Michael Ondaatje - Critical Analysis

In the novel, In The Skin Of A Lion Michael Ondaatje anatomizes the relationship between power and language and their effect on oneself establishing a sense of identity. The manipulative language and the complex structure Ondaatje uses explores this idea of power and its inevitable relationship with a sense of identity, which is even further accentuated through use of characterization throughout the novel.

Ondaatje shines light on the unheard corners of history to give the disenfranchised migrants a sense of power, which in turn provides them with an enriched sense of self. This is represented in the novel through the migrant workers. Ondaatje expresses this through harsh sensory imagery when describing them, by saying, “The smell of tar seeps up through the porous body of their clothes. The black of it permanent under their finger nail”
This sensory imagery and hyperbole, “permanent under their finger nails,” allows the reader to empathise with the workers and therefore relate to the harsh conditions in the workplace. In this quote Ondaatje describes the workers through use of impersonal pronouns, “their”, thus taking away their sense of personal identity. The migrant workers not being allowed to keep their own name further depict lack of identity, seen in quote, “The labour agent giving them all English Names. Charlie Johnson. Nick Parker.” Enabling the reader to understand the complex effect a person’s identity has when establishing power. Language displays and intricate relationship with power and acquisition of a personal identity. The migrant workers are forced to communicate in English, a language they are not conversant in. "If they speak in any language other than English, they will be jailed. A rule of the city." Thus the migrant workers are disempowered thus depriving them of their cultural identity and preventing them from uniting to become a powerful body. Ambrose, on the other hand, is a Canadian that has complete grasp on the English