Destruction through Imagery and Theme in The English Patient Essay

Destruction through imaging and Theme in The English Patient The imagery in Michael Ondaatjes fabrication The English Patient serves to illustrate the theme of destruction in this novel. The background signal of the novel as well as the characters themselves present to the reader a vivid picture of demolition. Critics also find that Ondaatjes imagery is a racy element in the presentation of this theme. The English Patient is set at the end of World War II in a war-ravaged Italian village. Ondaatje gives vivid descriptions of the damage the village sustained due to the war As the hill town began to be torn apart like a battle ship at sea, by fire shells, the troops go from the barrack tents in the orchard into the now crowded bedrooms of the old nunnery. Sections of the chapel were blown up. Parts of the top storey of the villa crumbled under the explosions. (12) Ondaatjes detailed and unforgettable description completes his picture of the county side. "Dead cattl e. Horses shot dead, half eaten. People abeyance upside down from bridges" (Ondaatje 19). This elaborate a...