Morally ambiguous characters—characters whose behavior
discourages readers from seeing them as purely good or purely evil—are the
heart of many works of literature. Choose a character from Life of Pi to identify as morally ambiguous, and write an essay in
which you explain how the character can be viewed as such and why his moral
ambiguity is significant to the work as a whole. Avoid mere plot summary.
Yann
Martel’s novel Life of Pi is steeped
in spirituality and symbolism. With expertly researched detail and smooth
transitions, the author crafts characters whose beliefs and actions can easily
be categorized as either moral or immoral. The stark contrast between good and
evil displayed by characters like Pi Patel, the hyena, the orangutan, and the
zebra is juxtaposed with a less noticeable, but equally effective, theme: moral
ambiguity. The author who records the menagerie of events that comprise Pi
Patel’s life can be identified as a character uncategorized by standards of
both virtue and vice. The evident spiritual yearning and unknown identity of the
author contribute to his moral ambiguity and, on a larger scale, the spiritual
significance of Life of Pi.
Before Pi recounts his tale
of both mental and physical survival, the unnamed narrator introduces himself
with a few obscure facts. The reader soon finds that the author has achieved
only paltry acclaim for his previous works and that he travels to India in search
of inspiration. His (or her, for that matter) acknowledgement of members of the
Japanese Embassy in Ottawa and the Canadian Council for the Arts could possibly
suggest that he is Japanese-Canadian. Additionally, the fictional author notes
that he can translate Japanese. The unknown nationality, family background, and
religious beliefs of the author contribute to his moral ambiguity. The reader
does not know how to idealize the figure responsible for telling Pi’s story because
he exposes his own life in dim light. As a result of his murky
self-characterization, the author’s morality is not easily determined. The
spiritual impact of his piecemeal personal description lies in the unknown,
which not only appears in the “Author’s Note” but throughout the novel as a
prevalent reminder of all that has not and may not ever be discovered.
Not
only does the narrator minimalize concrete facts about himself, he also makes
evident his lack of self-identity and purpose. The first sentence in Life of Pi is “This book was born as I
was hungry.” The author’s lackluster literary success and his journey to India
further depict the confusion he experiences as he yearns for a good story. He
explains that when he introduced himself as a writer, people would tell him
unsatisfactory stories in hopes of lending inspiration and perhaps gaining
publicity. The author’s world is devoid of inspiration until Pi and his tale
that promises to restore faith in God enters it. Since the author often seems
to be chasing inspiration and living without amazement, his positive and negative
qualities cannot be fully deciphered. His moral ambiguity and spiritual search
contribute to the significance of Life of
Pi by letting the reader know that human character is often blurred when it
is not defined by some type of spirituality.
The
gray area between good and evil leaves ample room for interpretation, and
interpretation is a major component of all literature. The morally ambiguous
qualities of the author in Life of Pi,
which are expressed in both his lack of background information and his looming
skepticism towards spirituality, allow the reader to examine the role of
uncertainty. The two main appearances of the author at the beginning and end of
Life of Pi are thought-provoking
expositions of a character that embodies the moral middle ground that all
humans encounter as they strive to find purpose.