Patrick Lewis is a lost soul and a searcher on a constant journey. In chapter three, ironically titled, "[T]he Searcher", Patrick is searching for Ambrose Small but that is merely a m

etaphor for his vocation. "He searched out things, he collected things" (157) indicates that he is always searching for something. The title, “In the Skin of a Lion,” can also be used to illustrate Patrick's perpetual search. In the preface, Ondaatje states, "(T)he joyful will stoop... I will wander through the wilderness in the skin of a lion." Patrick is wandering through the wilderness, searching and hunting. He has no purpose in life; he just searches. The thing that he is looking for is light. This ambiguous concept of light Ondaatje presents throughout the novel is not ordinary light, but one that illuminates the void of darkness. Just like the moths that Patrick is intrigued by that only tend toward light at night, Patrick only seeks light when there is none around him. Patrick continues his eternal search for light because he has none of his own to emit. Without this element, he cannot find his true identity and survive the world he is living in.

The central theme behind many stories is the loss and regaining of identity. Patrick has no identity of his own, and his only way of gaining a temporary one is through light. "And he himself was nothing but a prism that refracted their lives," (Ondaatje, pg.157) is a well-written metaphor that describes his relationship with his friends. A prism, by definition, refracts light into a spectrum of colors. Correspondingly, Patrick contorts other characters’ identities as his own. The readers are introduced to this concept of reflecting light even before the novel begins. This is indicated by, "(D)riving the four hours to Marmora under six stars and a moon." Patrick is the moon; he can only reflect a star’s light. When reflecting light

Some topics in this essay:
Sometimes Patrick, Skin Lion”, Patrick Toronto, Driving Marmora, Waterworks Patrick, Patrick Lewis, Clara Alice-, Hazin Lewis, Clara Alice, Searcher Patrick, ondaatje pg157, identity light, survive world, lack love, true identity, patrick's life, prism refracted lives, another- ambrose, ambrose clara, hear rattle, aligned another-, aligned another- ambrose, another- ambrose clara, hollow aligned another-, hear rattle suggested,