In the Skin of a Lion Lesson Plan

What are the broader narrative implications of the characters’ relationships with sleep?

Dreams and sleep are a major theme/motif throughout In the Skin of a Lion. Nicholas, Patrick, and Caravaggio all have trouble with sleep. Nicholas actually fears the moment before falling to sleep. Caravaggio feels that sleep goes against his very nature as a thief. “He hated the hours of sleep. …He would sleep as insecurely as a thief does, which is why they are always tired” (184). This could be seen as Ondaatje using irony because he makes heavy use of dreams: the characters hate sleeping, but dreams are an integral part of their lives.

How does Caravaggio’s life as a thief...