Life of Pi
Prompt: 2013. A bildungsroman, or coming-of-age novel, recounts the psychological or moral development of its protagonist from youth to maturity, when this character recognizes his or her place in the world. Select a single pivotal moment in the psychological or moral development of the protagonist of a bildungsroman. Then write a well-organized essay that analyzes how that single moment shapes the meaning of the work as a whole.
Thesis: In Life of Pi by Yann Martel, Pi, a boy stuck at sea, goes to an island that thrives by day and destroys by night. This island symbolizes Pi’s coming of age by his realization that he turned animalistic and needs to return to reality.
Essence: Morality often lingers in the decisions we make and alter one’s life path.
Summary of text: An anonymous figure explained that he had traveled from Canada to America--we soon found out this anonymous character is Pi Patel. He explains how he earned his nickname and tells his story of his childhood in Pondicherry, India. Pi’s parents decision to move to Canada was motivated by political strife in India and they set sail in a cargo ship along with many zoo animals as his father was a zoo owner. During their voyage there is a shipwreck and Pi, a hyena, an orangutan, a zebra, and a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker are all but left of the shipwreck. They are now all fighting for survival.
Our board game represents the different choices of morality through one’s life that can have an affect on our journey and where it takes us. Life of Pi is about how Pi must use his different personalities in order to face different kinds of situations during this coming of age story. If he is not able to use his “tiger” like personality or his courageous side during the perilous parts of his journey then he will not be able to continue onwards in his path. Martel states on page 164, “It’s the plain truth: without Richard Parker, I wouldn't be alive today to tell you my story.” Without the courageous side of his persona, Pi would not have been able to survive. He also states, “Then Richard Parker, companion of my torment, awful, fierce thing that kept me alive, moved forward and disappeared forever from my life” (285). Richard Parker did not just help Pi survive, he helped him move onward with his journey.
Throughout our game there are two paths, one for Pi and one for Richard Parker. The path you take depends on how you answer certain morality questions. If your answers proves that you are brave, courageous, and self-preserving, then you will continue on the path of Richard Parker. If your answers prove that you are not as self-preserving, then you will continue on the path of Pi. Throughout the game, both of these paths cross which shows the Pi’s inner conflict between himself and Richard Parker. Such as when the blind Frenchman attacks Pi and Richard Parker saves Pi, Pi states,“This was the terrible cost of Richard Parker. He gave me a life, my own, but at the expense of taking one” (255). Richard Parker helped save Pi however, there was always a cost to saving Pi’s life at every situation they encountered.
Throughout the story, Pi is struggling with balancing his evil/courageous side with his weak/cowardly side--it is a constant mental struggle. Pi tried to incorporate both sides into his life by “training” Richard Parker. “I trained him to jump through a hoop I made with thin branches” (274). Pi uses this training as a metaphor to show that he is starting to train his animalistic and self-preservation persona and to control this side so that he does not lose the human aspect of himself. When Pi and Richard Parker finally land on shore, Richard Parker runs away without turning back. Pi tries his hardest to incorporate Richard Parker into his persona while they are on the boat, in the end, however, they end up going their own separate ways and will never meet again, showing that Pi has returned to his moral and human self.
At the end of the story, the reader can choose to keep faith in Pi and in the story with the animals or choose to believe in the more realistic story with humans. When Pi tells the Japanese investigators the human side of the story, they exclaim “which means he’s the tiger!” (311). At this point, the reader finally realizes the extended metaphor and can visualize the two sides of Pi: is human side and animalistic side.
Throughout the board-game, the different morality and self-preservation issues are what decides how much each character moves forward/backward. The goal of the game is to be the first to reach the island at the end. Based on how you answer the morality questions, that decides which path you will take; Richard Parker’s or Pi’s, self-preservation or morality.
Different Morality Issues
1) You and your friend are stranded on an island. Unfortunately, you are both fatally ill. It just so happens that you have an antibiotic that can cure your illness. Sadly enough, there is just enough antibiotic to save only one person. How could you and your friend choose which one of you will take the antibiotic? Do you think that either person who takes it will, or should, feel guilty for the other person dying, although if neither of you take it, you will both die?
a. take the antibiotic and live
b. give your friend the antibiotic and die
If you chose A, continue on towards the path of Richard Parker. If you chose B, continue towards the path of Pi.
2) You are a Judge presiding over the trial of an alleged bank robber, who you know is innocent. However, something terrible in your life has happened: The enemies of the robber have kidnapped your 9-year-old daughter and have held her hostage. You don’t know where she is. The police have tried to locate her to no avail. The kidnappers have left you an anonymous note saying that if you convict the robber, they will set your daughter free. You fear the kidnappers could be abusing or even torturing your child. What would you do?
a. convict the robber and save your daughter
b. leave the robber innocent and lose your daughter
If you chose A, continue on towards the path of Richard Parker. If you chose B, continue towards the path of Pi.
3) You are a paramedic and you have been called to help a young boy who was in a car accident. On the way to the emergency, you get in an accident with your elderly uncle, who you know and love dearly. He is knocked out, but you are able to determine that he is probably not terribly injured and is likely to survive without immediate medical attention. However, if you stop to help your uncle, or even call backup, you know for sure that the boy will die. The only way you can save the boy is if you drive away immediately. Would you:
a. Stop for your uncle or
b. Leave and help the boy.
If you chose A, continue on towards the path of Pi. If you chose B, continue towards the path of Richard Parker.
4) You are speeding in your car on a one-way street, through very thick woods with a mad gunman chasing you and shooting at you from behind. Up ahead, you see a pedestrian crossing the street. You figure you have enough time to stop to let him cross, but with the thick woods, you cannot drive around him. Would you:
a. Stop to let the pedestrian cross, even though you are being shot at or
b. Hit the pedestrian and continue speeding away from the gunman.
If you chose A, continue on towards the path of Pi. If you chose B, continue towards the path of Richard Parker.
5) You are stranded with thirty people on a lifeboat that is intended to hold only seven. No one can paddle this heavy boat and it is definitely going to sink, drowning everyone inside it. It occurs to you that you can save some of the people in the lifeboat by throwing all but the strongest rowers overboard. Would you:
a. Throw some people overboard and save some people
b. Let everyone drown
If you chose A, continue on towards the path of Richard Parker. If you chose B, continue towards the path of Pi.
6) You are an inmate, imprisoned in a concentration camp. A guard tells you that you must choose one of your two children for him to take to the gas chamber. If you choose neither, he will take them both. What would you do?
If you chose neither, continue towards the path of Pi. If you chose one of your two children, continue towards the path of Richard Parker.
7) A trolley is going down a hill and is going to hit two workers if it continues to roll down that path. If you jump in front of it, the trolley can be stopped and you would die but the workers wouldn't. Would you:
a. Jump in front of the trolley and save two lives
b. Save yourself and let two people die
If you chose A, continue on towards the path of Richard Parker. If you chose B, continue towards the path of Pi.
8) You didn’t do homework so you could either copy off of your friends homework and receive full points or turn it in a day late for half credit.
If you chose to copy off of your friends homework, continue on towards the path of Pi. If you chose to turn in your homework a day late, continue towards the path of Richard Parker.
9) You’re walking along the road one day. You see a wallet left on the ground filled with multiple credit cards and several hundred dollar bills. Clearly, the owner of this wallet is wealthy, and you on the other hand are barely affording food. Would you:
a. Steal some of the cash/all of the cash
b. Return the wallet to its rightful owner without taking anything from it
If you chose A, continue on towards the path of Pi. If you chose B, continue towards the path of Richard Parker.
10) The Box: your child has some expensive illness and a man comes to you offering you a million dollars. The only condition is that someone you don’t know will die if you accept the million dollars. Would you:
a. Take the money and let one random person die
b. Turn away from the money and let the random person live
If you chose A, continue on towards the path of Richard Parker. If you chose B, continue towards the path of Pi.
12) If you cross a bridge then the entire city would blow up but you would save yourself and all of your loved ones. Would you:
a. Cross and bridge and save yourself and your loved ones but kill and entire city
b. Don’t cross the bridge and possibly save yourself and the entire city
If you chose A, continue on towards the path of Richard Parker. If you chose B, continue towards the path of Pi.
13) It’s your best friend’s birthday. She got you a pretty expensive gift for your birthday and you feel the need to return the favor. Unfortunately, you have grown up poor and don’t have a lot of money and have been around a lot of crime, so it wouldn't be news to your mother if you stole something. Would you:
a. Steal something nice for your best friend
b. Get her a cheap, ugly present that you know she’ll hate
If you chose A, continue on towards the path of Pi. If you chose B, continue towards the path of Richard Parker.
14) You have been saving up for a bag that you have wanted for a very long time and right before you buy it, someone else buys the last one. You follow them home and find out where they live and decide you’re going to go back at night and steal it but leave the money for the bag. Would you:
a. Steal the bag but leave the money for the bag in its place
b. Just keep waiting for another bag
If you chose A, continue on towards the path of Richard Parker. If you chose B, continue towards the path of Pi.
15) You are a world renowned surgeon that is about to perform an operation on the President in the upcoming weeks. You come home one day to find your children and husband bound and gagged. They tell you if--during the surgery--you kill the president, your kids will live; however if you fail to do so they will kill your family. Would you:
a. Kill the president and save your family
b. Save the president and let your family die
If you chose A, continue on towards the path of Richard Parker. If you chose B, continue towards the path of Pi.
16) You are walking around town and you spot the wife of a good friend of yours. You are about to go up to her to say hi and then you spot a man. It’s not her husband; however, she is being extremely affectionate towards the man and kisses him multiple times. Would you:
a. Tell the wifes husband that she has been cheating on him
b. Stay quiet
If you chose A, continue on towards the path of Richard Parker. If you chose B, continue towards the path of Pi.
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