The Life of Pi by Yann Martel strikes me as an excellent example of storytelling. Besides being a story within a story, food for thought by itself, this novel explores many questions that I find very interesting and important to understanding the human condition. The passage concerning the validity of Pi’s story with the floating bananas seems to exemplify the deeply questioning nature of this novel that I enjoy so much:
“Bananas don’t float.”
“I’m sorry?”
“You said the orang-utan came floating on an island of bananas.”
“That’s right.”
“Bananas don’t float.”
“Yes, they do.”
“They’re too heavy.”
“No, they’re not. Here, try for yourself. I have two bananas right here.”
…
Mr. Okamoto: “Damn it. No, that’s all right.”
“There’s a sink over there.”
“That’s fine.”
“I insist. Fill that sink with water, drop these bananas in, and we’ll see who’s right.”
“We’d like to move on.”
“I absolutely insist.”
…
“So, are they floating?”
“They’re floating.”
“What did I tell you?”
By examining the potential impossibilities of Pi’s story, Martel not only makes the reader think more carefully about the story and whether it could actually happen, but also invokes deeper questions about human nature. He calls for the reader to examine his or her assumptions and explore the world with a different attitude. I, for one, tried the test for myself and confirmed that bananas do in fact float (I think Martel would approve of this exploration rather than relying on his fictional story). While this example is rather overt in its critique of human ignorance, it symbolizes the egotistical attitude many people take against new ideas that disprove what they believe, such as the idea of natural selection, that global warming is a problem, or that free-market capitalism is the preferable economic system. This manifestation of the fear of the unknown is one of the many philosophical themes discussed throughout the book, and it this consistently questioning and exploring nature of the novel that makes it and example of excellent storytelling.
At the ballpark a couple weeks ago, they were playing the "float or sink" game--contestants had to predict in advance whether the item they were given would float or sink when thrown into the swimming pool. I was there the night it was bananas, so I did in fact know that bananas float. What I wonder is why Pi's interrogators were so dead certain that they wouldn't. Just their general arrogance, I guess. Plus I like what you said about certain bottom line elements of human nature. Great example. Thanks.
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