Michael Ondaatje's The English Patient is the story of four different people's experiences and how they came to live together in a small villa in Italy during World War II. The novel is abundant in symbolism, and the imagery brings the settings to life. The novel is also filled with motifs. Probably the most frequent motif Ondaatje uses is the desert. The motif of the desert appears in the novel to accomplish one of two things: to represent characteristics of English patient, or to reinforce the theme of nations.

The most often use of the desert motif is to symbolize an aspect or characteristic of the English patient. On several occasions, the vastness of the desert is emphasized. The English patient comments that "If a man leaned back a few inches he would disappear into darkness" (143; ch. 4). He also mentions that "The desert was always among us" (145; ch. 4). The concept of the great expanse of the desert represents multiple aspects of the English patient. Both his seemingly infinite knowledge base and unbelievable life experiences could be described as vast. Perhaps this is because of the ways in which the English patient has been influenced by the desert. In the

desert ". . . it is easy to lose a sense of demarcation" and to be greatly changed by traversing its great distances (18; ch. 1). The desert is later described as a place where

". . . nothing was strapped down or permanent, everything drifted . . ." (22; ch. 1). This is indeed descriptive of the English patient's existence for in his lifetime he loses many thing close to him: Katherine, whom he love greatly, Madox, a close friend, and even his identity is lost to the desert. Another statement made about the desert asserts that it ". . . could not be claimed or owned" (138; ch. 4). The English patient too cannot be claimed or owned because he does not even know who he his: his identity is a mystery to all. However, the desert has caused the English patient to lose more than his name: he has been drastically changed by it.

The motif of the desert appears numerous times and with different interpretations. Nevertheless, it is clear that the desert is seen as a place with the power to change men completely. The purpose of the desert was to emphasize the English patient's difficult life experiences, to show how he was changed, and to help describe why he acts as he does in the present. Hana, Caravaggio, and Kip believe that the English patient has amnesia or that his traumatic experience has caused his memory loss; however, as Caravaggio notes, why does he then remember his whole life story. The fact is, the English patient never forgets who he is: he just wishes he would.

After spending ten years in the desert, the English patient is a shadow of his forme

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1067
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)