Life of Pi vs Castaway
ENG 3U1
Thursday June 5th 2014
Change and Survival: Life of Pi vs. Castaway Today’s era is nicknamed the era of technology. While technology is beneficial to many, it comes with a consequence to which all users are victim to; change. Technology changes very often; from updates in phones to moving from one house to another. In order to flourish, one must adapt to fit their surroundings. In Life of Pi, written by Yann Martel and Castaway, directed by Robert Zemeckis, Pi Patel and Chuck Noland both illustrate the importance of change, especially without the comfort of technologies are both characters are used to. Pi and Chuck change their diets, overcome loneliness, and are resourceful when they face the ordeal of being stranded. In Life of Pi, Pi Patel starts off by talking about his belief in being a committed vegetarian. He is vegetarian as he strongly believes all animals deserve the right to live because their lives are sacred. When Pi is stranded in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, he is left to decide between his sixteen-year long commitment to vegetarianism or to give up his life. Pi decides to accommodate meat into his diet in order to continue living at sea. His first experience killing an animal (a fish) was very difficult for him because it was against his morals. “Tears flowing down my cheeks, I egged myself to go on until I heard a cracking sound and no longer felt any life fighting in my hands” (pg. 231). Pi’s tears display the level of mental distress he is going though during this task, yet Pi “egged” himself to go on. He proceeded with the action of killing the fish because he realizes that his regular dietary needs are not going to be met at sea; nowhere is he going to find some daal and chutney. When Pi’s environment changes from the comfort of India to the sea, he gives up his commitment to vegetarianism. Much like Pi, Chuck Noland is also left stranded. Chuck on the other hand is stranded on an island and is fortunately, able to find
Thursday June 5th 2014
Change and Survival: Life of Pi vs. Castaway Today’s era is nicknamed the era of technology. While technology is beneficial to many, it comes with a consequence to which all users are victim to; change. Technology changes very often; from updates in phones to moving from one house to another. In order to flourish, one must adapt to fit their surroundings. In Life of Pi, written by Yann Martel and Castaway, directed by Robert Zemeckis, Pi Patel and Chuck Noland both illustrate the importance of change, especially without the comfort of technologies are both characters are used to. Pi and Chuck change their diets, overcome loneliness, and are resourceful when they face the ordeal of being stranded. In Life of Pi, Pi Patel starts off by talking about his belief in being a committed vegetarian. He is vegetarian as he strongly believes all animals deserve the right to live because their lives are sacred. When Pi is stranded in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, he is left to decide between his sixteen-year long commitment to vegetarianism or to give up his life. Pi decides to accommodate meat into his diet in order to continue living at sea. His first experience killing an animal (a fish) was very difficult for him because it was against his morals. “Tears flowing down my cheeks, I egged myself to go on until I heard a cracking sound and no longer felt any life fighting in my hands” (pg. 231). Pi’s tears display the level of mental distress he is going though during this task, yet Pi “egged” himself to go on. He proceeded with the action of killing the fish because he realizes that his regular dietary needs are not going to be met at sea; nowhere is he going to find some daal and chutney. When Pi’s environment changes from the comfort of India to the sea, he gives up his commitment to vegetarianism. Much like Pi, Chuck Noland is also left stranded. Chuck on the other hand is stranded on an island and is fortunately, able to find
Citations: Castaway. Dir. robert zemeckis. Perf. tom hanks. 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, 2000. . Martel, Yann. Life of Pi: a novel. New York: Harcourt, 2001. Print.