Life of Pi; Literary Analysis

❄Life of Pi; Literary Analysis❄[pic 1]

 “If there's only one nation in the sky, shouldn't all passports be valid for it?” 
― Yann Martel, Life of Pi

Life of Pi is a novel that revolves around a young boy on a lifeboat in a vast blue ocean. The Author Yann Martel incorporates a fantastical anecdote of survival in the midst of a philosophical narrative, elaborated through a style of modern literature. Due to the countless elements and characteristics of modern literature, Yann Martel conveys an innovative method of fiction; a combination of actuality and fantasy that portray a breathtaking chef-d'oeuvre. New Jersey Star-Ledger describes Martel’s story as “More than a hint of magical realism, and a wallop of sheer storytelling genius.” Life of Pi is represented by the author in a style that greatly entreaties the forms of modern literature; in a method that oratorically accentuates his allegory, while coalescing non-fiction, fantasy, and vast religious beliefs.

        The author claims that he wrote this novel while “[He] was hungry” (Martel VII); he was also in dire need of a new inspiration and muse, after had feeling that his old works had perished. Martel revealed an old premise of one of his older books; ten years before the writing of Life of Pi, one of his old books had been disregarded and deemed as forgettable, however, the novels foundation had kindled him.

Author of the well-known allegory Life of Pi, Yann Martel, was born in Salamanca, Spain, 1963. His parents were Canadians who were involved in graduate studies; they later joined the foreign service of Canada. Yann Martel was raised in numerous places: Canada, France, Spain, Mexico, and Costa Rica. Even as an adult he traveled extensively. Martel spent time in Turkey, India, and Iran, although now he currently resides in Montreal. He acquired a Philosophy degree from Trent University in Ontario, afterwards he become involved in many workforces: Security guard, dishwasher, and a tree planter; this was all before he pursued full-time writing at age 27.

Yann Martel’s first book, The Facts behind the Helsinki Roccamatios, was published first in the year 1993; it was a gathering of many stories.  His book incorporated many themes such as illness; allegories; 20th century history: music, war, suffering of adolescence; how one dies; the element of grief or loss; and the reason why people may be significantly fond of toward material objects.

Yann’s first novel, published in 1996, Self- having been described by The Montreal Gazette as “[a] superb psychological acute observation on love, attraction and belonging”.

In the year 2002, the author won the Man Booker Prize; which was for his fictional allegory Life of Pi. It the second novel he’d written. The novel has been published in over thirty different languages and over forty countries.

        The writer continued his time writing more books: We Ate the Children Last in 2004, Beatrice and Virgil in 2010, and not long ago The High Mountains of Portugal in 2016. Currently in Montreal, he spends his time in an analgesic care unit, writing, and a lot of yoga.

Yann Martel’s Story is out to be set alongside a boisterous period of Italian history. This period was known as the Emergency. Min 1970’s, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had to resign after having been found guilty during her early 1970’s election campaign. She didn’t protest or strike against the government, instead—she gave herself power to authority by assertion by declaring and emergency. This emergency remained present for about eighteen months, and had ended in 1977 of March when she had called for a new electoral round. The Emergency had an extremely ancient bequest: as civil freedom decreased and Indira’s political adversaries became imprisoned, tortured and abused; she saw that India’s economy was in dire need of improvement, growth, and stabilization. Santosh Patel, the father of the main character in Yann’s Life of Pi, was a zookeeper in an Indian city named Pondicherry. Santosh grew nervous from the emerging political struggle. He was worried about Gandhi usurping his zoo due to the miserable conditions of India’s economy. He decides to sell his zoo, and take the animals and his family to Canada; this sets the central plot of the novel.

        Although India was considered to be a brief part of the novel, it symbolizes a lot throughout the story. Piscine’s son, Pi, the main character of the novel was born and brought up as a Hindu. As Pi grow up, he discovers Islam and Christianity, although having felt a love for all three, he began practicing them concurrently. An elderly man defines Pi’s story as “a story that will make you believe in god.” (Martel, “Life of Pi” p.X) This introduces another theme of the novel: Faith. Pi portrays a very distinctive outlook on Indian spirituality. Because of India’s cultural miscellany, Martel chose Pondicherry as a main setting. India had many other historically related importances’ toward the novel: having been a British colony for about 200 years, the country was greatly influenced by the British. However, Pondicherry, was mainly colonized by French, and had a unique culture aside from the rest of the country. Alike to Yann, Pi was culturally diverse, and came across many other characters with various cultures such as Japanese, Mexican, French, and Canadian.

        The Novel, due to its Indian post-Independence and Canadian authorship, is considered postcolonial. It was a work magic realism and bizarre elements like personified animals or cannibalistic trees present on islands; this is all portrayed in a realistic setting. The author Yann Martel describes his book as an adventure allegory; he also claims that he introduced many nonfiction styles throughout the book, such as for the character Piscine (Pi’s father.) Yann claims that Piscine is a true story he had once heard. The authors’ fictional and nonfictional elements pave way for the ending of the novel where Pi is faced with unnerving questions about reality and the nature of truth.