The Cinnamon Peeler Poem Summary

Scarring is used as a symbol of the intangible and psychologically poignant experiences that characters have in The English Patient, as well as throughout Ondaatje's canon. A symbol is a literary device that is used to represent an abstract idea in a concrete form. This symbolism is evident throughout Ondaatje's body of work, where scars manifest loss in The English Patient, the impact of a strong connection in “The Cinnamon Peeler”, and finally memories hurt and pain in “The Time Around Scars”. The ubiquity of scarring vindicates it as a device that Ondaatje purposely uses, rather than a mere coincidence. The events that cause the physical scars to the literary characters give an impression that will remain for the rest of their lives, similar …show more content…
“The Cinnamon Peeler” is the another example of writing where the use of scarring is seen as a representation of his characters' experiences. In the instance of “The Cinnamon Peeler,” Ondaatje utilizes scars to physically show the impact of a deep connection between two people. The poem has romantic and sexual overtones and is from a man to his wife. The man discusses the connection that the two share, and speaks of how their bond and love is flaunted to the outside world. He continues to say that it is worthless to be left with no physical trace of her, “as if not spoken to in the act of love, as if wounded without the pleasure of a scar” (Cinnamon, 40-41). Here, Ondaatje's character illustrates how the scar is a concrete representation of the connection between him and his wife. He wishes to have this mark to show to others that they are in love. By juxtaposing feigned love and wounding without a scar, Ondaatje is stating that the impact of a real connection is complicit in the character's scarring. Thus, it can be seen that scarring is symbolic of the psychological experience that characters undergo. This is a positive experience that can scar one, but is an exception to the negative