Credits:

I would like to credit the following for making possible the completion of this tabblo (and also for preventing accusations of me being an ingrate). I am sorry if I am not able to pair the sources with their respective images.

Content

http://www.writing-world.com/sf/realism.shtml

Images

http://fc08.deviantart.com/fs15/f/2007/115/9/e/Life_of_Pi__Struggle_by_Biffno.jpg

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YANN MARTEL'S Life of Pi is a story that has the main protagonist, an Indian man named Piscine Molitor Patel, narrate about his believable yet almost fishy 227-day experience in the vacuous Pacific sea at the aftermath of a shipwreck. Obviously a classic in itself, it is, on the other hand, obscurely patterned after Greek-Roman mythology.

Magic Realism

HOW IS this possible? First let us consider the genre that generally serves as the underlying framework of Life of Pi: magic realism. Albeit somewhat vague and murky, magic realism basically blurs the line between fantasy and reality in a story. Unlike science fiction or fantasy, which both drift the reader to another world, magic realism is always grounded in what is real, in the current world; what it is doing is to attempt to present to the reader a valid but different, sometimes almost romanticized viewpoint of the world. These romanticisms are usually manifested through the bending of time, of causations, and of descriptions to create a perspective deviating from the objective viewpoint of reality. Though this is the case, readers have the choice to accept the story at face value or interpret it as a romanticized version of an otherwise normal story.

Applications to Life of Pi

TRACES OF magic realism are quite evident in the book; the bending of description and time has strong presence in the novel. At the start, we see a very normal and believable world, one so normal that we barely see anything out of the ordinary. Probably the strangest thing would be Pi’s affiliation to three religions simultaneously, but still, this is possible in the realm of reality. However, towards the middle and the end of the story, during his ordeal at sea, things start becoming subjective and unclear. At the wake of the shipwreck, Pi finds out that his lifeboat is occupied not just by a zebra, but also by a hyena. Add to this the tiger named Richard Parker and the orangutan that he let onto the boat. What we have here are physical manifestations of magic realism, at least in the context of the book.

DESPITE AGGRESSIONS within the group and desperations for survival that lead to the demise of the zebra, orangutan, and hyena in a dog-eat-dog fashion, Pi is surprisingly left unharmed and untouched, even in the company of a hungry and fierce 450-pound Bengal tiger. Not only that, but he was also able to tame Richard Parker to a degree, given his limited resources, grave conditions, unending fears, and amateurish taming skills. This is clearly seen when he was able to make Richard Parker jump through the makeshift hoops, and when he was able to communicate to the tiger that the upper half of the lifeboat was his territory.

THROUGHOUT THE book, time is bent as the chapters switch from the story of the persona to his status quo in the book. Events, as well, are recounted not chronologically, but rather disorderly, usually according to the order in which Pi remembers things, since he was not able to perceive time during his ordeal.

ALSO NOTEWORTHY is the meerkat-infested algae island, the epitome of magic realism in Life of Pi; its description in the novel would probably be the most farfetched part to the reader. The algae mass itself was able to support all the things on it when it algae would normally be permeable and just give in. At night, the algae mass bares its “carnivorous” nature when it consumes and digests any organism on its surface. The meerkats thriving there had the island all to themselves, and they grew so populous that they filled the island.  

We Look Back and Trace the Roots

THE BLURRING of reality and fantasy of the magic realism genre is also palpable in Greek-Roman mythology; it would not be farfetched to claim, then, that the latter has somehow influenced the former. Greek-Roman mythology is rich with its gods and goddesses, nymphs, centaurs, and other creatures with otherworldly features seamlessly incorporated into the everyday lives of the Greeks and of the Romans. This alternative perception of reality has already made its way into the culture of the people, the center of their lives. People rely on the likes of Demeter for bountiful crop harvests so that they would not suffer famine. They, too, are in awe of Poseidon, who, when angry with men, would drown them when they are in open sea, or would cause massive earthquakes when they are at land. These gods possess power, prestige, wisdom, intimidation, and greatness, enough to conquer the masses of mortals. Because people recognize that they are lowly, limited beings who are surrounded by enigmatic things, they seek an explanation to supernatural phenomena that they cannot perceive. Here it is, in the form of a humanized and realistic explanation to the inner workings of the world: Greek-Roman mythology.

NATURALLY, GREEK-ROMAN mythology makes use of a structure called Monomyth or Hero Cycle with which to pattern their works. It turns out that this structure was already a trademark in literatures worldwide, transcending cultures, even before it was popularized by Greek-Roman mythology. In the Monomyth, the hero undergoes a cycle, which adds suspense, thrill, glory, as well as cohesiveness to the story. Many times this method has not failed in effectively building stories up and bringing them to a conclusive stop.

The Tried and Tested Recipe to Success

FIRST, TO be considered a hero, one must be distinguished from the others, chiefly due to one’s unusual birth, one’s strength and courage in the face of ordeals, and due to a tempered sense of honor and solemnity. This uniqueness of the individual would contribute to one’s ability of completing one’s trials alone while in a journey, and ultimately return home as a prestigious individual above the rest. Pi exemplifies all of this, but not in the most exact manner. He is distinguished from the rest because of his ability to synthesize religion and science towards a better life; also, he affiliated himself with three different religions at the same time. His unusual birth stems from the unusual etymology of his name, which came from the name of a swimming pool in Paris, France. He is shown to have great capability for suffering. This is depicted when his schoolmates would tease him about his name, but he gathered courage in order to rightfully re-establish his new identity in another school. Also, he is depicted to have a great reverence for the world, no matter which of the two contradicting viewpoints he is using: science or religion.

VARIOUS TRIALS surfaced during Pi’s stay in the lifeboat with Richard Parker in the middle of ocean. He had to constantly keep his wits about and exert his dominance over the fierce Bengal tiger in order to survive; with the unpredictability of Richard Parker, his unmaking required only one tiny mistake. Throughout his days in the open sea, there were those who arrived by Pi’s boat, unwittingly relieving his desolation, even if for a short while. Most prominent was the Frenchman, also adrift in the Pacific on his lifeboat, who served as his companion from loneliness. Never mind the fact that he was killed some four pages later.

Π

PI'S GREATEST trial came in the form of his arrival to the algae island, or more accurately, a floating mass of algae. It promised him rejuvenation from his tiresome odyssey by allowing him to eat and drink plentifully, sleep comfortably, and mend his physical and mental strength. Everything he wanted was within the island’s breadth. However, he discovered of the island’s “carnivorous” nature, so he hastily departed just as how hastily he conjured living on the island. He realized the futility of living away from civilization; he heard it calling back to him again, and so he returned by landing on the shores of Mexico.

EVEN IF Richard Parker immediately left him without any acknowledgment of gratitude, Pi gathered his immaterial reward in the form of experiences and insights that would eventually lead to his formation as a better person. Moreover, he carried a reward for others: it was his inspiring story about his experiences with desolation and abandonment, now immortalized in the form of a book.

“

”

THERE ARE many who say that mythology is obsolete and insignificant in our current condition. Frankly, I was, at first, one of those. However, because of my realizations about the far-reaching effects of Greek-Roman mythology and Monomyth made manifest through a contemporary work such as Life of Pi, I am now able to see its importance, relevance, and beauty. The influences of Greek-Roman mythology are so clear in today’s world: it contributed concepts and words for us to work with, it further established the hero cycle as the staple framework for writing, and it gave us literature from the past so that we would see how people were like before. Something so universal such as mythology would remain timeless that it would forever leave an indelible mark on the earth. Mythology inspires men of today to dream on and be heroes in their own right.

...And we Set our Sights to the Horizon and Commence our Thousand-Mile Journey