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Who Is Michael Ondaatje's In The Skin Of A Lion?

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Michael Ondaatje’s In the Skin of a Lion conveys the exploitation of the working class through the use of juxtaposing motifs; light and dark, which are symbolic of the separation between the marginalised and those who hold power. This aspect has best contributed to my understanding of the text by expanding on the idea of the power amongst rich and poor. The imagery of light and dark pervades this novel in the form of memories from Patrick’s youth where the dark allowed a limited freedom, a single agency of power and identity that stems from the idea of “day was work, night was rest”. Ondaatje depicts society imposing its power over workers in the light. In saying this, each worker has their own smaller light that frees them from societal structures, and this light is better seen at night. …show more content…

This was against the night. The ice was so certain, they could leap into the air and crash down and it would hold them. Their lanterns replaced with new rushes which let them go further past boundaries...” The skaters and workers become free during the night as the day robs the working class of freedom. They have control in the night, with the lantern symbolising the limited power that they control in order to see where they are going and extend their boundaries. It is their agency of power and identity. Ondaatje writes from the perspective of the voiceless lower class, which is scarcely regarded by society, the rich or history. The working class are dehumanized and become a part of the project itself, invisible and undervalued. “A man is an extension of hammer, drill, flame. Drill smoke in his hair. A cap falls into the valley; gloves are buried in stone dust.” This creates an image of men who simply disappear into the scale of the construction and are defined as a tool. The high class categorises them by their jobs, neglecting them as

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