The Healing among the Four Characters of The English Patient

【Abstract】The English Patient is Ondaatjes most representative work. The novel centers on the four characters who have suffered war-trauma while living in Villa San Girolamo in the ending years of the Second World War. The four main characters of The English Patient Hana， Almasy， Kip as well as Caravaggio are trapped in the existential predicament brought about by the war. The article emphasizes the process the four characters finally achieve by self-questioning， self-healing and mutual healing.

【Key Words】anxiety； self-healing； mutual healing

【作者簡介】劉愛菊，山東英才學院。

1. The Self-healing

Richard Bessel and Dirk Schumann have mentioned in their book Life After Death， “For the individual， remembering a trauma can be therapeutic and can help one leave behind a painful past”（39）. The process of recalling the past is painful， however， it is the only way for them to have self-healing.

Hana cannot stop herself recalling the death of her father， lover， her unborn baby as well as the soldiers she nursed. Crying and caring for the English patient is her way to get release from deep sorrow， and she shifts that all her misses and love to the English patient. “Obviously， the significance of past situations， traumatic or otherwise， does not persist from moment to moment like a quality of a thing； it is always possible to shift the way one construes the nature of an event” （Charme， Stuart L 31）. Through recalling the past trauma， Hana learns to accept and transfer the sorrow by taking care of the patient.

The reason that Caravaggio keeps investigating the English patient is that he is eager to find the truth of the past. Initially considering the patient as his personal antagonist， Caravaggio believes that continuous doses of morphine could gradually reveal the patients past. “But this setting is reversed because the analysts —Caraviggios —primary aim is his own healing —rather than that of his patient—which he can only reach by trying to put the fragments of his patients body into the place”（Steven Totosy de Zepetnek 44）. Caravaggio finds his self-healing by such an investigation.

In Kips case， he is the product of the English colonial power in India， and he loses his identity as the national in-between. He is a strict Sikh， leaving his country and giving all his hope to the civilized western countries. The war breaks the illusion of Kip. To Kip， the unfair treatment as well as racial discrimination he suffers convinces himself that the colonization would never save him and his country.

The English patient survived his life by remembering his past， especially the affair with Katharine Clifton and the friendship with Madox. Recalling the past enables his soul to return to the happiest time in his life. The way he cures himself is also a way recalling his past. He keeps telling the three characters his experience is also a kind of liberation for himself. By revealing his story， he gradually finds his self as a desert explorer， a lover of katharine and a friend of Mardox. To the patient， awakening is healing， for restoring his identity is a process of relive his life.

2. The Mutual Healing

Spiritual giving and receiving among the four characters help them to live through such a hard time. “By remembering with others， violence can lose some of its immediate horror and pain can be relieved. Within a community， the victim of the violence may feel more secure and consoled because his or her trauma receives attention and the injury is recognized.”（Richard Bessel and Dirk Schumann 39）

The English patient， though suffered physically and psychologically， still tries his effort to save his companions from destruction. Recognizing Hanas despair， the English patient convinces himself that she is more in need of help than himself， so he encourages her to read to him as a remedy against her suicidal thoughts. Almasy shares his stories with Hana， trying to show the significance of life. Immersed in the lives of characters in the books， Hana could temporarily forget her own misfortune. Besides， being aware of the girls yearning for her dead father， he is willing to be a father for her. It is certain that Hana takes the English patient as a substitute for her father， enjoying “daughter-father” （Bill Fledderus） connection. The English patient once mentioned that Kip is the young David and he himself is the old David by saying “Kip is my David”（Michael 138）. Sharing the similarity of their exiled situation， he convinces Kip of the truth of their international identity. To Caravaggio， Almasy is not annoyed with being interrogated， on the contrary， he tries to save Caravaggio from his unbalanced situation by telling him his life experience. Though immobile， his language directs his three traumatic listeners to a cure.

Hana in the novel acts “as a mother figure who ultimately holds the promise of healing”（Annick Hillger 194） and the way she treats the English patient， Caravaggio and Kip is with sincere love and concern. “The fact that Hana， now in her early twenties， works as a nurse in The English Patient indicates the significance of the womans healing power” （Annick Hillger 192）. Not only because of her job as a nurse， but also the experiences during the war time tells her how difficult it is to survive. Though she looks indifferent towards everything， she indeed cares for her companions， and “the comfort she has given others” （Ondaatje 126） is altruistic.

“Perhaps the most vulnerable of the characters， Kip only temporarily finds healing”（Janis Haswell）. To Kip， Hana is not only a lover， but also a healer. She soothes the pain of her lover with her efforts， “her tongue instead of a swab， her tooth instead of a needle， her mouth instead of the mask with the codeine drops to make him sleep” （Ondaatje 125） and “her body for last warmth， her whisper for comfort， her needle for sleep” （126）

Caravaggio is obsessed with learning the true identity of the burned patient， hoping to recover a secret that could dissolve Hanas special bond with the patient whom he calls “a ghost”（EP 45） That is the fatherly love of Caravaggio towards Hana， “that was her fathers term of endearment for her. He pulled her into his thick grizzled embrace and said ‘dear wormagain， and began the dancing lesson”（EP 108）. Though desperate， Caravaggio still cares about Hana， and his companion and comfort relaxes Hanas restrain to a great extent. Hana feels safe with him.

The four characters are both doctors and patients in their mutual help. The connection among the four characters is so intimate that they become each others spiritual support.

References：

[1]Annick Hillger. Not Needing All the Words[M].McGill-Queens University Press，2006.

[2]Bill Fledderus.“The English Patient Reposed in His Bed like a Fisher King： Elements of Grail Romance in Ondaatjes The English Patient”[M].Studies in Canadian Literature，1997，22，1：19-54.

[3]Charme， Stuart L. Meaning and Myth in the Study of Lives[M]. Philadelphia： University of Pennsylvania Press，1984.

[4]Michael Ondaatje.New York：Vintage Book， A Division of Random House Inc[J].1992The English Patient.

[5]Richard Bessel & Dirk Schumann. Life After Death. Cambridge University Press.2003 Robert Wicks.Modern French Philosophy[J]. Oxford： Oneworld Publication，2003.

[6]Steven Totosy de Zepetnek. Comparative Cultural Studies and Michael Ondaatjes Writing[M].West Lafayette： Purdue University Press，2002.