The Journey of a Lifetime

Historical Contextualization:

_____According to Regunta Yesurathnam, “…contextualization broadens the understanding of culture to include social, political, and economic questions.” Within Yann Martel’s award-winning novel Life of Pi, historical contextualization is extremely prominent, creating the story’s dynamic conflict. Life of Pi begins in India, the home of the main character Pi Patel and his family during the mid-1970s. Pi describes the troubled times:
In February 1976, the Tamil Nadu government was brought down by Delhi. It had been on of Mrs. Gandhi’s most vocal critics. The takeover was smoothly enforced-Chief Minister Karunanidhi’s ministry vanished quietly in ‘resignation’ or house arrest-and what does the fall of one local government matter when the whole country’s Constitution has been suspended these last eight months? But it was to Father the crowning touch in Mrs. Gandhi’s dictatorial takeover of the nation (74-75).
Because of the political uproar in India at the time, Pi’s family decided to move to Canada, placing them on the very ship which would sink and leave Pi to face the Pacific Ocean for 277 days. Without the historical contextualization of the political downfall of India in the mid-1970s, Life of Pi would not have developed its enthralling plot and powerful story.

Critical Analysis:

_____As a Great Work of Science and Technology, Life of Pi truly is an incredible novel. For science, the book reveals many facets of zoology, navigation, and the scientific method. Since Pi’s father owns the Pondicherry Zoo, Pi gives great detail of the animals that he observed while growing up. For example, Pi describes “…the iridescent snout of a mandrill; the stately silence of a giraffe; the obese, yellow open mouth of a hippo, the beak-and-claw climbing of a macaw parrot up a wire fence” (15) and so much more. As Pi grows older and studies zoology in college, he also describes his study of the three-toed sloth in the equatorial jungles of Brazil. Both pages 3 and 5 go into great detail of the creature, granting scientific knowledge to the reader that would most likely not be previously known. With navigation, Pi describes the exact dimensions and features of the boat he escapes on with great precision. In fact, there is even a diagram on page 134 to better reveal to the reader what a boat looks like and how it functions. When Pi is coming up with plans to survive in the Pacific Ocean, he utilizes the scientific method. He begins with the simple question, “How in the world am I going to survive this great challenge in my life?” After questioning his situation, Pi goes through six separate plans in his mind. In great imaginative detail, Pi carries each of them out, eventually discarding each individual hypothesis and concluding that he would either die in each situation or the carrying out of the procedure was physically impossible under his current circumstances. Finally, Pi decides to test out whether he can tame Richard Parker, therefore removing his carnivorous threat and gaining a partner throughout his long journey. First Pi remembers his observations of going to the circus as a child to gain the idea and then uses his knowledge of navigation to rock the boat intensely, making Richard Parker seasick while Pi blew his whistle over and over again. Over time and practice, results began to show themselves as Richard Parker associated the blowing of the whistle with seasickness. Pi had successfully succeeded in using the scientific method to tame Richard Parker and attain survival. Overall, Life of Pi’s use of science within the fiction allows the reader to gain knowledge of zoology, navigation, and the scientific method with ease.

Personal Reflection:

_____Personally, Life of Pi has become my favorite fictitious novel of all time. The story of a boy in the Pacific Ocean with a tiger enthralled me, the use of religious conflict intrigued me, the implications of science and technology taught me, and I was fed. Although the language was simple for the most part, advanced vocabulary cleverly strewn about the book allowed me to look up exciting word that I can now use in everyday life. At the same time, Yann Martel’s writing style utilizes multiple sentence styling techniques and creates a wonderful visual image of each character and scene for the reader. At the end, the ambiguousness of Pi’s two separate stories left me speechless. Because I could not know for sure if Pi had travelled with a tiger, or rather had to fight his way to the death with another human being, I was left questioning the entire book. This exciting twist to the story added another layer upon the plot and thought process of Yann Martel, and gave me the desire to read the novel again. I fully agree that Life of Pi should be classified as a Great Work of Science and Technology, and had no problems with reading its manifold pages. Reading the novel has truly given me a greater appreciation of life, nature, and family that I wouldn’t have previously attained. I have now made it my solemn goal to recommend Life of Pi to all of my family members and friends, wishing to have the book enrich their lives as it has blessed my own.