In_the_Skin_of_a_Lion_-_Critical_Response

MODULE B ESSAY In the Skin of a Lion Michael Ondaatje To what extent has your own interpretation of In the Skin of a Lion been informed by Ondaatje’s narrative exploration of two of the following ideas: In my opinion, Ondaatje’s In the Skin of a Lion explores the untold history of the working class and presents a perspective on their neglected plight in post-colonial Canada. Through this portrayal of the working class it is evident how potently a community can influence a sense of identity within an individual. Throughout the novel, Ondaatje creates a meta-fictional history that reflects the disjointed nature of a forgotten past. He focuses on smaller characters that play a seemingly smaller roll within history but whom, without their help, events would never have occurred. The protagonist, Patrick, is plagued with a powerful desire to create an identity for himself that reflects the world around him. In the Skin of a Lion is an acute exploration of the unwritten history of the working class told through their stories and their communities. Furthermore, their plight is expressed in Patrick’s struggle to assume a permanent skin through the myriad of communities he becomes apart of. The metafictional, postmodern style of the novel reflects the fragmented nature of ‘history from below’ and, as such, presents a fictional history that is not necessarily explored by conventional methods. Similarly, the narrative structure of the novel reflects its postmodern genre by unravelling a non-linear plot that creates pastiche of stories that link and interweave. “His own life was no longer a single story but part of a mural, which was a falling together of accomplices.” This structure is crucial to the development of the novel as it presents the story in such a way that resonates with the chaotic order of a community. Ondaatje stated in ‘The Silent Partner’ that “as the facts and fragments started to come together I knew I had to structure the book in such a way as to allow the unvoiced worlds into the story.” Much like Ondaatje, the reader must receive fragments of the story in disjointed order that adds an essence of obscurity to the story that runs parallel with the obscurity of the working class history. The third person narrative viewpoint focalised, to an extent, through Patrick and other characters presents the plight of the working class through the experiences of the protagonist and the communities he is apart of. The novel begins in Patrick’s childhood, in the rural areas of post-colonial Canada and follows his story from a rural working class life to one . ‘Little Seeds’ does exactly as the title suggests and plants a seed, in this case Patrick, to grow through out the novel. As a child, Patrick is incredibly inquisitive with a powerful desire for knowledge. His passion for exotic geography presents his longing for the larger world, as seen when “He sits down at the long table and looks into his school geography book with the maps of the world, mouthing out the exotic.” His youthful fascination with insects strongly reflects his yearning for knowledge and, again, reinforces his longing for a greater sense of the larger community. “He walks back into the bright kitchen and moves from window to window to search out the moths pinioned against screens, clinging to brightness.” In this description of Patrick habits the moths stand as a metaphor for Patrick that foreshadows his yearning for the “brightness” of the larger world of Ontario. Patrick is drawn to knowledge and excitement just like moths are drawn to the light. The overarching theme of identity manifests itself throughout the novel in the metaphor of ‘skin of a lion’ and the recurring motifs of ‘skins’, ‘masks’ and ‘painted faces.’ The title itself, In the Skin of a Lion, accompanied by the extract from The Epic of Gilgamesh, where the title is derived, exposes the reader to the metaphor for identity that is sustained throughout the whole novel. This metaphor is constantly reinforced by the recurring motif of ‘skin’ especially in reference to Patrick. ‘He was less neutral now, his skin like the texture of a cave that would transform anything painted on it.’ The notion of skin in this creates the feeling of an identity that is perceived by those around you and by assuming a new skin, a character transfigures that perception and shrouds their true identity. Patrick as a character assumes new skins as he grows throughout the novel and attempts to secure an identity. He becomes not only, ‘a chameleon among the minds of women’, but also among the minds of the working class. The skin motif is further explored in ‘Caravaggio’ when Ondaatje describes the thief as “an exotic creature who had to escape from his blue skin before daylight.” Caravaggio as a metaphorical “exotic” creature is attempting to shed the identity of a prisoner by shirking the “blue skin” before anyone can Identify him. In this act he is transcending from one perceived identity to another in the act of shedding a skin. Similarly, the motifs of ‘masks’ and ‘painted faces’ acts as another veil for identity. “...the way Alice came to him it seemed in a series of masks or painted faces”. The “masks” and “painted faces” again symbolise ideas that shroud identity. In this case it is Alice’s unknown history that obscures her for Patrick. Patrick shifts from community to community throughout the novel and each time he does an aspect of his identity is warped by the transition. He transcends from a passive and inquisitive boy in rural Canada to a passionate activist in the working class struggle of the city. This transcending is depicted in ‘The Searcher’ in an intimate scene between Patrick and Clara. “He took it, the white character, and they passed it back and forth between them till it no longer existed, till they didn’t know had him like a lost planet somewhere in the body.” This metaphor resonates with Patrick’s chameleonic identity and how it interchanges depending on the circumstances he experiences and the company he keeps. By personifying the “white character” and referring to it with the personal pronoun “him” suggest that it is emblematic of Patrick, a metaphorical “lost planet” among the working class of Ontario that passes from one community to another, assuming a new skin until the original is lost. The astounding influence that community lends identity is later explored in ‘Palace of Purification’ where Patrick becomes part of a new community and, as such, is marked by that community. “His flesh tightened in this new dry world, his damp stiffness fell away.” The wholly encapsulating nature of working in a tannery attaches itself to the workers and permeates their being, thus creating another skin. In the Skin of a Lion depicts the working class struggle in post-colonial Canada through the fragmented lens of forgotten history. Ondaatje has written the novel to allow the pastiche of stories to interweave and create the a history based on a lower community. Through the characterisation of the working class figures, it is evident just how immensely the working class community contributes to the identity of the individual.