Does The Life Of Pi Have A Happy Ending?

In “Happy Endings,” Margaret Atwood manipulates literary techniques to emphasize how each story can have different plots yet end up with the same ending. She makes the case that, in every ending, the characters finish having a happy ending and “eventually they die” (paragraph 4). She infers that it is the contents between the beginning, and the end that bring interest and challenge to the characters, while the beginnings are more fun. The “true connoisseurs” is an important element because it is what makes up the plot (paragraph 21). The six scenarios of “Happy Endings” introduce differences in the beginning and the middle of the plot but result in the same ending. The plot in each scenario focuses on the significance of understanding how

“Each film is only as good as its villain. Since the heroes and the gimmicks tend to repeat from film to film, only a great villain can transform a good try into a triumph.” This is a great point from Robert Ebert in his review of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. This holds true for fairy tales as well. Villains are almost always the most interesting part of the tale, they’re usually women, and more closely represent us as humans than heroes and heroines.

In life, heroes are everywhere. They fight crime, save lives, and basically just do good deeds. Heroes follow their journey, which, when written, is actually very cliché. A hero follows a set of events in their journey that are rarely changed. In this essay, two hero’s are examined, Santiago from The Alchemist, and Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz. These two stories seem very different, but in the end, are actually very similar. When examined closely, one may find that their journeys are very similar, following the events of a hero’s journey. This seemingly simple set of events is found in almost every heroic story. First is the problem. The hero is in a not quite perfect way of life, and needs to fix it. Then there is the refusal, the hero is called up to fixed the problem, but refuses for whatever personal reason. Then they are forced to go, and meet a mentor. This mentor gives them the wisdom that they need to get through the journey. It may even be what the hero is striving to be. Then they cross the threshold from their ordinary world to the new special world. The fifth and sixth parts can be interchangeable. Trials and allies/enemies, either can come first. Then they reach what they have been striving for, the liar, the cave, the final destination as a normal person. Once the hero reaches this part, they will be forever changed. At some point in this final destination, they will be killed and reborn, whether it is metaphorical or literal. After this they will fight

From a surface level, Atwood parodies the unrealistic simplicity that fairytale-like stories present. As children, readers are accustomed to stories with happy endings; two people fall in love, any problems are solved, and all of the loose ends are tied up in the end. As these readers become adults, however, they realize that life is not

     There is a pervasive notion in fiction that the work must have a happy ending. That

Eventually, in my early teens, I took up reading books such as The Odyssey by Homer, and various other works relating to the Trojan War. As is typical with many Greek stories, The Odyssey presented me with a hero I could look up to, but I was dealt my first shock when I realized that not all books have a happy ending. Quite the contrary in most Greek literature. While the Odyssey does have a fairly happy ending, other books on the Trojan War presented a much different picture. Achilles, another one of my heroes at the time, dies, and the city of Troy is sacked. I wasn’t sure how to take these bizarre endings. I say bizarre because as a kid in this day and age, I was presented with stories that always ended happily. The guy always got the girl. The hero always saved the day. The criminal was always caught. This was quite out of the ordinary in my world. I began to realize that the stories and movies I had previously always been presented, were in no way a honest view of reality. Bad things did happen, and that was life. Instead of turning away from this reality, I embraced it, realizing that while the stories themselves may not be true, the reality of the situations faced in them were.

Thus, in order to fill the void, the girl created a world of her own, a world that helped her forget much and feel more. Bruno Bettelheim also touches on this subject in his piece Fear of Fantasy, where he talks about fantasy stories for children and what the importance of the former are to the latter. As Bettelheim says, “This is where the fairy tale [helps the child the] most: it begins exactly where the child is emotionally, shows him where he has to go, and how to do it”(Bettelheim 4). In other words, Bettelheim is arguing that every child has their own life, their own problems, and thus their own personal fairy tale. This line of thinking goes hand in hand with the revelation made at the end of Arthur Machen's book when after Machen writes about this incredibly imaginative young girl who essentially created a world of her own, it only made sense that the girl had a troubled childhood with little exposure to her much-needed

Throughout history it becomes apparent that all the great stories: The Odyssey, Great Expectations, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn are all founded on a similar theme. The same plot line, a hero, most often the protagonist, faces danger and adversity to the highest extreme but always comes out on top. He is depicted as the pinnacle of human triumph and in essence, demonstrates a fundamental strength that all men should strive to achieve. These stories were, “ full of darkness and danger. And sometimes one did not want to know the end; How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? In the end, it is only a passing thing. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out even clearer. Those

Fairy tales, folk tales, and fables are commonly used as lessons for individual growth. In European tales, an emphasis is place on the importance of good behavior for the individual. The reader sees how negative behavior inhibits personal growth, while positive behavior improves it. Material wealth and riches are often the reward for good behavior, and there is a strict barrier that separates the social classes. In contrast, tales from Asia, the Middle East, and the Pacific have an overwhelming concentration on positivity for public good. A stronger focus is placed on how one can serve his or her community rather than how one can serve him or herself. Characters in these tales seek resolution through peaceful or neutral means, often to keep

On its surface, Martel’s Life of Pi proceeds as a far-fetched yet not completely unbelievable tale about a young Indian boy named Pi who survives after two hundred twenty-seven days on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. It is an uplifting and entertaining story, with a few themes about companionship and survival sprinkled throughout. The ending, however, reveals a second story – a more realistic and dark account replacing the animals from the beginning with crude human counterparts. Suddenly, Life of Pi becomes more than an inspiring tale and transforms into a point to be made about rationality, faith, and how storytelling correlates the two. The point of the book is not for the reader to decide which

The idea of a happy ending, to the common person, is the cliche ending of a story in which the protagonist gets the damsel, saves the world, and survives near death. However, this is a very simple way to look at the concept of a “happy ending” and neglects the grand scheme of things, just as there are more complicated equations in mathematics as one progresses in school, there are more complicated elements in a story as we look to dig deeper into literature. A story that has a complex happy ending is Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the story of a man seeking revenge on his family that has caused him much despair. If we look at this play in a simple manner, we will probably not look at the ending as happy ending as our beloved characters die,

Atwood uses “Happy Endings” in identifying and explaining the type of ending fictional stories should have and why. Works of fiction should have a happy ending which Atwood terms appealing to our ethical nature and therefore moral. Atwood provides a number of stories that implies different endings. However, the ending in the first story is referred in all other stories as the befitting ending. Atwood acknowledges the desires of works of fiction to bring out creativity by bring out intensity and passion, but this is only possible in the introduction and the body of a fictional story. All fictional stories have to end in the same way, a way that appeals to the human

Piscine Molitor Patel says it himself that his survival is “hard to believe” and can hardly comprehend it looking back. Yet, the readers are promised with a happy ending, and a happy ending with Pi’s survival is what we get. However, it raises the incredible question of just how Pi managed to survive the hardships, loss, pain and suffering, all in the Pacific Ocean’s harsh, unforgiving environment. The first explanation involves Pi’s inborn desire to survive at all cost and to resist giving up. Also, Pi’s versatility to change from a life-long vegetarian to a meat eater and his creativeness in making the best out of a horrible situation are some of the key factors that contribute to his survival. Furthermore, the role of Richard Parker in

I like to read stories that have good endings, but some of the finest lessons we can learn come from stories with unhappy endings.

“Survival is the ability to swim in strange water” (Frank Herbert). Pi demonstrated life on the Pacific as a test of all aspects. Life on the Pacific tested his physical endurance, he was lost for two-hundred and seventy seven days. In that time, Pi demonstrates his faith towards God, himself, and Richard Parker. Pi develops a robust bond with Richard Parker, then connecting spiritually. Survival in the novel Life of Pi is etched in the deepest parts of the story. These aspects of the novel are depicted through personal and self-reflection within himself. Pi survives because of his strength, faith and a close relationship with Richard Parker.