An Analysis of Images in The English Patient by Ondaatje
翁达杰《英国病人》中的意象分析

摘要

《英国病人》是加拿大作家迈克儿·翁达杰的代表作之一。作者尝试运用原型批评理论来分析这部小说中的主要原型意象，包括火、水、沙漠等。融合多重主题是翁达杰小说的特色之一，《英国病人》也不例外。在小说中，作者巧妙地通过人物性格塑造、具体事物的描写、情节结构的安排来传达自己的思想情感。在翁达杰的写作中没有绝对的对立，野蛮人与文明人、英国人与印第安人、现在与过去、混乱与秩序、沙漠与别墅、水与火、艾尔玛西与凯瑟琳对劳基普与哈纳，它们既重叠又发散。阿尔玛西拼命想要抹去自己国籍的行为、基普想要放弃文化认同而追随西方的愿望、两对在不同境遇中挣扎的夫妇等等，这些人的努力在现实面前总是显得那么苍白。这些意象看似零散，却又相互关联，将小说的主题凝聚在一起，传达出作者对 战争给人类带来的灾难以及多元文化共存的愿望和信仰。

Abstract

The English Patient is one of the representative works of Canadian writer Mikell Ondaatje. The author tries to use archetypal criticism theory to analyze the main archetypal images in this novel, including fire, water, desert and so on. Blending multiple themes is one of the characteristics of Ondaatje's novels, and the English patient is no exception. In the novel, the author skillfully conveys his thoughts and emotions through the characterization of characters, the description of concrete things and the arrangement of plot structure. There is no absolute opposition in Ondaatje's writing. The Barbarians and the civilised, the British and the Indians, the present and the past, chaos and order, the desert and the villa, water and fire, Elmasy and Catherine versus Lao Kip and Haner, they overlap and diverge. Almasy's desperate attempts to erase his nationality, Kip's desire to give up his cultural identity and follow the west, two couples struggling in different situations, and so on, these people's efforts in the face of reality has always seemed so pale. These images seem to be fragmentary, but they are related to each other. They bring together the theme of the novel and convey the author's deep understanding of the disasters that war brings to mankind, and the desire and belief of multi-cultural co-existence.