JEROSABEL R.

DIONCO
BS-PSYCHOLOGY 4TH YR

Analysis of the point of view in the film, " Life of Pi "

This essay explores the use of psychological angle in "Life of Pi"

Life of Pi is a 2012 American survival drama film based on Yann Martel's 2001 novel of the
same name. Directed by Ang Lee, the film's adapted screenplay was written by David Magee,
and it stars Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Rafe Spall, Grard Depardieu, Tabu, and Adil Hussain.
The storyline revolves around an Indian man named "Pi" Patel, telling a novelist about his life
story, and how at 16 he survives a shipwreck in which his family dies, and is stranded in the
Pacific Ocean on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger.
The film had its worldwide premiere as the opening film of the 51st New York Film Festival at
both the Walter Reade Theater andAlice Tully Hall in New York City on September 28, 2012.
When Pi is a teenager, his family decides to sell the animals and immigrate to Canada on a cargo
ship named Tsimtsum. A terrible storm occurs during the voyage, and when Pi, excited to see the
storm, goes onto the ships deck, he is tossed overboard and into a lifeboat by the crew. The next
morning, he finds himself in the company of a badly injured zebra, a vicious hyena, and a
matronly orangutan named Orange Juice. Hiding out of sight, beneath the canvas of the lifeboat,
is the tiger Richard Parker. The hyena wounds and eats the zebra, then goes after Orange Juice.
The orangutan puts up a good fight, but the hyena ultimately kills her. Richard Parker finally
makes himself known by killing and eating the hyena. Now only Pi and Richard Parker survive
on the lifeboat.
How Pi and Richard Parker survive in the Pacific Ocean makes up the rest of the novel. Pi
realizes he must survive the elements while adrift in the lifeboatand that Richard Parker will
almost certainly eat him. He quickly sees that thirst will kill him sooner than hunger or the tiger,
so he sets about finding a way to get water. He discovers provisions stored in the lifeboat,
including biscuits, water, water purifiers, a whistle, and a handbook for surviving at sea. With the
tools of survival in hand, Pi builds a second watercrafta raft made of oars and lifejacketsand
attaches it to the boat. With this second watercraft, he can remain out of both the shark-infested
waters and Richard Parkers immediate reach. He considers a variety of survival options and
concludes that he must tame the tiger. Although he is unable to fully train and domesticate
Richard Parker, by blowing a whistle and rocking the lifeboat enough to make the tiger seasick,
Pi is able to subdue him and secure his own territory on the lifeboat.

Pi goes temporarily blind and loses his mind. He begins having a conversation with Richard
Parker in which they mutually fantasize about the kinds of foods they would like to eat. Pi fixates
on vegetarian delicacies, and Richard Parker continues to revise the recipes with meat as the
main ingredient. At first Pi is morally outraged at the idea of eating meat, but then he realizes
that it is Richard Parkers preference. During this fantastical exchange, another castaway in a
lifeboat appears, also blind and also very hungry. Pi allows the man, who speaks with a French
accent, on the lifeboat, believing him to be a true companion. The man attacks Pi, saying that he
intends to eat him; Richard Parker attacks and consumes the man.
Richard Parker and Pi eventually find an island, which is made entirely of trees, roots, leaves,
fresh water, and plants. However, Pi makes a horrible discovery that causes them to leave the
island: Believing he has found a fruit-bearing tree, Pi peels back the layers of a piece of fruit to
find that it contains a human tooth. The island is a carnivorous being, consuming everything that
lives on it. Pi and Richard Parker return to the lifeboat and the ocean.
An undetermined amount of time passes, and Pi and Richard Parker arrive in Mexico. Richard
Parker runs into the wild and is never seen again. Pi is brought into custody, given food, and
questioned for some time by two officials from the Maritime Department in the Japanese
Ministry of Transport. The officials transcript of the conversation reveals that they do not
believe Pis story in its entirety, and they tell him so. Initially Pi sticks to his story, but then he
offers them another, somewhat similar story in which he shares the lifeboat with a crew member
of the sunken ship, his own mother, and a foul-tempered French cook who eventually kills both
Pis mother and the crewman. Pi tells of how he then stabbed the French cook in the throat and
watched him die. This second account seems to satisfy the skepticism of the questioners, but they
admit to Pi that his account of surviving with the tiger aboard the lifeboat is a better story.

You could see Pi's multiple stories as an excuse for him to absolve himself of pretty terrible
behavior. Or the establishments' insistance that all things must fall into a rational category,
whether or not it represents reality or even has a purpose. But I think it sort of has a darker
message than that.
It is only through suffering the worst shipwreck in history that he develops strength. Ironically by
facing down Richard Parker. Whether he is a savage killer... or a perfect survivor, it makes him
strong. It is then he is able to fully follow his own path of belief.
It's not that reality is savage and we need a bandage to make it go away. Its that reality can't be
savage and cruel, it can only be what it is. We want to pretend reality is bad, because we can't
believe things we don't like happen to us. And when you go home you have to find a way to get
through it. That bereft of society and rules and standards, you still have something inside you
that has to make its way through the world. And it is more important that you come to the
decision of who you are and how you are going to deal with the tragedy, then the actual tragedy
itself.

We are left with a person who has reached his pure self. And he has made the decision to
believe in God. He also made the decision to survive. He knows whatever he tells the outside
world what happened to him he knows who he is and how he is going to live his life. No longer
worrying about if he is right or wrong, or if people tease him. Because he has nothing to fear.
I think it is a warning to religious people, that if you truly believe in something, it does not make
you a better person then someone who doesn't believe. That you must use your strength to
survive and make the world a better place. Any philosophy or religion that will not do that is
worthless. Because not everyone can rely on religion to help them survive. If you are worried
about things like racism or anything like that, you are weak. And you'll either die holding a
useless principle, become a martyr, or just lose your way instantly.
We all must decide who we are when horrible disasters strike. And we can't be worried about
what anyone else thinks. Pi does this by finding his true passion for GOd. And everyone else has
to find their own way.