If in a hypothetical situation I was asked if tragic flaw was an issue in the novel In the Skin of a Lion by Michael Ondattje I would have to say:

If someone like a hypothetical English teacher hypothetically named Mrs. Lavender created a question which asked, hypothetically, “Is tragic flaw an issue in this novel?” and then hypothetically continued “Choose one character and explore how their tragic flaw resulted in disaster.” Then I would have to say the following:

Tragic flaw is not only an issue in this novel, it is in fact a leading theme throughout, and may in fact be what gives this novel any important message or purpose. The character which I choose is Ambrose Small because his disaster and flaw are easy to see. His flaw is obvious;

“Ambrose Small, as a millionaire, had always kept the landscapes of his world separate, high walls between them. Lovers, compatriots, businessmen, were anonymous to each other. As far as they knew there were no others, or they assumed the others lived in far countries.”

Ambrose suffered from detachment. He attempted to divide his life until he divided so much he actually divided himself. In the end paragraphs before his end we see that he became confused and his mind began to jumble so much to have Clara “shocked…in the intricacy of his knowledge”. The disaster was death.