without a voice, such as the workers, are left behind in history. The power of language, or the lack of power that is associated with language difficulties, is a key theme throughout the novel. Without a basis on the language the migrant workers lose all sense of power over their lives and are even faced with jail time if they speak in their native tongue. “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.” Through the quotes authorial tone it is evident to the audience that by the migrants having their native language stole from them, they have lost their power. It can be suggested that the migrants begin to retain some of their power by attending the illegal gatherings on Sundays. It is at one of these meetings that we are both introduced and reintroduced to the character Alice. The puppet show when we are re-established to Alice is one of the most powerful and significant scenes in the novel. During the puppet show, one of the puppets, who we later discover is Alice the nun from ‘The Bridge’, comes to life in both a physical and symbolic representation of the frustration felt by the migrants. The lack of language and ability to communicate with the wider population means that migrants don’t have a voice in society and reduced to “bang on the wooden floor as if to plead for help.” This metaphoric action demonstrates to the audience that lack of power felt by those who are unable to express themselves through language, becoming an unheard voice. The lack of power associated with language difficulties can …show more content…
Ultimately, the novel develops and maintains appeal due to Ondaatje’s ability to present the viewpoints of individuals not heard within traditional forms or narrative. It is Ondaatje’s ability to make his responders develop an emotional connection to his characters, forcing them into developing feelings that mature into interest and allure to the unheard voices in the novel, that ‘In the Skin of a Lion’ has a continuing