por Owen Henry hace 6 años
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The life of Pi is a story about a young Indian boy who gets lost at sea with a tiger named Richard Parker. Pi faces many situations and losses throughout his journey until he makes it home. The life of Pi is fact a monomyth because it follows the hero's cycle as the hero's journey should. Pi also endeavors harsh conditions in order to develop as a character and come out as a new being. In monomyth's there are also helpers who aid the main character along their journey.
In a monomyth there is usually a helper, which quite often takes the role of an animal. In this case, the helper is Pi's tiger Richard Parker. Throughout the novel we see Pi and Richard develop a bond. At the beginning Pi is very scared of Richard, especially after his dad feeds a goat to him to show Pi that animals are solely ruled by instinct. However, whenever they are out at sea Pi concludes that the best decision would be to tame Richard Parker, a solution that his dad would have never come to. Pi ends up taming and developing a relationship with Richard Parker and the tiger ends up saving his life more than once. They endure harsh conditions and use each other to get through the trials that they are faced with.
Throughout the novel Pi is faced with many harsh decisions as well as problems. There are many times when Pi faces defeat, and even thinks he is defeated. However, Pi comes out on top of all of the chaos and throughout the novel we see him slowly change and develop into his full potential. He has knew insights about the world as well as with animals. He believes that animals have a soul and a heart and throughout his journey he finds that out from his friend Richard Parker. At the beginning of the novel we see a sheltered and scared Pi who doesn't even want to leave India. At the end of the novel Pi has reached his goal and he has endeavored more problematic situations than moving to Canada. He comes out with knew knowledge, worldviews, courage and perseverance.
In order for a story to be considered a monomyth it needs to follow the hero's cycle. There are four main areas to the hero's cycle, departure, initiation, ordeal, and return. Throughout these steps the character needs to have faced hard decisions as well as life changing situations. The character will come out with new knowledge and newly developed as they weren't before.
Pi decides to set out again in attempt to find home. He takes his helper Richard Parker with him and they set sail once again. While Pi is out at sea he once again is faced with trials however he makes it through them and lands at Mexico. This represents Pi's journey back and he is rescued by local men. Pi comes out of this journey with new knowledge and worldviews. He is a changed man.
The major ordeal occurs when Pi and Richard land on the island. It is infested with food and meerkats however, he comes to the conclusion that the island is toxic at night. Pi is then faced with the decision of either staying on the island, or returning home. One decision may grant him the safety of survival, if careful. The other decision could potentially be his death, but he has the chance at arriving back at civilization.
Pi faces several trials while he is trying to survive out on the ocean such as hunger, weather, and Richard Parker. This would be considered the road of trials leading up to the crisis. Pi tames his tiger Richard Parker and they develop a strong bond. They both face starvation, storms, and the risks of survival together. Through these trials Pi's character is developed and he is brought up to his character's potential.
This is the beginning of the Journey for the Hero. The beginning of the novel depicts the ordinary childhood of Pi Patel. He talks about the bullying he endeavored, as well as his family and their zoo. His departure begins when Pi's father discusses with him that they will be moving to Canada because India is going downhill politically and economically. They aboard a boat in which flies into a storm and sinks. Pi is left on a boat with a Richard Parker (the tiger), a hyena, a zebra, and a orangutan.
