Life of Pi' Symbolism Essay

The representation of human experiences is essential in constructing good fiction as it exposes flaws in humanity and society, leading to self-reflection within the reader. Within Yann Martel's bildungsroman novel, Life of Pi (2002), individual experience is portrayed through Martel’s unique narrative, portraying the protagonist’s journey from multiple perspectives, leaving the reader with multiple interpretations and questions about the credibility of the stories. Martel's nomadic childhood leads to a greater international perspective reflected in the story’s cultural diversity in its settings and characters. Upon second reading, applying Freud’s theory of personality has greatly extended my understanding of the novel. Additionally, Martel explores the idea of survival through Pi’s use of animals to create a false sense of security to survive the torment of humanity. Throughout my reading, I believe that Martel’s storytelling, Pi’s struggle, and its relation to Freud’s theory represent human experiences and shape Life of Pi into good fiction.

Applying Freud’s theory of personality with Pi’s desire to survive enhances the depth of the story and characters, further shaping Life of Pi into good fiction. Pi’s ongoing conflict between the three fundamental structures of the human mind forces him to follow his desires and abandon his religious beliefs. The symbolic shift from “A lifetime of peaceful vegetarianism” to “wilful beheading of a fish” emphasizes Pi’s transition from a devoted vegetarian to a carnivore. His irrational behavior compared to his civilized behavior highlights his id taking over his superego which leads to his loss of self. His guilt of killing is reflected through his childhood memories, “I always shuddered when I snapped open a banana because it sounded to me like the breaking of an animal’s neck”. This paradoxical statement suggests Pi’s realization of his decline into savagery. The sibilance in ‘shuddered’ and ‘snapped’ highlights Pi’s repugnance towards hurting life, Pi is heavily influenced by his superego and his difficulty in embracing his id heightens the complication of the novel. Richard Parker can be deduced as Pi’s id when the hyena dies “neither whining nor whimpering” when Richard Parker kills “without a sound” This metaphor highlights Richard Parker’s savagery against the hyena and emotive language creates a sense of sympathy towards the hyena's death, making us realize the flaws in humanity. Similarly, “Blazing a trail of murder and mayhem/He killed beyond his need.” Blazing metaphorically compares Richard Parker’s chaotic behavior to the uncontrollable destruction of wildfire, a key characteristic of the id. Pi’s desperation to eat meerkats goes against his vegetarianism, the motif of killing emphasizes Pi’s losing control of his desires and selfishness. Therefore, Pi’s difficult decision between abandoning his vegetarianism to survive or resisting the urge which depletes his chances of survival, creates an engaging plot line involving conflict between three opposing forces of the human mind which shapes good fiction.

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Pi disconnects from humanity creating a false sense of security using animals in order to survive out at sea, his dilemma between reality and fantasy deepens his character development and story, thus creating good fiction. Martel reflects Pi’s physical and mental state through the profusion usage of orange. “The whole inside of the boat/seems orange...every significant object abroad was orange.” In Hinduism, orange is the symbol of hope, it gives Pi faith that God will eventually save him. The ‘significant object’ colored by the warmness of orange personifies them as breathing out life, Pi uses lifejackets to create a raft which prolongs his chance to survive. Similarly, after a fearful relationship with Richard Parker, Pi realizes he “had to tame him.” Ironically, Pi believes a dangerous animal will keep him alive, especially after fearing him beforehand. His confidence is emphasized through high modality language, his certainty highlights his trust in Richard Parker and the realization that he is a key component of his survival, without him Pi was unable to share his story. Furthermore, Pi sees “An island of bananas in a halo of light, as lovely as the Virgin Mary”, Orange Juice, his anthropomorphized mother embodying Jesus’ wife grants Pi with comfort, giving him hope and a reason to survive. The halo of light symbolizes the pathway to heaven, a way for Pi to escape the torment of the lifeboat. In the denouement, Pi says “Since it makes no factual difference/Which is the better story, the story with the animals or the story without animals?” The rhetorical question causes doubt in the veracity of Pi's fantastical story. Pi blurs the lines of humanity and animals and the reader is forced to confront questions about the nature of truth. Upon second reading, Martel shapes Life of Pi into good fiction by highlighting Pi’s struggle to survive through Pi’s coping method with animals and the symbolic use of the color orange to represent hope.

Martel portrays Pi’s journey from different perspectives leaving readers with multiple interpretations, making them question their credibility using framed narrative to decide whether it is all Pi’s imagination. A castaway journey with animals or with cannibalistic humans, Martel questions the believability of both by personifying fiction as “the selective transformation of reality? The twisting of it to bring out the essence?” The narrator rhetorically questions whether Pi twists reality in the author’s note, which remains unanswered until the denouement. Through the ideology of postmodernism, readers choose their own narrative by exploring the ideas of subjective reality and personal influence over truth, even if it is absurd to societal norms. Similarly, Martel explores the nature of verisimilitude by presenting an idyllic view of India to give insight into the context, Martel’s tone of confidence in “I Have a Story Will Make You Believe in god” creates an expectation that the story incorporates powerful reference to Indian spirituality. The monosyllables in ‘story’ and ‘believe’ emphasize the power of Indian spirituality which forces the reader to constantly challenge their faith in the narrator. Furthermore, the intrusive narrator in “This story has a happy ending” foreshadows an ideal ending. Martel intrudes and tells the reader that it ends in a happy ending, but doesn't tell the exact details. This comforts the reader but creates tension on how it became happy and who became happy, engaging the reader to continue reading until the end. Lastly, Pi states at the arrival of Algae Island, “I was getting used to my mental delusion.” The illusion of paradise and Pi’s lack of clothing is a biblical allusion to Adam and Eve which highlights Pi’s struggle to believe the island's existence. The First-person narrative emphasizes his unreliability, resulting in a closer examination of the reliability of the novel. Therefore, Martel creates good fiction by exploring the nature of verisimilitude and engaging the reader by challenging their initial interpretation through a narrative frame to show Pi’s adventure from multiple perspectives and highlight the unreliability of Pi to further question the credibility of these stories.

Upon second reading, it is accurate to say that the primary concern of good fiction is to represent and reflect human experiences, however, this can expose flaws in humanity and society. Martel explores the importance of human experiences through the representation of characteristics like the structures of the mind, while also through the power of storytelling and Pi’s desire to survive by escaping through his imagination. Throughout my close study, the novel has enriched my understanding of individual experiences and how Martel incorporates these experiences into Life of Pi, transforming them into good fiction.