Hassan 1
Muhammad Talha Hassan
Anthony Parise
English 4U1
November 29, 2015.
Was Film More or Less Effective Than Novel in Life of Pi?
Life of Pi is an amazing movie and novel. They are both about a young boy named Piscine Molitor know as pi for short. It is him telling us about his story however the novel and the film both present it differently for example in the movie one of the characters by the name of Anandi is added to represent Pi's love, whereas in the novel the character is non-existent. There are so many other changes in the movie based on the novel that the director has made, although both versions cover the struggle of Pi’s life.
The Opening of the novel and the movie are very different. In the book version, Life of Pi opens with the author's note. He writes, “This book was born as I was hungry. Let me explain. In the spring of 1996, my second book, a novel, came out in Canada” (Martel, author’s note), although in the movie version, it opens with a zoo where the main character (Pi) grew up. Then it leads to the adulthood of Pi in Canada where he is telling the story or his story to the author, he tells the writer, “This is a story that will make you believe in God.”
Pi’s Education describe differently in both version such as in the Book version, Pi starts with the line “My suffering left me sad and gloomy” (Martel 1). Then he talks about his Bachelor studies in Toronto and says, “I attended the University of Toronto and took a double-major Bachelor's degree. My majors were religious studies and zoology” (Martel 1). In the Movie Version Pi is in school trying to avoid his classmate calling him“Pissing” since his name is Piscine Molitor.
Pi’s relationship with Richard Parker (a Bengal tiger) varies between book and the movie. In the movie, Pi never manages to tame Richard Parker; he tries to train him using the sound of his whistle and screams (partly because he's afraid). In one scene of the movie, Pi tries to kill Richard Parker but he could not do it (because he was becoming attached to him). “Richard Parker is extremely aggressive”. In the book, Pi manages to dominate Richard Parker through several training exercises. The tiger makes the sound prusten (which is a sound that expresses harmless intention).
In the book and the movie, Pi admits that without Richard Parker, he would not have survived. Richard Parker keeps Pi busy. Pi says, “I had to tame him. It was at that moment that I realized this necessity. It was not a question of him or me, but of him and me"(Martel 57)
In Conclusion, the novel and the movie are very similar and very different as well. However, there are some changes that the director has made to make the story a little bit more interesting for the viewers but although both are describing Pi’s Journey. I believe the film is not very effective as the novel because the film is not very outgoing in its detail as the novel is. Also, if we compare the movie with the novel then we will see a clear difference, some I mentioned before and those are the reasons I think the novel is more effective than the film.