The English Patient Lesson Plan

Hana tells us, “Caravaggio was constantly diverted by the human element during burglaries.” How does inform how the reader regards Caravaggio and his profession?

Ondaatje presents Caravaggio as a sympathetic thief by highlighting how he is distracted by these human elements – updating Advent calendars and making friends with family pets. This helps soften the image we have of Caravaggio and makes it easier to have sympathy with him; this sets up the reader to malso have sympathy for him as he is left on the outside of Hana and Kip’s love affair.

Why does Kip reflect after he defuses the Esau bomb that only Hardy keeps him human now? What about his behavior during the...