Analysis of Hollow at the Core - Deconstructing Yann Martel’s Life of Pi

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Analysis of “Hollow at the core”: Deconstructing Yann Martel’s Life of Pi The author Florence Stratton’s main purpose of this analysis is to deconstruct Yann Martel's Life of Pi. She argues various points attempting to dissect and make reason of Martel's choices in the novel. Stratton also discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the novel's claims. Stratton’s major claim is that Martel's treatment of religion in the novel is not persuasive in making all its readers believe in God. It will, however, justify the beliefs of those who do believe in God. She states, “He [Martel] is not out to prove the existence of God, but rather to justify a belief in God’s existence” (Stratton, 3). Stratton quotes Peter Whittaker, “This…show more content…
The detailed documentation demanded by realism helps to make Pi’s ‘better story’ substantial or rubust in its imaginative constitution or makeup” (5). Stratton goes on to demonstrate multiple ways in which Martel “draws upon the conventions of realism” with details such as Pi’s skill as a swimmer, his knowledge of wild animals (his father being a zoo keeper), his possession of a whistle (part of life-saving equipment in a life jacket) to train the tiger, and his ability to use the laws of physics to assert his authority over the tiger in his lifeboat (5). Stratton discusses Martel's elaborative plot and characters, discussing their symbolism. She examines the tiger Richard Parker in great detail, including the significance of its name as a victim in other stories of cannibalism. Through the narrator’s brilliant description of Richard Parker Stratton explores the use of colors. She states, “The dazzling display of colours and patterns suggest that Richard Park- er’s primary signification is the incantatory or transcendent power of art; the imaginative truths or realities that great art encompasses” (5). Stratton contrasts the tiger with the description of the hyena as an animal with its “mismatched colours, ill-proportioned body, and shambling gait” (5). In her essay, Stratton discusses the insatiable appetite of the cook and Frenchman. She then explores the link between cannibalism and secular
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