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Life Of Pi Ending Essay

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Have you ever read a fascinating book only to have the ending ruin everything? The ending is very important in the effectiveness of a work of literature. An effective and appropriate ending is conclusive and answers some questions the reader might have had. It leaves the reader satisfied that they were able to fully understand the meaning of the story. An ineffective and inappropriate ending is not very conclusive and raises further questions that the reader might have not had before. It could contradict what had been happening throughout the whole novel. The ending of Life of Pi, written by Yann Martel, is once such ending. It was ineffective in concluding the novel and made the reader wonder whether the events that the protagonists experienced …show more content…

He admits to the interviewers that it is up to them to choose which story they prefer. Pi stated: “You can’t prove which story is true and which is not. You must take my word for it … In both stories the ship sinks, my entire family dies, and I suffer … So tell me, since it makes no factual difference to you and you can’t prove the question either way, which story do you prefer?” (317). While these statements from Pi leave the reader with the intriguing question of which story to believe, it is not proper or appropriate. The ending does not properly conclude the story with the reader knowing what actually happened. It only makes them wonder if most the book they read was nothing more than a fantasy made up by …show more content…

While a satisfactory ending does not require it to be conclusive in every sense and might need the reader to accept ambiguity and uncertainty, the novel still does not have a proper ending. There is simply confusion as to which of the two stories to by Pi is true. The first story in magnificent and unrealistic while the second story is brutal and realistic. It might seem obvious that the second story is what actually happened, but Pi’s actions and dialogue leaves a sense of confusion. Life of Pi’s ending might be appropriate to those who like being kept wondering what actually happened in reality, but to those as myself who do not, it ruins the sentiment and magnificence of the whole

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