Karlie Cradock Mr. Wright 2B Honors English II Life of Pi Passage Explication “I preferred 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” (Martel 325).
This quote is said during a pivotal point in the novel. Pi has the choice of either staying on the island, which can very well support him and Richard Parker for the rest of their lives, or leaving into the vast unknown (back into the Pacific Ocean). Pi has seen the remains of the person who previously lived on the island, and he does not want to end up like him. Pi is not one to want to die invisible, and this is perhaps one of the reasons he has tried so hard to survive on the lifeboat. This quote truly illustrates Pi’s hopeful attitude throughout the entire novel, and his love of life. Pi’s decision to leave the island is also parallel to several other important decisions he makes throughout the book. Mostly, it symbolizes his realization that his religion and faith cannot be the only things to keep him alive; religion is represented as the island, hence the word “spiritual”. The definition of perish is to “pass away or disappear”. Pi is determined not to have an existence that goes unseen. He has hopes for his future, and he will not simply resort to living on a murderous or “very dangerous, difficult, or unpleasant” island. In the end of Life of Pi, there is a huge controversy over whether the story Pi tells with the animals or the story with the humans is true. Because there is no proof of either one, Pi simply asks the interviewers, which one is the better story, and they agree that the animal story is better because it is more interesting. Pi’s story is inspirational because he is determined to live an interesting life with a purpose. Obviously, he did not want to end up on a lifeboat alone in the Pacific Ocean, but it did make for an interesting story. Pi makes the choice to leave the island and to continue his interesting life because as the interviewers said, the interesting story is the better one.
Mr. Wright
2B Honors English II
Life of Pi Passage Explication
“I preferred 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” (Martel 325).
This quote is said during a pivotal point in the novel. Pi has the choice of either staying on the island, which can very well support him and Richard Parker for the rest of their lives, or leaving into the vast unknown (back into the Pacific Ocean). Pi has seen the remains of the person who previously lived on the island, and he does not want to end up like him. Pi is not one to want to die invisible, and this is perhaps one of the reasons he has tried so hard to survive on the lifeboat. This quote truly illustrates Pi’s hopeful attitude throughout the entire novel, and his love of life. Pi’s decision to leave the island is also parallel to several other important decisions he makes throughout the book. Mostly, it symbolizes his realization that his religion and faith cannot be the only things to keep him alive; religion is represented as the island, hence the word “spiritual”.
The definition of perish is to “pass away or disappear”. Pi is determined not to have an existence that goes unseen. He has hopes for his future, and he will not simply resort to living on a murderous or “very dangerous, difficult, or unpleasant” island. In the end of Life of Pi, there is a huge controversy over whether the story Pi tells with the animals or the story with the humans is true. Because there is no proof of either one, Pi simply asks the interviewers, which one is the better story, and they agree that the animal story is better because it is more interesting. Pi’s story is inspirational because he is determined to live an interesting life with a purpose. Obviously, he did not want to end up on a lifeboat alone in the Pacific Ocean, but it did make for an interesting story. Pi makes the choice to leave the island and to continue his interesting life because as the interviewers said, the interesting story is the better one.