The Destruction of Female Possession in The English Patient Essay

In Michael Ondaatjes The English Patient we see a world all told ravaged by war. The land itself is deadeningd, sometimes beyond recognition as it is torn apart by bombs. Just as these human-made structures have faced the damage of imperialism, so have female bodies in the novel. Ondaatje creates several parallels between mans attempt to own the land around him and his ownership of the female body. As we see in the novel, this attempt at ownership almost always ends in destruction, war, and often, death. What I believe Ondaatje is trying to present to us is the impossibility of owning something that should at last be free, such as the female body (or any body, for that matter.) Though some feminist theorists such as Lilijana Burcar have claimed Ondaatjes novel perpetuates the radical of male ownership of female bodies, I believe we see several examples of female empowerment hidden throughout the novel examples of females outwardly rejecting such ownership, as Hanna r efuses to be seen as a sexual object by Carravagio, and even changes her appearance to defeminize herself. We even see gender-roles reverse. The male gaze seems to apply not except to males, but to females as well as Hanna views the sapper, Kip, in a feminized and often sexual way. Most striking of all, however, is Ondaatjes representation of the character Katharine as an almost voiceless physical body which is undoubtedly owned and consumed by Almasys desire. As we see, this ownership leads to what is arguably the biggest destruction in the novel the destruction of both Katharine and Almasy altogether. Before focusing on the most extreme example of male ownership that is Almasys ownership of Katharine, I want to first exa... ...vere gender-divide that is only normally present in same-sex relationships. This along with Hanas appreciation for her own body and sexuality show readers a new type of relationship. In this way, I feel Ondaatjes novel is progressive and reflects se veral feminist values and ideals, though they are often hidden just below the surface. Works CitedBurcar, Lilijana. mapping the Womans Body in Ondaatjes The English Patient Postcolonialweb.orgBordo, S. 1993. Feminism, Foucault, and the Politics of the Body. In C. Ramazanoglu, (Ed.) Up Against Foucault. Explorations of some Tensions between Foucault and Feminism. London and New York Routledge.181 -202.Butler, J. 1990. sexual urge Trouble. Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. London and New York Routledge.Suleri, Sara. The Rhetoric of English India. Chicago University of Chicago Press, 1992.