Survival In Yann Martel's Lord Of The Flies

Survival is a natural characteristic lying within every living creature on Earth. It may seem that animals have more adaptive survival techniques than humans. That could be reasoned by the fact that animals are constantly preying or being preyed on depending on their role on the food chain. Humans use their survivals techniques in different ways. We never truly know our real survival skills until faced with a daunting situation. We have learned to be domesticated by society and how we believe a person is supposed to act. Examples of believable situation like this could be being attacked by some type of an animal, being involved in a home invasion, or even something so simple as not knowing where your next meal is going to come from, all very
different but all requiring the same attribute: survival skills. Novels based on the theme of survival especially interest readers of all types. Authors hook their readers with this type of theme by the unique characters they use, vividly depicted settings, and riveting plot twists. When reading survival novels like Hatchet or Robinson Crusoe, you as a reader are begged to fill your own fantasy by putting yourself in the character’s shoes. Lord of the Flies and Life of Pi are perfect examples of classic novels which feature the character or characters going through an unumagingalbel event, their initial reaction, day to day struggles and obstacles, and finally the outcome most readers hope for, being rescued. Yann Martel (author of Life of Pi) and William Golding (author of Lord of the Flies) each individually renowned for his eloquence and imagery, rightfully assert themselves as authentic, award-winning authors by means of beautiful literary craftsmanship. With boths novels having quite similar themes, the similarities are almost seemingly identical at parts on the novel but in contrast entirely different at some points during their quest for survival. Analyzing both novels in every way possible through the survival methods, character development, and setting change, you will become experts in every aspect with both of these novels.
There are many famous survival stories and for good reason. Many are based on true stories which add authenticity and many are fiction but have an extremely true feel to them Novels such as these let the readers think outside of the box that is humanity and believe a story that seems completely out of the ordinary to us. It takes years of research by the author to craft a fiction survival story that makes the reader feel like they are reading a survival story directly out of news article.( fact about author) Both Martel and Golding stories are bonded by the common theme of survival but differ in storyline, style and structure. Golding uses many survivors rather than just one in his masterpiece compared to Martel’s style where he uses just one survivor. By using more multiple survivors all of a which being adolescent British boys, Lord of the Flies is able to create conflicts and character development much differently than Life of Pi is able to create with just one character. Life of Pi is also able to create a different storyline by giving Pi a companion but not the typical type of companion you would think, a 400 pound bengal tiger. If not for these unique aspects used by both authors, his novels would not be anywhere close to as genious as they are with them.
(Intro to story- crash- fleeing from what?? ) Both Martel's and Golding’s novels begin with a traumatic event but Martel chooses to write about Pi’s background first to inform the reader about Pi’s ideals and family life. This introduction proves to be helpful in understanding Pi as young sixteen year old boy and why he makes the decisions he does later on in the novel. Golding starts his novel with the crash of a plane filled with young British boys age ranging between six and twelve years old. Both these novels are similar in that the main characters are leaving their home country in hopes of a better future or safer means of leaving. In Golding's book the British boys are fleeing to Australia, it is assumed because it is unsafe where they were living because of the war, and their plane crashes on a deserted island in the Pacific Ocean. Martel describes the once untouched island, “Beyond the falls and cliffs there was a gash visible in the trees; there were splintered trunks and then the drag, leaving only a fringe of palm between the scar and the sea” (29). The pilot dies in the plane crash leaving the boys completely alone to fend for and govern themselves. This is similar to Pi’s traumatizing event. His father was offered a much better job opportunity in Canada than working as a zookeeper in India. Pi, reluctant to leave his friends, zoo, and the foundation of his beliefs behind, is forced to move with his family. His father plans on selling all their animals which also makes Pi all the more upset to leave. On the way to Canada their Japanese freight ship encountered a huge storm. During the storm, their ship sank for unknown reasons. Pi miraculously ends up surviving where he ends up on a lifeboat with, depending what story you choose to believe, a chef, his mother, and a french sailor or Pi’s first version of the story where he uses animals as the humans.
The initial action of the character or characters in each novel are similar; confused, scared and disorganized. When the british boys first come upon their island there is little to no organization. The boys run off to different parts of the island without any means of supervision. They have absolutely no idea to what lies within the island but, being as young as they are with no adults to tell them what they could and could not do, they are almost thrilled with this idea. They ate whatever they found and drank whatever looked like water whether it was poisonous or not. This is is similar to Pi’s situation. In the disorderly state he is in during the storm, he aides a tiger, Richard Parker, to safety on his raft. The days after the Tsitsum sinking, the events on the raft were dangerous. While hanging from the end of the raft, trying to not get eaten by the tiger or the hyena, he watched the zebra and the orangutan get brutally mauled. Pi speaks of his feelings after witnessing such a traumatic event, “I didn’t have pity to spare for long for the zebra. When your own life is threatened, your sense of empathy is blunted by a terrible, selfish hunger for survival. This is not something I am proud of. I am sorry I was so callous about the matter. I have not forgotten that poor zebra and what it went through. Not a prayer goes by that I don’t think of it” (120). In both novels the characters faced situations in which they were not prepared for nor could handle properly. After the characters came to realization of how dire their situation were, they decided go into survival mode. Survival meant two different things to the British boys, Ralph, the fair boy, thought he should be the leader but Jack, the leader of the choir group, thought he should the one in charge of the boys. This proved to a major conflict for the group. Ralphs initial thought to survival meant building a shelter and keep a keep a fire going as a means of a signal for any passing ships or planes. He thought these methods were in the best interest of the groups survival. On the other hand, Jack initial response to survival tactics was solely hunting. Jacks lust for hunting was normals as any as boy at his age but that changed through the progression of the novel. He thought “feasting” each night was in the best interest of the group rather than trying to be rescued. Pi being by himself had to take it upon himself to fulfill both these roles; provide himself with shelter and find ways to acquire food. At first Pi was hasty with his decisions concerning the supplies that had been stocked on the life raft similar to Ralph’s uncalculated decisions. He drank a large portion of the water without even thinking about rationing it. His mind ventured to what would bring him the most satisfaction short term. On the other hand, part of his mind that was thinking about how he was going to survive with a tiger on board, built a raft similar to what Ralphs intentions were.
When hearing about about someone being stranded or lost in a novel it is most stereoptical for one's mind to immediately assume an island isolated somewhere in the vast ocean as the main setting. In examining Lord of Flies and Life of Pi, both stories at some point take the reader to an island however the physicality and importance of each island are used differently. Life of Pi primarily taking place adrift at sea is introduced to peculary island at a pivotal point in Pi’s journey. Hallucinations and blindness have began to consume him. Desperation for food was so great that he mistook dried human flesh for animal flesh. Pi at first glance viewed this irie floating island as a safe haven, a sanctuary where he could wait to be rescued. He was overcome with disbelief not only that the island had no soil to which the trees and other vegetation were rooted in but also that gift was not just a figment of his imagination.
271 282 After some recon of the island, Pi was complexed by the island's complete desolation:
The air of the place carried no flies, no butterflies, no bees, no insects of any kind. The trees sheltered no birds. The plains hid no rodents, no grubs, no worms, no snakes, no scorpions; they gave rise to no other trees, no shrubs, no grasses, no flowers, the ponds harboured no freshwater fish. The seashore teemed with no weeds, no crabs, no crayfish, no coral, no pebbles, no rocks. With the single, notable exception of the meerkats, there was not the last foreign matter on the island, organic or inorganic. It was nothing but shining green algae and shining green trees. (271)
To Pi’s disappointed this island was not as much of a blessing as he had first thought.
After using the island as temporary vacation, soon learned that the island was not just any other island; it was a carnivorous island. By day everything appeared to be ordinary but by night the island turned into an acidic beast devouring the dead fish trapped in the ponds and turning algae into acidic predators. Pi reached a conclusion stating, “I prefered to set off and perish in search of my own kind than to live a lonely half-life of physical comfort and spiritual death on this murderous island” (283). This is similar but vastly different to the physical features and importance of the island in Lord of the Flies. Unlike Pi, the young british boys had no other option but to take their chances of survival on the island rather than making a raft and setting off in search of rescue. The physical makeup of the british boys island was the more typical stereotype of an island containing a dense forest on one side and steep jagged rocks at the base of a hilltop on the other. Instead of opens plains teeming with hundreds of thousands of meerkats, this island overflowed with thick brush where wild pigs flourished. Both the meerkats and the wild pigs served as key source of food for the different characters. What makes these islands similar is the fact that british boys believed within the island too lived a “beast”. At first, the beast was nothing more than a product of the boys' imaginations. The smaller boys were afraid of things they saw at night. Instead of be afraid of nothing, they gave their fear a name, the Great Unknown, and a fantasized about it in their minds. The beast was claimed to have been seen by the twins who described the beast as having “teeth” and “eyes”. This unconfirmed beast creates a huge center of conflict within the group of boys. It puts the boys in an increased state of chaos and
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