Volume : 1, Issue : 5, October - 2012

The Pilgrimage and the Atonement In the works of Patrick White

Amita Malhotra Kalra

Abstract :

The award of the Nobel Prize to Patrick White in 1973, although not quite expected, gave the formal seal of international recognition, not merely to the novelist, but to Australian Literature as well. He was the first writer in English in eleven years to get the award, and this was no small thing White was committed to unveil the whole truth behind the existence of man. He looked beyond the appearance and explored the dualities within. The immediate result was Riders in the Chariot. He hinted at the resurrection beyond the crucifixion. The Riders in the Chariot,The Solid Mandala, The Vivisector, the Eye of the Storm and A Fringe of Leaves are the novels which take the readers onto a journey of the self. His characters traverse a path of pain, humility and suffering. They trod the path Christ engraved for them, the path of mysticism. The present paper is an attempt to take an Eagle’s eye view of the message behind most of White’s novels.