Michael Ondaatje's "The English Patient" -- The characters of Katherine and Hana, and how they offer two opposing portrayals of womanhood.

The English Patient is a book that revolves around much more than the identity and story of its title character. A diverse group of people collect around the idyllic paradise of the villa, and boundaries of race and culture blur and fade. However, Ondaatje's obsession with identity and coming to terms with it reach into another, smaller comparison: the two female characters of the novel. Hana and Katherine, both very different characters, are juxtaposed with …

… and soul, in exchange for a body and soul connection with her lover. Hana, on the other hand, becomes subservient in an unselfish way, consciously allowing herself to grow from the experience of doing good and having that service appreciated. It is in this way that Ondaatje shows us all the different directions a heart can be pulled and how true, honest connections between two people are not always easy to make.