Use of conflict in Life of Pi
Oliver Christie-Limbrick Analyse how conflict was used to explore a theme
In Life of Pi, the author Yann Martel analyses how a conflict was used to explore one of the main themes within the text, coming of age. Martel uses the conflict between the main protagonist Piscine Patel and Richard Parker the Bengal tiger, and how this conflict develops to skilfully teach the reader about what it means to become a fully grown individual. There are three stages to this conflict, when Piscine is fighting Richard Parker for territory upon the life boat, when Piscine touches Richard Parker and comes to be able to cooperate with him, and then when Piscine tells the second story in Mexico and learns to accept his own actions. Within this essay I will explain how these stages represent the long process of coming of age through the use of Richard Parker as a part of Piscine’s own psyche.
When Piscine first enters the life boat, he has not fully grasped the side of himself which is needed to survive and come of age. “…I was so obviously out matched by Richard Parker that it wasn’t even worth worrying about” is what the narrator says on page 149. At the beginning of Piscine’s adventures, he often has to fight and evade Richard Parker as at that point they have not learned to cooperate with each other. During Life of Pi, Richard parker is a character created by Piscine within his mind for which he blames for the actions he is not willing to accept he committed due to their inhumanity. Piscine creates the story with the tiger in order to cope with his own trauma. In Life of Pi the colour orange symbolises survival, therefore because the tiger is orange it is these action which are needed to survive, the survival instinct. If one comes to realise this part of them they become empowered. They grow and become stronger. Yet because Piscine and Richard Parker are seen as conflicting the reader comes to realise Piscine has not realised that part of himself, and in order to come
In Life of Pi, the author Yann Martel analyses how a conflict was used to explore one of the main themes within the text, coming of age. Martel uses the conflict between the main protagonist Piscine Patel and Richard Parker the Bengal tiger, and how this conflict develops to skilfully teach the reader about what it means to become a fully grown individual. There are three stages to this conflict, when Piscine is fighting Richard Parker for territory upon the life boat, when Piscine touches Richard Parker and comes to be able to cooperate with him, and then when Piscine tells the second story in Mexico and learns to accept his own actions. Within this essay I will explain how these stages represent the long process of coming of age through the use of Richard Parker as a part of Piscine’s own psyche.
When Piscine first enters the life boat, he has not fully grasped the side of himself which is needed to survive and come of age. “…I was so obviously out matched by Richard Parker that it wasn’t even worth worrying about” is what the narrator says on page 149. At the beginning of Piscine’s adventures, he often has to fight and evade Richard Parker as at that point they have not learned to cooperate with each other. During Life of Pi, Richard parker is a character created by Piscine within his mind for which he blames for the actions he is not willing to accept he committed due to their inhumanity. Piscine creates the story with the tiger in order to cope with his own trauma. In Life of Pi the colour orange symbolises survival, therefore because the tiger is orange it is these action which are needed to survive, the survival instinct. If one comes to realise this part of them they become empowered. They grow and become stronger. Yet because Piscine and Richard Parker are seen as conflicting the reader comes to realise Piscine has not realised that part of himself, and in order to come