“A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man (Campbell, 23).”
The central character in Yann Martel’s, Life of Pi, is not a hero in the traditional sense although he goes through the process or a monomyth quest as defined by Joseph Campbell. Given the anthropomorphism evident throughout Pi’s first story and the realistic, toned down version of the same events in the second story, there remains a certain ambiguity over Pi’s characterization as a hero. He goes through an ordeal, survives it and comes out of it a changed man and yet it could be argued that Pi’s journey is more about surviving against odds and coming out alive than a hero’s quest. In essence Pi is not a hero. He is a normal person who survives a shipwreck and is changed by his experience at sea.
There are many similarities between Pi’s journey and that of an epic hero. However the similarities do not make Pi a hero.The novel Life of Pi consists of three sections just as the monomyth or a hero’s journey involves three distinct phases (Allan, 2013). The first part discusses Pi’s life, his beliefs, ideologies and the separation from the world he inhabits. The second part is the actual journey and the third is the ambiguous conclusion where the reader is left to question the two versions of Pi’s story. Pi’s journey is not voluntary. He is shipwrecked and has to rely on his survival skills to make it out alive. His actions during the journey is not in search of a spiritual quest and neither it is a sacrificial act for the benefit of other people. Pi focuses on getting out of the ocean alive and all his efforts are centered around it. He shows valor in protecting his life and not of the others. He even resorts to killing his foe when his life and safety is threatened. Pi’s journey mirrors that of a Hero’s journey and he faces the same tests of physical prowess and morality. He knows it is immoral to take the life of another person or a living being but goes ahead nevertheless. Morals and ethics take a backseat when it comes to protecting oneself. Pi is not a bad person. He does not kill for no reason. Killing is the last option that he takes up. His very human nature that breaks his moral and ethical leanings, his spiritual beliefs and his boundaries is what prevents him from becoming a hero. Pi, because the novel centers around him could be at best described as the central character or the protagonist but not the hero.
Unlike a hero, Pi’s morality is dubious. He faces tests throughout the journey and although he overcomes the trials, it does not make him a great person. He struggles with his actions in the life raft and to come to terms with it he resorts to anthropomorphism. Far from taking responsibility for his actions he resorts to imagining himself and the others as animals. Looking at the journey this way absolves him of his moral guilt as animals do anything to survive. The tests in a hero’s journey takes several forms. “ Sometimes conflict emphasizes physical prowess. bravery and skill in battle. Other trials address the hero’s moral fiber, virtue or strength of religious commitment;still others his wit, judgment and political savvy.” Pi overcomes the physical obstacles such as surviving at sea and overcoming the person who threatens his life. These are traits of a hero, but his strength comes out only when he is in fear of his live. He does not save the life of the two other people in the life raft. He does not consider sacrificing himself but rather accepts the killing of the other two people as normal behavior in the animal kingdom. His actions in the raft are more close to that of an animal trying to protect itself than that of a hero who would put the safety of others before his own. Life in the raft is about the survival of the fittest and not the survival of a hero on a quest. In the first section of the book, Pi is described as someone who chooses his own path and understanding of religion. He is a person who follows different religions trying to take the best out of each. He says, “A germ of religious exaltation, no bigger than a mustard seed, was sown in me and left to germinate. It has never stopped growing since that day ( Martel, 1.16). ” For someone who talks at length about spirituality and who needs it to get inside the spiritual life of the others, he fails when it comes to actions. He does not transcend the noraml world like a hero would. Rather he succumbs to his fear and kills his enemy. He comes out of his trials as the fittest of them all but not necessarily the better.
Pi’s survival brings a change in him but does not act as a boon to the others. His survival comes at the cost of the others in the story the weakest die first so the fittest can battle for life. The journey and the trials make him philosophical, force him to question his morality and perhaps make him strong and politically savvy. He changes as a person but his actions does not help anyone else. Everyone on the raft must die so Pi could make it alive. Even though he is against killing, he eventually ends up killing animals and men to live. When Pi catches a Dorado fish, he beats it and kills it with a hatchet. He says, "I felt like I was beating a rainbow to death" (Martel, 2.60). When it comes to survival, Pi seems to abandon his morals as well as his ideals. A hero would stand by his ideals and beliefs in the face of adversity. A normal person would adapt to ensure his longevity. Pi here is a normal person who adapts to survive. His journey is more like an adventure in the ocean, a manual to survive a shipwreck and not an example that others could follow to make themselves better. His journey and life on the other hand is a testament to the fact that the fittest survive the race. Pi’s journey has all the elements of the monomyth or a hero’s journey. However that does not make him a hero. He survives through all the odds and comes out alive- a changed man- but not a better human being. he knows he has killed and to come to terms with his moral beliefs he tells his story through the animals. By imagining the whole journey in the form of an animal world Pi comes to terms with his actions. His actions do not elevate him from the rest. He is stronger physically but not morally. He does not sacrifice himself for the others and is concerned about his safety and that makes him very human and not a hero. Pi thus is a reflection of the animal tendencies present in men in spite of their protestations to the contrary. A hero sets himself apart to often serve as an example. Pi remains the microcosm of the common men.
Works Cited
Campbell, Joseph. The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Princeton: Princeton University Press. 1949.
Allan, Davin. “Life of Pi and the Heroic Monomyth.” literatured.com. 24 April 2013. Web. 28 Mar 2016.
Martel, Yann. Life of Pi. New York: Canongate Books. 2002.
Renard, John. Islam and the Heroic Image.: Themes in Literature and the Visual Arts. Macon: Mercer University Press. 1979.
