Lesson 9: Life of Pi, Part Three-Benito Juárez Infirmary,Tomatlán, Mexico

Pi's interview (Image: Google Sites)

Lesson 9: Life of Pi, Part Three-Benito Juárez Infirmary,Tomatlán, Mexico

At the beginning of this unit, I cautioned you to not substitute watching Ang Lee's movie, Life of Pi, for doing the actual reading in Life of Pi. I also cautioned you to avoid the interpretations of the novel commonly found on the Internet. Although the movie is visually stunning, the ending is presented in a way that the book does not support. Furthermore, almost all interpretations of the novel found in online study guides are incorrect, as they miss key details from the novel or present a simplistic interpretation that is not supported by the text. This is where my initial warning is extremely important: if you accept the movie version ending or Internet interpretations as the interpretation of the ending for Life of Pi, then you will have missed the entire point of the book. 

After Pi Patel washes ashore in Mexico and Richard Parker departs from him, he is brought to the Benito Juárez Infirmary in Tomatlán, Mexico, so that he may recuperate. Two officials from the Maritime Department of the Japanese Ministry of Transport finally arrive at the hospital so that they can interview Pi regarding the details of the sinking of the Tsimtsum. 

At the beginning of this final part of the novel, Chapter 95, the fictional writer reappears. He retells the story that he claims to have heard from Mr. Okamoto and Mr. Chiba, the two representatives of the Maritime Department. Chapters 96 through 99 are excerpts from the fictional writer's transcript of the taped conversation that takes place between the two Japanese representatives and Pi Patel, including occasional translations from the Japanese, which are done by a third-party translator. However, the investigative, scientific tone seems to lend believability to what is presented in this final part of the novel. Keep these facts in mind as you finish reading this section.

Pi relates his story to the two representatives, who do not believe him. They claim that there is no scientific proof for the fantastical elements in Pi's story--"carnivorous trees . . . fish-eating algae (Martel 293). Pi gives certain proofs for his story by challenging the Japanese representatives to look at the meerkat bones in the bottom of the boat. Nevertheless, Mr. Okamoto and Mr. Chiba tell Pi: "We want a story without animals that will explain the sinking of the Tsimtsum" (Martel 303). To satisfy them, Pi tells a horrific story of how he survived. Pi asks the two representatives, "So tell me, since it makes no factual difference to you and you can't prove the question either way, which story do you prefer? Which is the better story, the story with animals or the story without animals?" (Martel 317).

Both the movie and most Internet interpretations of the novel present this question, and then answer it by implying that Pi's second story, his horrific tale, is the true story. Most will state that Pi's first story is the better story, but can't be true. 

However, this is not a good interpretation of the story that can be validated from the text.

Lesson 9: Guiding Questions

As you finish reading Part 3-Benito Juárez Infirmary,Tomatlán, Mexico, I would like you to remember the objectives of this unit that were presented in Lesson 1, as well as the characteristics of postmodernism that were presented.

1. Unreliable narrators: Narrators in postmodernist literature are frequently unreliable. This means that you cannot always trust what the narrator of the story is telling you.
2. Narrative shifts: In a postmodernist novel, the story can be told from many different perspectives.
3. Questioning values: Postmodernist literature questions everything--religion, truth, ideals, values, morals, etc.

This last section of the novel is presented as the most reliable. It supposedly consists of an official investigation and a taped interview by two government representatives. The tone is scientific and initially very professional. However, it is the most unreliable part of the novel. 

We have discussed narrative shifts in previous lessons. Nowhere in the novel are there more narrative shifts than in this final part of the novel. Remember: what you are reading is being told to you by the fictional writer, who is not Yann Martel. He is retelling the story that he claims he heard from the two Japanese representatives. In Chapter 95, the fictional writer tells you that the following chapters are excerpts from a transcript of a taped conversation that takes place between the two representatives and Pi Patel, with occasional translations from the Japanese, which are done by a third-party translator. 

Remember the narrative frame visual from Lesson 6? This visual will demonstrate how far removed you, as the reader, are from Pi's story. There are at least four layers of narrators or filters between readers and Pi's story. 

Remember also that postmodernist literature questions everything, including what constitutes truth and reality. Also, keep in mind that the investigators cannot conclusively prove which of Pi's stories is true. The story only presents two facts that can be verified: 

1. The Tsimtsum sank on July 2, 1977.
2. Pi arrives on the coast of Mexico 277 days later, on February 14, 1978. 

This does not mean, however, that Life of Pi discards everything as true. In fact, the novel is quite different from most postmodernist fiction, as it asks readers, "Which story is the better story?" Ask yourself why Life of Pi poses this question.

As you finish reading this novel, keep these questions in mind as you write your reading journal for this week and as you begin to write your interpretative theme paper. 

Lesson 9: Readings and Instructions

Read Life of Pi, Chapters 95-100. 

Lesson 9: Assignment-Reading Journal #2

Today you are to submit a reading journal over the readings we have done this week:

1. Lesson 6: Life of Pi, Chapters 37-55
2. Lesson 7: Life of Pi, Chapters 56-80
3. Lesson 8: Life of Pi, Chapters 81-94
4. Lesson 9: Life of Pi, Chapters 95-100

Your reading journal should include the following:

1. What evidence of the characteristics and literary techniques postmodernism do you see in the readings so far? You must cite the text in your journal.
2. What evidence of the themes from this unit do you see in the readings? Again, you must cite the text in your journal.
3. Any questions you might have about the readings.

Your reading journal should be a minimum of one page but no more than two pages, double-spaced, in MLA format. Each reading journal is worth 20 points. You must type it up as Microsoft Word document and e-mail it to me at my e-mail address:  mmatheny60@gmail.com.