|
Have questions?
Contact us
Already a member? Sign in
|
Get every literary device explanation for The English PatientPlus so much more...
Sign up for LitCharts A+Get instant access to every literary device explanation, plus so much more...
Metaphor
Explanation and Analysis—A Drifting Star:
As Kip adjusts to life at the villa San Girolamo, he realizes that his racial identity will continue to negatively impact his relationships with Caravaggio, Hana, and the English patient—even though he will eventually spark a passionate romance with Hana. To heighten Kip's experience of isolation at the villa, Ondaatje crafts a metaphor for his non-belonging in Chapter 3 of the novel:
He seems casually content with this small group in the villa, some kind of loose star on the edge of their system. This is like a holiday for him after the war of mud and rivers and bridges. He enters the house only when invited in, just a tentative visitor, the way he had done that first night when he had followed the faltering sound of Hana’s piano and come up the cypress-lined path and stepped into the library.
Comparing Kip to a “loose star on the edge of their system" powerfully demonstrates the level of isolation Kip faces at the villa. This metaphorical statement—Kip is, of course, not a literal star in a solar system—illustrates the emotional and societal chasm between the villa's White Western inhabitants and Kip. Not only does Kip enter the orbit of the villa long after Hana and the others, but his turban (a physical sign of his Indian identity) and his British military uniform visually differentiate him from the others. However relieved Kip is to live away from "mud and rivers and bridges," the fact of his "otherness" remains—even though he feels pride at having fought for Britain during the war.
Bombs have largely destroyed the villa's hospital, but Hana, Caravaggio, and the English patient manage to reconstruct a loose system of social constructs. As Ondaatje's solar system metaphor indicates, Kip exists on the outside of this system and is thus akin to a loose star that circles the system but does not completely fit within its orbit. This image of non-belonging is integral to Kip’s character in the beginning of The English Patient, for it introduces to the reader dynamics of colonialism, racism, and exclusion present at the villa.
Monthly
Annual (Best Value)
$595USD/mo
Charged $71.40 USD every year
Teacher$795USD/mo
Charged $95.40 USD every year
Literature Guide PDFs
LitCharts PDFs for every book you'll read this year.
Instant PDF downloads of all 2247 LitCharts literature guides and of every new one we publish. Try a free sample literature guide.
"Would not have made it through AP Literature without the printable PDFs. They're like having in-class notes for every discussion!"
Quotes Explanations
Find the perfect quote. Understand it perfectly. Then rock the citation, too.
For all 50,101 quotes we cover.
For all 50,101 quotes we cover.
Teacher Editions
Close reading made easy for students.
Time saved for teachers.
For every book we cover.
Time saved for teachers.
For every book we cover.
Common Core-aligned
PDFs of modern translations of every one of Shakespeare's 37 plays, 154 sonnets, and 3 longer poems.
Literary Terms and Devices
Definitions and examples for every literary term and device you need to know.
Plus a quick-reference PDF with concise definitions of all 136 terms in one place.
Plus a quick-reference PDF with concise definitions of all 136 terms in one place.
Try a free sample literary term PDF.
Advanced Search
Refine any search. Find related themes, quotes, symbols, characters, and more.
Related Themes
Comparing and contrasting texts? Find where any theme occurs across all of LitCharts in seconds.
Poetry Guides
Line-by-line explanations and analysis of figurative language and poetic devices.
For every lyric poem we cover.
For every lyric poem we cover.
