In the Skin of a Lion Commentary

In the Skin of a Lion Commentary

  • Submitted By: xxx4xxx
  • Date Submitted: 03/05/2011 12:48 PM
  • Category: English
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In the novel, in the skin of a lion, Micheal Ondaatje uses a wide variety of literary devices. One of these devices intertextuality which is references or allusions to other fiction and non-fiction.
This novel has many references and quotes from Gilgamesh’s Epic.
First Quote
In fact, the title of this book comes from this quote. The author uses “in the skin of a lion” as the title because he is saying that everyone has their own story, from their own perspective and everyone deserves to have their story heard. When we put this in the context of book we can see the significance of the title. In this novel, we follow the lives of the immigrants and the lower class who have little respect or reorganization from the rest of society. However, Ondaatje is saying that these are the people who work the hardest, that these are the people who have built our grand cities and at these people deserve our gratitude and deserve to have their voices heard.
When Patrick reiterates Alice's phrase to Harris, "In a rich man's house there is nowhere to spit except in his face," Harris responds by naming the source, i.e. Diogenes. Diogenes was a philosopher who despised social conventions. His aim in life was to "deface the coinage of his time." He tried to reveal that every conventional stamp was false, the "men stamped as generals and kings; the things stamped as honour and wisdom and happiness and riches; all were base metal with lying superscription .
When Plato is asked what sort of man Diogenes is, he responds, “A Socrates gone mad”
For the Cynics, life in accord with reason is lived in accord with nature, and therefore life in accord with reason is greater than the bounds of convention and the polis. Furthermore, the Cynics claim that such a life is the life worth living. As a homeless and penniless exile, Diogenes experienced the greatest misfortunes of which the tragedians write, and yet he insisted that he lived the good life: “He claimed that to fortune he could...

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