The Life of Pi, directed by Ang Lee focuses on the main protagonist, Piscine Molitor Patel, or Pi. Pi in his older age explains the tale of his life and the series of events that lead up to this current point. He comes from an area in India where his parents owned a zoo which is crucial to this movie plot. Pi was raised Hindu in his early childhood however when he grew older in his teenage years he began pondering the religions of Christianity and Islam.
As time went on, the corruption within the Indian government led Pi and his family to sell his zoo, gather the animals, and load them onto a freight ship heading toward Canada. A few days into their trip to Canada a storm arose leading the ship to sinkage. Pi along with a Hyena, Zebra, and Orangutan hopped on a lifeboat. The animals built tension on the boat, and Hyena’s aggressive nature arose and attacked the Zebra and Orangutan. This brief battle between the animals ended with the death of both Oranatuan and Zebra. Pi at this point is now at any time a victim of this Hyena, however the tiger, Richard Parker, jumps out from under a tarp in the boat murdering the Hyena. Pi created a makeshift raft to make a separation between himself and the vicious animal upon his boat. Richard Parker, the Tiger, is the second main protagonist.
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Pi and Richard Parker have a complicated relationship throughout the film. Pi struggled for weeks upon weeks to create somewhat of a cordial relationship, but he worked as Richard Parker as a wild animal. Creating the makeshift raft helped Pi, he only needed to return to the leading boat for supplies. That was until Richard Parker became so hungry he jumped out of the boat and could swim to Pi’s raft. Pi knew at this time he had to show Richard Parker that he was the boss and that he did.
They eventually came upon a carnivorous island. At first, it seemed like a sign of salvation to Pi, which then quickly turned into freight and soon left the island. They washed up on a Mexican Island, and without hesitation, Richard quickly hopped off the lifeboat and went straight to the jungle. Pi was taken to a Mexican hospital where he was taken care of, and eventually, Mexican officials approached his recovery room asking questions about what exactly happened. After trying to explain how he ended up on a life raft with four different animals they thought he was crazy, and they didn't believe a single thing he said. He tried again creating a completely fabricated story. The story included a cook, a sailor, and Pi’s Mother. In the process, they all perished from cannibalism except of course Pi. Although neither story explained how the shipwreck occurred. The officials ended up choosing the story with the humans. Following this is where the movie ends, Pi moved on from this event in his life and moved to Canada where he plans on staying.
Setting Analysis
The most influential scenes or setting dwells down to the time that Pi and Richard Parker, the tiger spent on the lifeboat. Though Richard Parker is pretty fearsome, ironically his presence helps Pi stay alive. Alone on the lifeboat, Pi has many issues to face in addition to the tiger onboard. They struggle with a lack of food and water, predatory marine life, treacherous sea currents, and exposure to the elements. Overwhelmed by means of the instances and terrified of dying, Pi becomes distraught and unable to take action. However, he soon realizes that his most instant hazard is Richard Parker. His other troubles now quickly forgotten, Pi manages, via quite a few coaching exercises, to dominate Parker. This success offers him confidence, making his other obstacles appear less insurmountable. Renewed, Pi is capable of taking concrete steps toward ensuring his continued existence. He searched for meals and kept himself motivated. Caring for and presenting for Richard Parker keeps Pi busy and passes the time. Without Richard Parker to venture and distract him, Pi might have given up on life. After he washes up on land in Mexico, he thanks the tiger for keeping him alive.
Richard Parker symbolizes Pi’s most animalistic instincts. Out on the lifeboat, Pi must operate many actions to stay alive that he would have located unattainable in his regular life. An avowed vegetarian, he needs to kill fish and devour their flesh. As time progresses, he turns into greater brutish about it, tearing aside birds and greedily stuffing them in his mouth, the way Richard Parker does. After Richard Parker mauls the blind Frenchman, Pi makes use of the man’s flesh for bait and even eats some of it, becoming cannibalistic in his unrelenting hunger. In his second story to the Japanese investigators, Pi is Richard Parker. He kills his mother’s murderer. Parker is the model of himself that Pi has invented to make his story extra palatable, each to himself and to his audience. The brutality of his mother’s demise and his personal surprising act of revenge are too a whole lot for Pi to deal with, and he finds it simpler to think about a tiger as the killer, rather than himself in that role.
I decided to connect this movie to the story, “Why Place Matters.” It was hard to compare this movie to anything previous due to how unique it is. I chose this story because his home in India definitely shaped the adventure outcomes in the film. What I am referring to by this is, that he grew up practically living on a zoo. He had previous exposure to the animals along the lifeboat with him. However, he grew up training Richard Parker and got comfortable with him enough that they formed a sort of bond unlike anything else. What Pi learned throughout his childhood set him up for a scenario that he was put into. It’s miraculous how this story played out. As I originally stated, it was hard to even compare this movie to anything we have read so trying to form connections and articulate was very troubling. Only a brief comparison is what I can conclude.
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