Through the Life of Pi, Yann Martel has excellently weaved a fable wherein storytelling and imagination is centric to the delivery of the plot. It is clear that Martell has placed a strong focus on anecdotally stylish and recount based storytelling throughout The Life of Pi, and by extension demonstrates the importance and enigmatic power of storytelling and imagination in our lives. A range of techniques and themes are utilised by Martel in order to express this idea; using symbolism, the ambiguity and reliability of narration/storytelling, and Metaphors and Imagery to accentuate to readers this point of view.
Many examples of symbolism were present throughout The Life of Pi, many of which serve to add depth and hypothetical content to the …show more content…
Narrative storytelling is utilised throughout the entire film as Piscine recounts the entirety of his life story to a canadian journalist and budding author. As Pi goes on to explain his journey throughout the film, it becomes increasingly unclear as to whether any of it is actually a true recount or falsified. A quote from the author interviewing Pi, “So the stories... Both the zebra and the sailor broke their leg, and the hyena killed the zebra and the orangutan, so the hyena is the cook, the sailor is the zebra, your mother is the orangutan, and you’re... the tiger..?” demonstrates that both stories recounted are very different accounts but also entirely unverifiable. The following quote, “I've told you two stories about what happened out in the ocean; neither explains what caused the sinking of the ship, and no one can prove which story is true and which is not. In both stories, the ship sinks, my family dies, and I suffer… so which story do you prefer?” highlights the importance and storytelling and imagination by leaving an unresolved mystery to ponder; that is, is Pi’s journey simply a higher metaphor for personal loss and development? This shows the importance of storytelling and imagination as it has the ability to saturate even the most basic …show more content…
Martel utilised imagery as a means to draw the audience into the plot and immerse them fully into Pi’s journey. An example of this is a quote from Pi, “My foot sank into the clear water and met the rubbery resistance of something flexible but solid. I put more weight down. The illusion would not give. I put the full weight of my foot. Still I did not sink. Still I did not believe.” demonstrates Martel’s ability to weave imagery into the plot. This form of imagery allows the audience to better visualise the immediate surroundings of Pi’s. Symbolism and metaphor is additionally present through the use of figurative language. Piscine’s name is a clever play on the Pi seen in many forms of mathematics, a value commonly used to explain apparently unexplainable mathematical concepts. This relationship between Piscine’s name and the mathematical Pi demonstrates the relationship between this character and the amazing, inexplicable and impossible journey that he’d embarked on; it accentuated the idea that Pi’s story was something truly special, a spiritual experience with a number of life lessons learnt throughout. Through the use of various metaphors and imagery throughout the film, Martel effectively demonstrates how metaphor and imagery can be used to state the importance of
Many examples of symbolism were present throughout The Life of Pi, many of which serve to add depth and hypothetical content to the …show more content…
Narrative storytelling is utilised throughout the entire film as Piscine recounts the entirety of his life story to a canadian journalist and budding author. As Pi goes on to explain his journey throughout the film, it becomes increasingly unclear as to whether any of it is actually a true recount or falsified. A quote from the author interviewing Pi, “So the stories... Both the zebra and the sailor broke their leg, and the hyena killed the zebra and the orangutan, so the hyena is the cook, the sailor is the zebra, your mother is the orangutan, and you’re... the tiger..?” demonstrates that both stories recounted are very different accounts but also entirely unverifiable. The following quote, “I've told you two stories about what happened out in the ocean; neither explains what caused the sinking of the ship, and no one can prove which story is true and which is not. In both stories, the ship sinks, my family dies, and I suffer… so which story do you prefer?” highlights the importance and storytelling and imagination by leaving an unresolved mystery to ponder; that is, is Pi’s journey simply a higher metaphor for personal loss and development? This shows the importance of storytelling and imagination as it has the ability to saturate even the most basic …show more content…
Martel utilised imagery as a means to draw the audience into the plot and immerse them fully into Pi’s journey. An example of this is a quote from Pi, “My foot sank into the clear water and met the rubbery resistance of something flexible but solid. I put more weight down. The illusion would not give. I put the full weight of my foot. Still I did not sink. Still I did not believe.” demonstrates Martel’s ability to weave imagery into the plot. This form of imagery allows the audience to better visualise the immediate surroundings of Pi’s. Symbolism and metaphor is additionally present through the use of figurative language. Piscine’s name is a clever play on the Pi seen in many forms of mathematics, a value commonly used to explain apparently unexplainable mathematical concepts. This relationship between Piscine’s name and the mathematical Pi demonstrates the relationship between this character and the amazing, inexplicable and impossible journey that he’d embarked on; it accentuated the idea that Pi’s story was something truly special, a spiritual experience with a number of life lessons learnt throughout. Through the use of various metaphors and imagery throughout the film, Martel effectively demonstrates how metaphor and imagery can be used to state the importance of