The English Patient (3) Memory Reconstruction and Homecoming

Outline Plot Summary and Questions EP ’ s re-interpretations (& Caravaggio ’ s role)EP ’ s re-interpretations nomads vs. nations;nomads vs. nations Kip ’ s Changes;Kip ’ s Changes Hana ’ s Homecoming.Hana ’ s Homecoming Connections or not?Connections or not

Plot Summary Chaps 1 - 3: the forming of a post-war community of “ international bastards ” (reading, writing, story- telling) Chaps 4-6: Katherine and Almasy ( , , 1942) chap 5: question about falling love and being disassembled. Chap 6: (the Buried Plane) -- Caravaggio ’ s intrusion into the EP ’ s storytelling, with the story of told the first time. Chap 7: In Situ (meaning: in the natural or original position or place 1940) -- Kip ’ s story of being trained as a sapper; Kip vs. his brother; Erith, where Lord Suffolk dies

Plot Summary Chap 8 (The Holy Forest) Kip ’ s experience defusing a bomb in a pit; Kip and Hana (217 – his family, fluid perspective, the game). Chap 9 (The Cave of Swimmers) Reconstruction of the past (attraction  conflict  separation  Madox  1939  the two endings/interpretations of the ending) Chap 10 (August) --the endings of Homecoming: birthday party  sing; Hana and Kip in the tent; Kip ’ s experience of defusing bombs in Naples, Kip ’ s sudden departure, Hana ’ s homecoming.

Questions How are the EP ’ s views of his love for Katherine and the latter ’ s death changed over time? How does he “ heal ” himself? Besides being used by the nations, and physically and emotionally traumatized by the war, how are these “ international bastards ” influenced by national boundaries? What do you think about Kip ’ s radical response to the nuclear bomb? How is Hana ’ s homecoming different from Kip ’ s? Are there connections among the three remaining characters? Any passages that impress you?

EP ’ s re-interpretations of their Relationships Chap 9 – (1) a lot clearer than the previous account; (2) “ change to the 3rd person ” 244 Death means you are in the third person ” (247) (3) re-ordering events (247-48) Their relationships: Reasons for their mutual attraction the story of Candaules pp (flashbacks in the flashback 235) – formal Bosphorus p. 236; the English machine 237 conflicts -- e.g. p. 238 (different views on words)

Caravaggio and the Central Mystery Caravaggio ’ s role: “ travels with him ” pp , wants to pull himself away 251, A proper listener; asked to respond 253 The Central Mystery: 250  international bastard

Nation vs. International Bastards They either reject or are rejected by national boundaries. Madox – died because of nations 243; EP – “ wrong name ” 251 intellectual turned into a vacuum (after being rejected by Allies). Caravaggio and EP – thief as a spy vs ; Kip: marked (199) but invisible (196)

Katherine ’ s death re- interpreted 0. history – chaos  plot  field notes 245; wandering memories 248; Put paints on her body Alternating between self-questioning and broader views of time, desert space and life and death.  crossing temporal boundaries and joining the communal book. Self-questioning-- curse pp. 257; demon-lover 260 Every person a gift in life; 257 “ jackal ” and “ historian ” ; One ’ s own body as a communal book 261

Kip ’ s changes Before the news of the nuclear bomb: agile, moves in relation to things ; danger and peace: always concentrated on defusing bombs and admiring the statues and paintings in churches; e.g. 273 (painted scene to chaos); (communicating with a painting) Mutual support and communication between him and Hana – physical intimacy, understanding; verbal nights 270 Always optimistic 273; not facing her if he were in danger

Kip ’ s changes After the news of the nuclear bombs in Japan: 283 – refusing EP; Murderous p. 284 Brown races vs. Englishman 286; Rejecting everything, about to explode 287 Traveling against the direction of invasion 290; remembering only the names of the places, but not Hana, Carrying the body of the Englishman, as well as symbols of Western civilization 294;

Kip ’ s changes (2) – rejecting the Bible or rejected by it 295 Isaiah 51:6: "Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner...." A secret from the desert  Hiroshima 以賽亞書 22 : 18 “ He will surely violently turn and toss thee like a ball into a large country: there shalt thou die, and there the chariots of thy glory shall be the shame of thy lord's house. ” Thru ’ Kip  The novel re-writes the Bible.

Hana ’ s Homecoming The letter she writes to Clara – her stepmother  connects with her mother and confirms her (a canoe) Believes that “ the personal will forever be at war with the public. ” ; faces her father ’ s death; 295 a comforting place. her vision of “ home ” and “ mother ” : confirms their plainness and independence. 296

Homes Kip – a doctor with two children and a laughing wife. Exhausted by Indian sun; well connected — loves his son ’ s wit and his knowledge of dogs. Hana – 34, stays single, writes letters to him for a year without getting responses; well-loved (301) by others.

Connections in the Endings Caravaggio – remembers Kip 208; becomes active 297 in making a one-strand bridge. EP – imagines Kip ’ s presence 298; Kip and Hana – lose contact after he does not respond for a year; Kip – still sees and thinks of Hana 300; Hana – the author still leaves space for her independence; The final connection – a spiritual communion or lack of connection?

Conclusion Trauma – overcome because the characters make connections with each other and gain a broader understanding of their ‘ his/her-stories. ’ However, human connections can easily be broken and racial boundaries, maintained. Betrayals in love// among nations; Understanding of individuals; Respect for different races; confirmation of the borderline space “ brown race ” as Asia ideology.

Historical Knowledge "The attempt to gain access to a traumatic history, then, is also the project of listening beyond the pathology of individual suffering, to the reality of a history that in its crises can only be perceived in unassimiliable forms" (Cathy Caruth 156).