Ms. Kalymon
ENG3U1-02
Thursday July 15th 2010.
Oh, How Tragic.
Tragedy is an action or a pattern of actions that we wish never had happened. Tragedy even occurs in Yann Martel’s Life of Pi. This can be shown in the theme or separation and isolation: Not only from his family but also from humanity. The unpleasant setting Pi has to get used to, As well as the loss of his innocence. Yann Martel’s Life of Pi is a tragedy due to the obstacles Pi is put through and the challenges he has to face.
The novel Life of Pi is a tragedy because Pi is isolated from society. When the Tsimtsum sinks, everyone that was on board dies, including his family. He is stranded in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with only Richard Parker. When Pi sees the wild animal swimming toward his boat after the ship wreck, Pi Sais “[…] and we’ll be together […] we’ll be together? Have I gone mad?” (Martel 99) At this moment Pi realizes that he is about to let a huge wild hungry tiger on board. A tiger that his dad taught him a memorable lesson about. He was about to be stuck on the boat with a beast that could possibly end his life in a heartbeat. And so it was only him and Richard Parker. He will be Pi’s only companion for the trip. Their journey begins. Months go by and due to his loneliness he starts talking to Page 2
Richard Parker. Even though he has a diary that he writes in everyday, he obviously feels socially alone. Pi has several conversations with Richard Parker. Most of the time he hallucinated the animal talking back, when we know that is just impossible. When Pi feels that Richard Parker is showing affection or some kind of emotion Pi would feel the need to speak up. “[…] I love you Richard