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The Consequences of War Essay

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“In war, there are no unwounded soldiers” (José Narosky). Narosky touches an important consequence of war that is viewed in the novel, The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje. The story takes place during World War II in an abandoned Italian Villa habited by only four characters of different nationality, two Canadians, an Indian and a Hungarian. These characters learn about each other, ultimately leading them to discover themselves and reveal issues that the war caused them. The dehumanizing effects of war, in The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje, reveals uncomfortable and disturbing truths about how Hana, Kip and Caravaggio perceive the world around them as well as themselves. Events from the war created dehumanizing effects on Hana, …show more content…

David Caravaggio, a family friend notices this change in Hana on her birthday when he hears her sing a particular song that she used to sing when she was little. He noticed a certain change in the way she sang the song, he described it as, “Not with the passion of her at sixteen but echoing the tentative circle of light around her in the darkness. She was singing it as if it was something scarred, as if one couldn’t ever again bring all the hope of the song together” (269). Caravaggio’s notice in the change of the way Hana sang linked directly to how Hana’s personality changed. Ultimately, the song represents Hana’s life. Before the war – at sixteen – Hana was a youthful, passionate and hopeful girl. The war exposed Hana to the harshness of the world. Caravaggio mentioned that Hana sang the song “as if it was something scarred”; since the song represents Hana, this reveals that Hana is scarred. Moreover, the darkness that Caravaggio hears through the song represents all of the loss that Hana has experienced during the war. The “tentative circle of light” symbolizes the recent joy she has experienced in the Villa being surrounded by a family friend, a new lover and a new friend. It also symbolizes Hana’s previous life, where she did not experience loss, trying to fight its way through all of the darkness she had experienced due

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