How has Michael Ondaatje used narrative techniques in his novel In The Skin of a Lion to reveal memorable ideas? The construction of the Bloor Street Viaduct, fictionalized by Ondaatje, highlights themes such as Authority & Power, Rebellion & Freedom, and Love & Loss. These themes are consistently explored throughout the novel.
Ondaatje’s employment of 3rd-person omniscient narration, verbal cinema, and leitmotif of light & dark have enabled him to render these themes most indelible to me on a personal level. The motif of Power & Authority resounds throughout the entirety of the text as it incessantly permeates the lives of all the mentioned characters. Ondaatje explores various instances of power & authority by introducing new characters. An evident illustration can be seen in the character Rowland Harris – the Commissioner of Public Works – who embodies a figure endowed with authority and power.
Even though the bridge was his aspiration, it is the hard work of the migrants that brought it to fruition. However, it is explicitly stated that the bridge is his “baby” – not the migrants’ – showcasing the control his voice wields over the immigrants. In the chapter titled “The Bridge,” Ondaatje allows us a glimpse into the lives of these migrant workers. Throughout the entire novel, he deprives the collective migrants of a voice, exposing how those in power have suppressed their stories. “Soon there are twenty. Crowded and silent.” At this juncture in the novel, Ondaatje has not yet introduced any specific immigrant.
However, by introducing them collectively as if they were one person, he has created a much more powerful image than merely twenty men crammed silently in a truck. This scene serves as a vignette, adding to the larger truth that all immigrants are trapped in a harsh world and are forced to remain silent. The puppet show, presented by Alice in the Palace of Purification, serves as a dramatic metaphor for the lives of migrants. The migrants themselves are the puppets, and the authorities are the ones manipulating them. “The audience around him was silent.”
The dominant sounds on the stage were authoritative grunts as everyone awaited the puppet’s speech, which never came. Similarly, migrants also sat in silence, highlighting the stark contrast between the powerful puppeteers and the powerless many. Throughout the novel, recurring imagery of light and darkness serves as a leitmotif, further emphasizing the inferior status of the migrant workers. In “The Bridge,” these workers traveled in darkness towards the waterworks, with Ondaatje’s language underscoring their powerlessness as they stared into the passing darkness. Thus, Ondaatje effectively conveys a sense of power dynamics through both visual and linguistic elements.
The novel’s language is incredibly sophisticated with its descriptions, causing readers to struggle to keep up with the narrative. Ondaatje skillfully interweaves and contrasts scenes throughout the story, leaving us feeling confused and powerless, much like the migrants themselves. This surrealism is particularly evident in the novel, as it transports us from the present world to an entirely different time through its cinematic language.
We are constantly experiencing transitions between different times and places, which bring in new characters and offer different insights into power and authority. While this novel explores various themes, one particularly significant idea is the numerous acts of rebellion undertaken in search of brief moments of freedom. Ondaatje employs the contrast of light and darkness to symbolize the small triumphs of the workers. For instance, he writes, “Inside the building they moved in noise and light.” In the Palace of Purification, the workers spend their nights at an illicit nightclub established within the partially constructed waterworks.
They choose to engage in rebellious activities during the darkness, yet paradoxically, they “move in light” because they briefly escape strenuous labor. In “The Bridge,” on the eve of the bridge’s opening ceremony, the workers quietly passed the guards while holding flickering candles as a tribute to those who perished during its construction – the “bridge dead.” Once again, they emerged at night, for it is in darkness where they reside. However, the faint glow of the candles serves as a symbol of hope – a glimmer of optimism that someday they will break free from their sorrowful existence.
The next day, an individual on a bicycle disrupted the ceremony by disregarding the guards and riding across the bridge alone. This incident is considered a “luxury” because freedom is considered a privilege for these individuals and not something that is automatically granted. The exact quote expresses the rider’s desire for the purity and expansiveness of the bridge: “He desires its untouched nature, the luxury of having so much space.” The rider aimed to assert ownership over the bridge, desiring its unspoiled state. The irony lies in the fact that the migrants are present because they sought to escape the turmoil of their previous homes.
They came seeking a fresh beginning, but instead found themselves ensnared once more in a political maneuvering of societal rifts. The individual engaged in an unlawful deed to taste a fleeting triumph and liberation. A display of defiance serves as a brief interlude of emancipation. In the initial section of the first book titled “Little Seeds,” Patrick Lewis, a young boy from a farming background, observes the loggers gliding on the ice during the early morning hours, “before the energy of the sun.” This marks our initial glimpse into the laborers’ existence, and they remain trapped in obscurity.
The presence of tired skaters puzzles a little boy because he lacks understanding of the world. Reading The Bridge enlightens him, revealing that even in exhaustion, skating represents a moment of freedom. In the subsequent novel, The Searcher, the same boy, now grown into a man named Patrick, embarks on a quest for employment and a fresh start. Similar to the migrants, he strives to distance himself from his past, which leads him to participate in tunnel construction. While he does not fully relate to the migrants, Patrick does share their feelings of alienation and a life shrouded in darkness.
Book Two, The Garden of the Blind, depicts an impressive scene where Patrick commits arson, defying Alice, at midnight. He flees the scene by swimming and eventually boards a ship, relishing in his temporary freedom. In The Bridge, a nun (later revealed to be Alice) is unexpectedly knocked off the bridge by a gust of wind during the dark night. Following the assumption of her death, her initial act of defiance – which I refer to as a ‘mini-rebellion’ – occurs when she unveils herself in front of Nicholas.
By unveiling herself, she is expressing that up until now, Jesus Christ has guided her path like a lamp (Psalm 119:105), but she is no longer content with this life. She is abandoning it for a new source of light. The choices made by characters like Patrick, Alice, Ambrose Small, and Nicholas Temelcoff are reminiscent of the migrants’ aspiration for a fresh start and newfound hope. Love & Loss, prominently explored through Patrick’s character, emerges as another significant theme. Ondaatje effectively emphasizes Love & Loss through descriptive language and direct narrative style.
In The Garden of the Blind, Patrick and Elizabeth meet and both reveal their tragic love affairs. Elizabeth copes with her loss by turning to alcohol, saying “I drink like a porpoise.” Interestingly, Patrick also has experienced two tragic love affairs. One of these was his relationship with Clara, who was the mistress of Ambrose Small. Their affair was destined to fail as Clara would eventually return to Ambrose, and Patrick knew this, planning to join them in the future.
On the night before Clara’s departure, they had discussed her plan to join her ‘beloved’. Patrick disagreed with Clara’s decision, as he described the sound of Ambrose’s name as poison. The thought of Ambrose was enough to harm him greatly. However, it was only after Clara left that Patrick understood their affair had to come to a close. It seemed like fate had determined this outcome. The end of Patrick’s relationship with Alice was sudden and tragic, as she accidentally lost her life.
The purpose of including the scene below where Patrick sets fire to the Muskoka Hotel was not just to depict an act of rebellion but also to showcase the immense devastation Patrick experiences after Alice’s unexpected death. As he boards the ship, the music echoes his vulnerable state. “Now, he will blend into the darkness as if he is a permanent resident. His reflection never emerges from the depths of the shadows.” He has now become one with the night and carries within him a heavy burden of darkness. In The Skin of a Lion, a captivating, challenging, and sincere novel.
The text expresses how the novel “In The Skin of a Lion” goes beyond being classified as fiction and offers a deep understanding of power, authority, rebellion, freedom, love, and loss. The author, Ondaatje, achieves this by using omniscient narration, verbal cinema, and the motif of light and dark. The writer believes that Ondaatje not only captures significant moments in history but also speaks on behalf of those who were silenced. As a result, the novel has left a lasting impression on the reader.
