Ankita Singh ENG3U1-05 Ms. Liebgott May 19th, 2017 Literary Theories and Texts Culminating Life of Pi- What is it about? (summary) Life of Pi is an adventure novel written by Yann Martel(pronunciation?). The book has 3 parts to it. Part 1 is about the early life of the main character, Pi Patel. We learn that Pi loves zoology as well as religion. He identifies himself as Hindu and later on as Christian and Muslim as well. Towards the end of part 1, Pi and his family leave India to move to Canada on a large cargo ship. Part 2 is about how their ship sinks and how Pi is the only survivor. He is put onto a lifeboat with an orangutan, a hyena, a zebra, and a Bengal tiger, named Richard Parker. Pi spends months on the lifeboat and this part …show more content…
He tells them the story of what happened but they don’t believe him so he tells them another version, one which replaces the animals with humans. *SLIDE* Psychoanalytic Criticism- What is it? Psychoanalytic criticism is an extension of the theories of psychology made by Sigmund Freud. Freud's work began in the 1880s when he tried treating behavioral disorders. He treated these disorders by allowing his patients to talk about their problems while he listened to them. Through his work, he claimed that one’s unconscious affects their behaviours. He discovered that desires and internal conflicts stem from three areas: The id: the part of the unconscious mind that is the source of instinctive impulses → For example: fears and meeting basic needs The ego: the part of the mind that deals with decision-making and is organized and realistic → For example: thoughts, perceptions, and dealing with reality The super-ego: the social part of the mind that is based on one’s perception of perfection → For example: memories, stored knowledge, and morals and judgments based on what’s right and …show more content…
Firstly, orangutans can be described as calm and mature animals. The orangutan, Orange Juice, can be an example of the superego because Orange Juice is able to know what’s right and wrong, much like the superego. Orange Juice also can control instincts, the id, and keep it from overpowering the superego. Pi even goes as far as to say that “She came floating on an island of bananas in a halo of light, as lovely as the Virgin Mary” (Martel, 123). There are also examples of ego that can be seen in the text. One example involves Richard Parker. He does what he needs to do to receive the best results in the end. For example, he kills the hyena in the best interest of his hunger and his id. He doesn’t kill Pi and Pi catches on and even mentions that “I had to tame him. It was at that moment that I realized this necessity” (Martel, 181). He didn’t want to kill Pi because he got food for Parker making Pi Richard Parker’s source of food. He takes into account what would be best for him in the end and he realizes killing Pi would not benefit him.