Literary History, Interpretation & Analysis

Literary History, Interpretation & Analysis

Introduction

The purpose of this study is to expand the boundaries of our knowledge by exploring some relevant facts and figures relating to English literature. In this paper, we will critically read, analyze, and interpret two works of literature i.e. Michael Ondaatje's “The English Patient”, and Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels. Literature can be considered, not as a quality or a set of inherent qualities that are evident in certain works, but as the different ways that people relate to writing. It is not easy to separate from everything in one form or another has been called "literature." There is absolutely nothing that constitutes the very essence of literature. This term refers to the role of text in a social context, to which it relates to its environment. We will analyze the ways in which characters in the literary works experience social snuggles, whether they are based in class, race, gender, sexuality, educational level, or region. In order to achieve this, we will choose literary elements that help us analyze and show how this social struggle is represented in the literary works we have chosen. Through comprehensive examination of the literature, we will evaluate the ways in which characters in literary works experience social struggles.

Literally Analysis

Michael Ondaatje, “The English Patient”

Michael Ondaatje was the first Canadian winner of the Booker Prize. He is most well known for the novel that won him that prize, The English Patient (1992), a fictional World War II romantic narrative that was later made into an Academy Award-winning film. Ondaatje has used a combination of the real and imagined, poetry and prose. Ondaatje's imagery is characterized by its preoccupation with romantic exoticism and multiculturalism. Secret codes of violence in personal and political life pepper his work. His work is also notable for its cinematic qualities in its frequent use of montage techniques and spares dramatic dialogue (Slope, 1992).

Ondaatje's most famous work, The English Patient (1992), takes place toward the end of World War II in a damaged villa north of Florence, Italy. The story revolves around the four occupants of the villa: Hana, a fatigued and dispassionate young nurse; Carvaggio, a former spy and thief who was caught by the enemy and physically maimed; Kip, the young Indian bomb disposal expert; and the English patient, a nameless man who was severely burned in the war and attempting to reconstruct his mysterious past. As the story unfolds, Ondaatje asserts the notion that we are all creatures of the past and try to define future events accordingly. He also probes the perception of "home" through the transience of the characters. His later works include Handwriting: Poems (1998) and Anil's Ghost (2001) (Slopen, 1992).

Toward the end of World War II, in the Villa San Girolamo in Italy, four shattered survivors cope with the physical and emotional suffering the war has brought about. They come from different parts of Europe and the dissolving British Empire, but they share similar kinds of ...