Life of PI Literary Analysis Essay Example

“In times of crisis, people reach for meaning. Meaning is strength. Our survival may depend on our seeking and finding it” (Viktor E Frankl). Existential Crises are exposed to many protagonists in different books to help the reader build a connection and generate conflict in the book. This could be caused from lost loved ones, major change, or difficult experiences going on in one's life. Life of Pi is a product of a combination of elements from the literary genre of Magical Realism and the addition of Existential Crises that the protagonist has to overcome. Yann Martel, the author of Life of PI, utilizes this combination throughout multiple key events in the novel that Piscine Molitor Patel experiences. These events go from Pi being approached by 3 men trying to push him to practice a certain religion, to Pi losing parts of his identity when his family disappears when the boat sinks, to when he goes against his religion when he kills an animal. Through this amalgamation of magical realism material and having the protagonist question his own identity, Martel is able to provide meaning with the theme of rebuilding one’s self through unconquerable predicaments and characteristics of magical realism to the production of his own award-winning novel, Life of PI. 

To dive deeper into this idea, Martel connects this theme with the questioning of one’s identity to help develop the protagonist and his story. An example that stands out is when Pi is approached by 3 guys that are trying to persuade PI into practicing a certain religion. Yann Martel includes this into the novel so that it adds meaning to the idea that Pi is questioning himself through this novel and trying to figure himself out during this journey. Pi has always never been fully committed to a religion since he was born into hinduism but he was also interested in many different religions and their practices.  Three men with various faiths approach Pi and pitch their idea on why Pi should practice their religion. The chrisitan priest stated, “‘There is no mistake,’ said the priest. ‘I know this boy. He is Piscine Molitor Patel and he’s a christian’”. The Muslim iman replied, “‘I know him too, and I tell you he’s a Muslim,’”. Then the Hindu pandit finally joined in and yelled, “‘Nonsense!...Piscine was born a hindi, lives a hindu, and will die a Hindu!’”(66). After grasping their reasons on why they should practice their respective religion, Pi came to the conclusion, “...’ I just want to love God,’ I blurted out, and looked down, red in the face. My embarrassment was contagious”(69).  This interaction points to the idea that Pi is undecided on what religion to practice and still figuring out that part of his identity. Religion is a concept that Pi is very interested in and wants to have as a part of his identity. This adds an existential dilemma since Pi is being overwhelmed with many ideas and reasons on why he should follow a certain religion when he is captivated by all of them. As there are many themes throughout the novel, one theme that stands out is the idea of trying to rebuild one’s self through unconquerable predicaments. Pi is being demanded and yelled at to make a decision that will cause him to rebuild the religious part of his identity and help add an extra layer to his life/story. Martel uses this as a way to have Pi experience internal conflict within himself to build the story of his life and the theme throughout the novel. 

Adding on to the previous point, Yann Martel interweaves the message he is trying to convey with the conflict to help construct a complete novel. The conflict begins at the start of part two when Pi’s boat sinks and he is separated from his family. Loved ones play a major role in shaping one’s identity and Pi has just lost that part of himself. Now he is left on his own, trying to find someone to interact with. An existential crisis is starting to form around Pi after what just happened. He is starting to question the space around him and who is in that space with him. This backtracks to the magical realist technique where the protagonist brings to question one’s identity, time, and space which is what Pi is experiencing. The rising action concludes and the conflict is introduced when a thunderstorm hits the Pacific Ocean and the boat that Pi was in, sinks. Pi starts to comprehend the effects of the aftermath from the sinking with self dialogue. He starts off by sorrowfully stating what the loss of his brother feels like, he explains, “To lose a brother is to lose someone with whom you can share the experience of growing old, who is supposed to bring you a sister-in-law and nieces and nephews, creatures to people the tree of your life and give it new branches”. Then Pi uses similes to express the role his parents had in his life and what he lost since they are not with him anymore. He describes, “To lose your father is to lose the one whose guidance and help you seek, who supports you like a tree trunk supports its branches. To lose your mother, well, that is like losing the sun above you. It is like losing-- I’m sorry, I would rather not go on. I lay down on the tarpaulin and spent the whole night weeping and grieving, my face buried in my arms.”(127). Building on this piece of evidence, Pi has not only lost everything and is left abandoned in the middle of the pacific ocean, but he has also lost his family, who was a support system that helped him get through hard times. Martel displays the effect it had on Pi at the end of the quote where it helps build a visual of what Pi looked like while he was talking about the aftermath of the boat sinking. There was no one near Pi for him to interact with or even call for help. He has to get out of this predicament on his own and he has lost one of the major parts of his identity. This also affects the story following the fact that the story has lost a set of characters that helped build Pi as a person and his story. This leads to the introduction of other characters that will be a part of Pi’s journey. The mix of the message that Life of Pi is trying to convey and the dramatic conflict of Pi’s boat sinking, are pieces to solving the puzzle of the novel, Life of Pi.