Speech on In The Skin of the Lion
“The man in mid-air… [He] is famous on the bridge, a daredevil… a solitary… a spinner… an exclamation mark.” Anonymous, “he floats at the three hinges of the crescent-shaped steel arches. These knit the bridge together. The moment of cubism… Nicholas Temelcoff.”
The ‘Workers Plight’ and ‘Official History vs Real History’ are the two main themes portrayed through the voice of Temelcoff. These two ideas are the reasons Temelcoff’s voice resonates with me. They symbolise history’s incomplete nature and the importance of each person’s voice being identified.
An immigrant struggling to forge an identity in postcolonial Canada, Temelcoff’s voice conveys the isolation and official disregard of the migrant workers on the Bloor Street Viaduct.
Ondaatje has created the dream-like, surreal ambience evoked throughout the construction of the viaduct to convey these notions. The use of imagery, “The Bridge goes up in a dream”, “He stands in the air” and “[He] sits in the darkness of the room as if he has had enough of light.” symbolises the seclusion of Temelcoff from the outside world. This technique expresses the marginality in the voice of Temelcoff and the migrant workers.
The impersonal language in the introduction of Temelcoff, denies the audience any personal connection to Temelcoff before we learn his name. “The man in mid-air” and “the right arm was all agony now” communicates both the political insignificance of the workers on the bridge as well as their absence from formal records.
Official history’s neglect of the migrant workers is exposed through the incorporation of Ondaatje’s factual research. “Even in archive photographs it is difficult to find him” or “Commissioner Harris never speaks to Nicholas Temelcoff”, and through dehumanisation “the man is an extension of drill, hammer, flame”. The disregard of Temelcoff and the other migrant workers by authorities conveys the notion that official and postcolonial history habitually excludes the culturally
The ‘Workers Plight’ and ‘Official History vs Real History’ are the two main themes portrayed through the voice of Temelcoff. These two ideas are the reasons Temelcoff’s voice resonates with me. They symbolise history’s incomplete nature and the importance of each person’s voice being identified.
An immigrant struggling to forge an identity in postcolonial Canada, Temelcoff’s voice conveys the isolation and official disregard of the migrant workers on the Bloor Street Viaduct.
Ondaatje has created the dream-like, surreal ambience evoked throughout the construction of the viaduct to convey these notions. The use of imagery, “The Bridge goes up in a dream”, “He stands in the air” and “[He] sits in the darkness of the room as if he has had enough of light.” symbolises the seclusion of Temelcoff from the outside world. This technique expresses the marginality in the voice of Temelcoff and the migrant workers.
The impersonal language in the introduction of Temelcoff, denies the audience any personal connection to Temelcoff before we learn his name. “The man in mid-air” and “the right arm was all agony now” communicates both the political insignificance of the workers on the bridge as well as their absence from formal records.
Official history’s neglect of the migrant workers is exposed through the incorporation of Ondaatje’s factual research. “Even in archive photographs it is difficult to find him” or “Commissioner Harris never speaks to Nicholas Temelcoff”, and through dehumanisation “the man is an extension of drill, hammer, flame”. The disregard of Temelcoff and the other migrant workers by authorities conveys the notion that official and postcolonial history habitually excludes the culturally