The Repressed Feeling Structure In The Novel The English Patient

The English Patient is the masterpiece of the Canadian innovative writer, Michael Ondaatje and it is the first Canadian book to win Britain's prestigious Booker Prize in 1992. The film adapted from this original novel won nine Oscars of 1996. In The English Patient, the post-colonialism paradox is parallel with the love complex; the identity pursuit is blended with the call for true love. In order to incarnate the theme of the identity pursuit and the ambivalent passion of love and hatred to the colonialism, the author designed the plot of love beyond marriage. We can not regard this love as adultery, but quite the reverse, the adultery in this case has its special meaning. This love affair happened under the special background of World War II, which was restricted enormously by the married fact. As a result, the moral treason as well as the conscience-stricken gnawed the two lovers' hearts. Though they met at last, their love ended in tragedy. If the post-colonialism literature expresses the colonized people's rebellious will fighting against the colonialism and the appeal for identity, then the love beyond marriage itself also delivers the repressed passion of the protagonists, and thus well complements the theme.Revolving around the theme, the thesis analyses the structure of the repressed feeling, that is, oppressing—repressed—resisting, which results from the corresponding reason of colonizing—being colonized—anti-colonizing.The thesis is composed of four chapters which elaborates the process of the feeling. The first chapter offers an introduction of the author's life experience and the cultural background he is in. In the second chapter, the thesis analyzes colonialism and the resistance against the ideology of colonialism. The third chapter suggests that Said's Orientalism and post-colonialism are the theoretical basis of the narration of passion in the novel. Finally, by an analysis of the repressed feeling structure and the resistance against the repressed feeling throughout the whole novel, the thesis interprets the three forms of the rebellion against the repressed: 1. being an outsider of centralization decentralizes the oppressive structures. 2. the...