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Tracing Narrative Threads in Life of Pi

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Submitted By danvanb7
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Daniel Van Boerdonk

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Life of Pi Chapter 1
The first chapter of Life of Pi is a very brief chapter that gets the reader thinking about Pi, from a spiritual and academic point of view. The overall mood of the chapter seems to be a grim type feeling with Pi reflecting about life before his hospital visit amongst other things. Pi mentions
Richard Parker who at this point is an unknown person, and seems to be sad about the absence of him in his life. He states “Richard Parker has stayed with me. I've never forgotten him. Dare I say I miss him? I do. I miss him. I still see him in my dreams. They are nightmares mostly, but nightmares tinged with love.” (Martel 6) This quote contributes to the idea of a grim reflective chapter. !
The conflict in chapter one tends to revolve around Pi getting over his difficult past. He constantly mentions life before the hospital and seems to be having a very difficult time overcoming it. He obviously is having an unbearable time trying to comprehend why Richard
Parker is not a part of his life anymore; proof of this is when he says “I still cannot understand how he could abandon me so unceremoniously, without any sort of goodbye, without looking back even once. That pain is like an axe that chops at my heart.”(Martel 6) The conflict in this chapter seems to entirely revolve around Pi reflecting on his miseries proving that he can’t get over his past.

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The author seems to emphasize points regarding the setting throughout the first chapter. He mentions multiple countries including Brazil Canada and India and he uniquely describes each of

them. He is very descriptive when he talks about each setting, planting an image in the reader’s head. One particular paragraph from the story perfectly represents this point with his use of descriptive, words and imagery. “I love Canada. I miss the heat of India, the food, the house lizards on the walls, the musicals on the silverscreen, the cows wandering the streets, the crows cawing, even the talk of cricket matches, but I love Canada.” (Martel 5)

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Overall, chapter one seemed to be a very broad chapter, that draws the reader in and leaves them edited to continue reading. It touches on many areas but never seems to go in depth on any points leaving much to be desired in the upcoming chapters.

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