Editing The English Patient (section)

===Almásy===
Count Ladislaus de Almásy is the titular character who comes under Hana's care in Italy after being burned unrecognisably in Africa. Although Hungarian by birth, because he has lived without government identification or many verifiable long-term interactions, his accent prompts the authorities around him to perceive an English affiliation and to refer to him as the English Patient. Almásy serves as a blank canvas onto which the other characters project their experience during this time in Italy. For example, Hana treats him tenderly to redeem herself for not being by the side of her father when he was engulfed in flames and died. She provides comfort to the English Patient that she could not provide to her own father.

The rejection of a nationalistic identity enables Almásy to rationalise his duplicitous actions with his associates. He socialises with, and is a mapmaker for, the British before the war, then uses that information to smuggle German spies across northern Africa. Almásy is portrayed in a sympathetic light, partly because he tells his own story, but also because he always adheres to his own moral code.

Almásy is also at the centre of one of the novel's love stories. He is involved in an adulterous relationship with Katharine Clifton, which eventually leads to her death and the death of her husband, Geoffrey Clifton. Katharine is the figure who leads Almásy to sensuality. He falls in love with her voice as she reads [[Herodotus]]. Sensuality, both sexual and observational, is a major theme in the novel.

The character is loosely based on [[László Almásy]], a well-known desert explorer in 1930s Egypt, who helped the German side in the Second World War. Almásy did not suffer burns or die in Italy, but survived the war and lived until 1951.