preview

Life Of Pi Dialectical Journal Essay

Good Essays
Open Document

1. Firstly, part three of the novel presents the reader with a change in the form of the narrative. Up until chapter ninety-six, as we’ve seen, the novel has consisted of two types of narrative: first person from the point of view of the author, and Pi’s first-person account, which is constructed by the author. Now, the exchanges between Pi, Mr. Okamoto, and Mr. Chiba are entirely dialogue. The new form of narrative is a third-person transcription, which lacks rich detail, potential illusion, and over exaggeration. As an audience, we perceive this as solid, factual information. But, Pi is also preparing to retell another version of his survival story. We now have to decide what story—one, both, or none, is the true story.

2. Here we can see …show more content…

In the first chapter of part two, Pi describes the horrifying task of pulling Richard Parker into the lifeboat with a lifebuoy. Now, Pi is describing the cook hauling him in. Orange Juice floats to the lifeboat on a bed of bananas, as does Pi’s mother. The zebra and the sailor both have attained a broken leg from jumping into the lifeboat, and finally, the hyena and the cook are both described as maniacal, and both eat the mass of flies.
I found the human version to be particularly interesting because when Pi described each of the animals in his narrative, he anthropomorphized them. For example, Pi talked of Orange Juice as if she were a human, commenting on the appearance of shock her eyes and the way she sat, also her compassion maternal instincts. Originally, we might have thought that Pi’s zoo-oriented upbringing was the cause of his human-like descriptions, but the alternate story raises the notion that perhaps these animals were never really animals in the first place.
5. The cook’s grotesque acts are important to note. In chapter 43, Pi describes the hyena as a remorseless creature that feels no disgust after making a mistake, and will even feast on it’s own kind. His actions suggest that humans resort to our basic instincts and animalistic roots when deprived of all familiarity—that humans and animals aren’t so different at

Get Access
Related
Get Access