Reflection

What a pleasant surprise. Never would have I expected just how exhilarating this Independent Study Project would be. Granted, I admit that on that first fateful day of English 4U I had my doubts about it: “Not another one of these Tapestry projects,” I remember myself saying, “No wonder everyone has said this class is so torturous!” In hindsight though I should never have raced to such a judgement. After all, I have learned a lot from this project and I truly do cherish the process.

In fear of sounding cliché, I will be honest: I never have really been into reading fiction. I’ve always seen it as a waste of time, why read a story when I could learn something of use. Hence, I have spent countless hours reading books on economics and conspiracy theories. However, through this project I seem to have rehashed a love for the magic of plot and character. “Life of Pi” has taught me that I can read a story and still take something away. Fiction is not a waste of time, it passes time.

As far as writing goes I am not so sure I have learned or improved very much, although I do use colons on a regular basis now. I have tended to stick to a particular writing style for quite some time now and I seem to have only developed a slight flare since then. If anything my thought process when writing a piece has evolved quite extensively, but that seems to be more subconscious and hard to describe. Incidentally, if I have become a stronger writer since the start of this class then please applaud me, however it does not seem to have made writing this much easier.

To be frank, an Anarchist generally does not exhibit any sense of national pride nor can they appreciate some sort of Canadian identity. Consequently, I cannot say that my love of the Canadian culture has been at all affected by this novel. On the other hand though I have learned much about Canadian literature as a genre, and do look forward to reading some other books by Canadian authors.

To sum up, this ISU has inspired me to actually read Canadian fiction and as I have explained in previous posts has taught me much about the meaning of life, and of God.

Works Cited

Leopold, Todd. "God, the devil, and the deep blue sea." 2002. CNN. 15 April 2009.

http://archives.cnn.com/2002/SHOWBIZ/books/10/21/yann.martel/.

"Martel's quirky path" 2002. BBC News. 15 April 2009.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2351847.stm

Martel, Yann. Life of Pi. Toronto: Vintage Canada, 2001.
"Themes, Motifs & Symbols." SparkNotes. 15 April 2009.

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/lifeofpi/themes.html.

"Yann Martel." Canada Council for the Arts. 15 April 2009.

http://www.canadacouncil.ca/aboutus/artistsstories/writing/ql127342904463125000.htm

"Yann Martel: New Face of Fiction 1996." 1996. Random House. 16 April 2009.

http://www.randomhouse.ca/newface/martel.php

Explication of Misfortune in "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel

Yann Martel’s novel "Life of Pi" is greatly based upon George Polti’s model of creating a dramatic situation out of misfortune. Martel “weaves stories of Indian culture, perceptions of religion and evil, and a survival tale worthy of Robinson Crusoe into a sturdy, thoughtful mix told largely through the eyes of" ("the deep blue sea") of the main character. What’s more, Pi Patel, the protagonist of the story, has fallen prey to countless misfortunes as he travels through the story. In fact the entire novel has been based upon these misfortunes as he lives and survives atop a life boat with a Bengal tiger. Furthermore, the character’s survival is even symbolized by the colour orange as it represented by "The whistle, buoy, and tiger" ("Themes, Motifs & Symbols") and his "painful struggle vividly illustrates the sheer strength of his life force" ("Themes, Motifs & Symbols"). Through the novels content, conflict, and message Martel is able to utilise misfortune successfully as a dramatic situation.

To begin with, as is suggested by Polti’s prototype of forcing adversity upon a character, Pi’s story is filled with examples of his hardships. For example, not only has Pi been shipwrecked, lost his entire family due to drowning and is alone on a lifeboat with a tiger, he also has little to no food or water. Moreover, out castaway must deal with being “perpetually at the centre of a circle” (Martel 239), never truly going anywhere or achieving anything as he floats over the Pacific Ocean. In addition to this he has been so close to being rescued he could taste it; an oil tanker floated right beside Pi, so he "fired off a rocket flare, but aimed it poorly. Instead of surging over the bulwarks and exploding in the captain’s face, it ricocheted off the ship’s side and went straight into the Pacific" (Martel 261). Sadly though, the ship passed by Pi’s lifeboat without noticing him and it soon became a "speck on the horizon" (Martel 261). To conclude, the numerous calamities that have been brought upon Pi have in effect not only created drama, but also seem to have built, or at least illustrated, Pi’s extreme strength and maturity.

In addition to the protagonists falling prey to such misfortunes, the conflict of man versus self has not only acted as a plot enhancer, but has also created a sense of depth within the story. This is due to the fact that in order for Pi to survive the ocean he must first survive his own doubt, his thoughts and his mind: “I had lost all fear of death, and I resolved to die” (Martel 268). By far this is the greatest conflict anyone can ever face, giving up seems to be human nature. Luckily for Pi though, he never did. When he was confronted with defeat he simply turned to the heavens, and lived on. Pi seemed to have eternal life, and perhaps that is all that is meant by religion; when faced with adversity one must simply look to God for inspiration and He will provide. Whether or not there is a God seems to be irrelevant to Pi though, because all that he needed was hope, and that is what he received. Although this conflict is not clearly defined under Polti’s thirty-six situations, it is in fact what defines these circumstances as dramatic. The fact that Pi has fallen to hardships is not enough to create a meaningful story; one must add an aspect of profundity, an aspect of significance. Granted, in this case Martel implies a deeper meaning to the story that not only creates drama but also adds a certain mystique that makes the novel memorable and intellectually stimulating.

Apart from creating drama in Martel’s story, Pi’s misfortune also serves the purpose of teaching him, and the reader, an important lesson. Undoubtedly, it is very important in life "to conclude things properly. Only then can you let go" (Martel 316-317), you must believe in yourself and you must have hope. Accordingly, without hope humans have and are nothing; that is what sets them apart from the animals; only when one can accept reality can one move on. Pi has learned this through his journey, and his misfortunes. At this level, Pi’s name is quite befitting because as he puts it "that’s the one thing I hate about my nickname, the way that number runs on forever" (Martel 316). In particular, life is finite and thus a person must learn to allow their problems to be finite. Above all, when hit by a misfortune one must learn to bounce back, and to move on.

All things considered, Martel’s “Life of Pi” successfully exploits one of Polti’s thirty six dramatic situations to create an interesting, and quite enthralling novel. Through content and conflict misfortune is created, and learned from. Indeed, Pi’s story both thrills and teaches. Likewise, it creates and it dictates its genre of literature.

Apologia

"Life of Pi" by Yann Martel is a remarkable book ostensibly about an Indian boy who has been shipwrecked and stuck on a boat alone with a tiger. Furthermore, the novel has "gone on to become an international best-seller and has been translated into several languages" ("Yann Martel"). The story’s author, a proud Canadian, has received worldly praise for his writings, and quite fittingly has won the prestigious Mann Booker Prize for this very novel. Accordingly, Martel’s tale is one that deserves to be read and remembered for years to come. By the same token, "Life of Pi" is and should remain the focal piece of the Canadian canon of literature.

To begin with, Martel’s adulthood has been deeply rooted in Canada and its unique culture and traits. Martel was "Born in Spain after his parents left the oppressive ‘Great Darkness’ era in 1960s Quebec, his cosmopolitan upbringing as the child of a diplomat meant a youth spent in Costa Rica, France, Mexico, Alaska and Canada" ("quirky path"). Since his childhood though he "has continued travelling as an adult, spending time in Iran, Turkey and India" ("New Face"). Despite Martel’s nomadic tendencies he still has managed to spend much of his time in Canada as "the writer-in-residence at the Saskatoon Public Library" ("Yann Martel"), and has greatly applauded the Canadian government in its role in helping him become the great writer he is today: "I would like to express my sincere gratitude to that great institution, the Canada Council for the Arts" ("Yann Martel"). Indeed, Martel’s upbringing seems to represent in itself Canada’s diversity and multiculturalism and is perhaps the very reason for his great strength as a Canadian writer. In short, Yann Martel’s path has helped create the resourceful artist that he is known as not only in Canada but also around the world.

What’s more, Martel’s symbolism is quite evidently what both defines this novel as great and what clearly illustrates Martel’s immense strength in writing. The ability to create a story that is so filled with deeper meaning is in my mind the ultimate ability that an author must posses to become remembered. If Pi’s story of being the lone human survivor of the Tsimtsum is false, and "the Taiwanese sailor is the zebra, his mother is the orang-utan, the cook is . . . the hyena – which means he’s the tiger" ( Martel 346), than this would further illustrate his need to make up his own reality out of something that is irrational. This seems to be the fact, as is symbolised in Pi’s name. Pi, as I am sure we all know, is a Greek letter often used to denote the ratio of the circumference of a circle to the diameter of such a circle. Moreover, the number in itself is irrational as it goes on for infinity; 3.14 and the succeeding digits trail on for all of eternity. This perhaps is a symbol; a number so large the human mind cannot comprehend, one that must be rationalized by presenting it with a letter to represent the number. Such symbolism serves to "establish the character Pi as more than just a realistic protagonist; he also is an allegorical figure with multiple layers of meaning" ("Themes, Motifs & Symbols"). Likewise, Pi must rationalize what has happened to him and his family so that he can move on. So that he can have hope, and so that he can survive.This, I believe, is what Martel was trying to say when he wrote his novel. Such strong symbolism and meaning should not only be part of the Canadian canon of literature, it deserves to be read by anyone looking to study the great many wonders of writing.Perhaps the symbolism goes even further though. Pi's need to punish himself by creating a story where he does exactly this is perhaps a symbol of his remorse for losing his family, and for killing his fellow survivors. Does his regret overwhelm him so much he must subject himself to the worst punishment, self distaste? Perhaps his rationalization is actually his torture. In summation, Martel's symbolism in this novel exceeds all expectations of what a book should be, and thus clearly deserves a spot in Canada's consciousness.

To summarize "Life of Pi" not only epitomizes Canadian literature it also represents what more tales should feature and be about. The book "has been described as a classic fable, with animals of greatly differing characters brought in to play out a discussion of the meaning of life and how we understand the world around us" ("quirky path") and thus deserves the spotlight of Canadian attention. Through symbolism, and an absorption into Canada's diverse culture Martel has proven his spot in Canadian literature.

Reading Response Posting #4

The concluding section of “Life of Pi” presents the reader with a scenario that is so mind boggling, so twisted, and so life changing, at least for Pi anyway, that it almost requires the reader to reread the whole novel. While being interviewed by a couple of Japanese men, representing the Ministry of Transport, Pi presents a “story without animals” (336), one in which “four [people] survived. Mother held on to some bananas and made it to the lifeboat” (337). Pi’s new version of the story forces the reader to decide whether what they had previously read, the story of the Bengal tiger and the man-eating island, was just a made up story or what actually happened. To make matters worse, both versions of Pi’s adventure seems to fit the same scenario, all he has done is change the species of his characters, “the Taiwanese sailor is the zebra, his mother is the orang-utan, the cook is . . . the hyena – which means he’s the tiger” ( 346). This presents a question to the reader, should one believe the sensational or the boring. This question creates such excitement, for me anyway, that one must almost indefinitely read this wonderful novel again.

“The lower you are, the higher your mind will want to soar” (314). At such a point in the novel, and into Pi’s adventure, Pi must face the fact that although his life has devolved into a series of small tasks, could one not say the same of all lives, he must continue performing these tasks because he is still alive. The previous statement illustrates this fact by implying that as Pi has sunk to fishing for fish, and collecting rainwater he must now look to God for his excitement. Pi is anxious to escape his reality; so he has resorted to creating his own reality, perhaps one involving tigers and islands.

If Pi’s story of being the lone human survivor of the Tsimtsum is false, and he truly did share a lifeboat with three other humans than this would further illustrate his need to make up his own reality out of something that is irrational. This seems to be the fact, as is symbolised in Pi’s name. Pi, as I am sure we all know, is a Greek letter often used to denote the ratio of the circumference of a circle to the diameter of such a circle. The number in itself is irrational as it goes on for infinity; 3.14 and the succeeding digits trail on for all of eternity. Is this perhaps a symbol, a number so large the human mind cannot comprehend, one that must be rationalised by presenting it with letter? Does Pi’s name illustrate his own need to rationalize?

This final section has answered many questions for me, although it did present one more. The major question, and in fact the initial question, ‘how on earth will this novel ever make me “believe in God” (VIII)’ was answered almost effortlessly by Martel. Pi’s need for excitement forced him to look to God. If such safety can be provided merely by believing, then can I not also receive such a blessing? If Pi’s death defying adventure was survived by such a thing, then can my simple life be completed by talking to God? According to Martel it can. This is illustrated by the fact that immediately after Pi turned to God he “reached land, Mexico to be exact” (315). If it weren’t for Pi’s love for God, for his thirst for belief, who knows how long he would have been at sea.

The theme in this final section seems to be two-parted, Pi’s great will to survive, and his love of God. Pi did everything he could to live, he gave up on vegetarianism, he gave up his family and he almost gave up on God. But alas, Pi in the end, when he could go no lower, looked to God for inspiration, and in return he saw land. If it weren’t for Pi’s love of God he would never have survived, and if he had not tried so hard to survive he would not have found God; the two themes seem to go hand in hand.

Generally, the conflicts stayed constant throughout the book. Man versus the nature, Pi was forced to face living on a lifeboat in the middle of the ocean with a tiger as a neighbour. But in this final section Pi was faced with a new conflict, man versus self. If Pi were to survive the ocean he would have to survive his mind, and his thoughts. Many better men, I am sure, would have given up long before Pi even thought of doing so, but Pi did not. This is by far the greatest conflict anyone can ever face, giving up seems to be human nature. Luckily for Pi though, he never did. When he was confronted with defeat he simply turned to the heavens, and he lived on. Pi seemed to have eternal life, and perhaps that is all that is meant by religion; when faced with adversity one must simply look to God for inspiration and he will provide. Whether or not there is a God seems to be irrelevant to Pi though, because all that he needed was hope, and that is what he received.

Now that I am finished this novel I almost miss turning to the book as a means for excitement, and a means for inspiration. I definitely look forward to reading about Pi’s adventure again, and again. It is almost unimportant whether”the story with animals or without animals” (352) is true. Pi’s adventure will always speak to me; it will always be exciting and inspirational regardless of the factual relevance. Besides, as Pi has taught, one must always have something to believe in.

Reading Response Posting #3

In the third section of four, the main character, Pi Patel, and the tiger he lives with continue their voyage over the Pacific Ocean. However not everything is going as smoothly as it had previously. Both Pi and Richard Parker, the Bengal tiger, are beginning to feel the effects of having no food or fresh water left. Starvation is quickly becoming the greatest conflict Pi must face, as he has successfully managed to overcome living with a man-eating monster of an animal.

Martel has fruitfully employed Georges Polti’s model for creating a character that has fallen prey to misfortune. This dramatic situation is evident in the fact that not only has Pi been shipwrecked, he has been placed on a lifeboat, alone, with a tiger, and he has begun to run out of his most important possessions, food and water. In addition to this he has been so close to being rescued he could taste it; an oil tanker floated right beside Pi, so he “fired off a rocket flare, but [he] aimed it poorly. Instead of surging over the bulwarks and exploding in the captain’s face, it ricocheted off the ship’s side and went straight into the Pacific” (261). Sadly though, the ship passed by Pi’s lifeboat without noticing him and it soon became a “speck on the horizon” (261).

The theme of survival has continued throughout this portion and the last, although it has been quite evident in this section as Pi has started to give up on surviving, “I had lost all fear of death, and I resolved to die” (268). He has also begun to start imaging things in his mind, “I knew it. I wasn’t hearing voices. I hadn’t gone mad. It was Richard Parker who was speaking to me! The carnivorous rascal” (273). On the contrary, he has “gone mad” and is now beginning to blur reality with his dreams.

Unfortunately for Pi, his hard luck has yet to let up as he has also gone blind, from starvation and exhaustion, and his shortly lived friend, with a French accent, has been eaten by Richard Parker. It is not looking good for Pi, as he seems to be on the verge of death. Fortunately for the reader though, Martel’s zest and loveable writing style are able to lift this dark subject into a puzzlingly upbeat and exciting to read novel. Martel is also able to create a sense of suspense, although not in the traditional form, that would leave anyone wanting to read more.

This book has continued to build, and is only creating more questions, instead of answering them. One could not help but wonder how Pi will manage to get out of his situation. Hopefully though, Martel will be able to do it as artfully as he has been doing, and one cannot help but think that Martel will not disappoint.

Reading Response Posting #2

Part two of “Life of Pi” begins with an exhilarating twist that changes everything for the main character, Pi. “The Ship sank. It made a sound like a monstrous metallic burp” (107). The ship sinking introduces a conflict, as well as a completely new theme. The main character must now face surviving on a life boat with a Bengal tiger, “with a tiger aboard, my life was over” (149). Additionally, Pi has lost his whole family, and everything he has ever known.

Pi must now face the conflicts of surviving on a lifeboat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, and he must also cope with living with a monstrous cat. Fortunately, Pi has started to train the tiger, known as Richard Parker due to a clerical error, and is beginning to feel safer on the boat. Furthermore, he has taught himself to fish, and to collect safe drinking water. This means that Pi has a much greater chance of surviving his ordeal, and thus overcoming both of his conflicts.

What’s more, there is an evident theme of survival emerging in this section of the book. In addition to the conflicts Pi must now confront, and survive, he must also survive long dreary days, and survive the constant intellectual strain. Plus, he must be proficient to survive with his sanity, because although “a person can get used to anything, even to killing” (205) it must be difficult for a lifelong vegetarian to cope with a diet almost purely of meat. Not to mention the drinking of turtle blood, and watching a tiger tear creatures apart, limb from limb.

This section of the book also does a good job of further developing Pi’s character. It is revealed that although at times it appeared he hated his family, he really did love them, and now misses them greatly. “To lose your father is to lose the one whose guidance you seek, who supports you like a tree trunk supports its branches” (141), and to lose your family and friends is to lose everything that you once lived for. In addition, Pi now appears, to the reader, to actually be very brave, and courageous. This is in contrast to how Pi used to act cowardly towards his brother.

This novel is shaping up to be a great read, full of excitement suspense and insight, and hopefully the plot develops further. The anticipation of another twist or turn that will reveal something more about Pi’s story is greatly building. With any luck, Martel will continue his magic and earn his acclaim.