Theme Of Blindness In Michael Ondaatje's In The Skin Of A Lion

521 Words3 Pages
Within Michael Ondaatje’s novel, In the Skin of a Lion, reoccurring themes of blindness and misuse of poor immigrants remain evident. By connecting both themes together as a reader I begin to understand the narrator 's concerns. Ondaatje usage of blindness to illustrate misuse of immigrants and the poor during the construction of Toronto landmarks can be found on a smaller scale embedded within the novel. “Among the tree over the distance he saw what looked like more bugs. Lightening Bugs within the tree by the river” (12). Patricks’ initial misjudgment of the ongoing scenario indicates his compromised vision of current events. Later on, he realizes he mistook the scene, as the bugs, in fact, are people skating with cattails on fire. As an overall