A zebra, an orangutan a hyena and a tiger? Or, a Taiwanese sailor, a mother, a French cook, and Pi? These are two stories that give the same meaning, but one tells a better story. In Life of Pi by: Yann Martel, Pi gets stuck on a lifeboat for 227 days after he is the victim of a shipwreck. He is forced to survive the harshness of the sea. After a truly incredible journey to ultimate survival, Pi tells the story of his miraculous survival in the company of a tiger to Japanese men from the business of the sunken ship. When they do not believe the craziness of the story including four animals, Pi tells a second story including people in the place of animals. Pi explains to the Japanese men that it is up to them to decide which out of his stories
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The reader must decide which story is the better story to help them understand the situation and which story is the true story, and they do not necessarily have to be the same story versions. Martel left this part of the story open with the purpose of making the reader decide for themselves what really happened in that lifeboat. In addition, the concept of the reader deciding fits in with a repeating theme in the novel, story-telling. The definition of telling a "good story" is telling a story that really makes the reader have to feel or think about something. This story undoubtedly accomplishes that by the end of the novel, and the reader is so conflicted about what actually happened that they forget none of it actually happened. So, which story is the better …show more content…
First, it is just plain remarkable to think that a skinny, young boy was able to survive alone with a tiger for 227 days. And he did not just survive, he was able to train the tiger which is just insane to think about. Additionally, some truly inhumane things happened on that boat. It is extremely hard to think that a human, the French cook, would be able to do such gruesome things to Pi's mother and the Taiwanese sailor who were completely innocent. Also, it is terrible to think that Pi had to kill another human on the lifeboat. All of these items are things that would be justifiable for animals, and quite honestly it is more remarkable to think that Pi was able to survive with all of these types of
The reader must decide which story is the better story to help them understand the situation and which story is the true story, and they do not necessarily have to be the same story versions. Martel left this part of the story open with the purpose of making the reader decide for themselves what really happened in that lifeboat. In addition, the concept of the reader deciding fits in with a repeating theme in the novel, story-telling. The definition of telling a "good story" is telling a story that really makes the reader have to feel or think about something. This story undoubtedly accomplishes that by the end of the novel, and the reader is so conflicted about what actually happened that they forget none of it actually happened. So, which story is the better …show more content…
First, it is just plain remarkable to think that a skinny, young boy was able to survive alone with a tiger for 227 days. And he did not just survive, he was able to train the tiger which is just insane to think about. Additionally, some truly inhumane things happened on that boat. It is extremely hard to think that a human, the French cook, would be able to do such gruesome things to Pi's mother and the Taiwanese sailor who were completely innocent. Also, it is terrible to think that Pi had to kill another human on the lifeboat. All of these items are things that would be justifiable for animals, and quite honestly it is more remarkable to think that Pi was able to survive with all of these types of