Theme Of Diction In Life Of Pi

One of the significant literary features of the passage is its odd diction, offset from the rest of the book due to Pi’s delusional state of mind and his maintained sensitivity to the occurrence. This causes the conclusion and religious sentiment of Pi’s journey to be accentuated as a direct result of intentional word choice. Pi arrives on the beach slightly crazed from his time at sea, as can be observed from the way his perceptions are distorted, with a fear that, “in two feet of water, I would drown,” (Martel 284). He continues on with his confusion as he comments on his surroundings, animating the beach he resided on and breaking down following Richard Parker’s leave only clarifying how questionable his mental state was. He acts disconnected
once another person arrives, even labeling them as “a member of my own species,” which depersonalizes them immensely (Martel 285). Then, the narration continues in a method fairly uncommon previously in the novel: in a storytelling manner, as if the reader was reading the same words the real-life Piscine Patel was telling Martel. This deflection from engaging in further details from Pi’s point of view displays Patel’s sensitivity to the occurrence. This allows for the reader to perceive his pain and sympathize, adding emotional weight to the goodbye message to Richard Parker, ending, “God be with you, (Martel 286). Those being the last words of the novel told strictly by Martel after a paragraph about goodbyes and proper conclusions, it almost appears as a resolution to the story, per se, carrying religious weight to fortify the sentiment.