ENG-3U1
31 December 2013
Life at Sea versus life as a Castaway
If you were in a situation where the chances of survival for you, or others around you were threatened, would you contain your sanity, or would you start to lose your sense of reason? Would you doubt yourself, or would you stay true to what you believe in? The protagonist of the novel, Life of Pi, shares similar traits with the protagonist of the movie Castaway. Both characters are thrown into a situation where they are separated from society and thrown into isolation. Pi Patel, the protagonist of Life of Pi, is left stranded on a lifeboat for 227 days after his ship sinks. Chuck Noland, the protagonist of Castaway is stuck stranded on an island after his plane crashes into the sea. Both protagonists encompass a strong will to survive that is driven by hope.
English: Canadian Booker prize-winning author Yann...
English: Yann Martel Canadian author, writer of Ma...
Beatrice and VirgilAlthough both protagonists share similar traits, they also have a few differences. In Yann Martel's novel, Life of Pi and, Robert Zemeckis' movie Cast Away, both protagonists make evident the use of anthropomorphism and experience the loss of loved ones. However they contrast in the area where one represents a state of sanity and the other represents a state of insanity.
First, the theme of anthropomorphism is evident in both, the Life of Pi and Cast Away. Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human characteristics or behaviour to a god, animal, or object. In the novel, Life of Pi, The author attributes human characteristics to a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker, a hyena, a zebra and an orangutan. In Cast Away human characteristics are attributed to a volleyball named Wilson. The use of anthropomorphism in the novel and the movie both help preserve the protagonists' will to survive...