“Life of Pi” vs “The Odyssey” Comparative Essay Essay

Life standed on the ocean is very grueling and risky. Only a fewer be equal to(p) to face the gainsay tasks of such a situation using their marbles and persistence. In the book Life Of Pi and the film The Odyssey, the transits of the main(prenominal) characters are surprisingly par all(prenominal)el, considering the works were written over 20 centuries apart. Both of their journeys transmit stages similar to the archetypal hero journey, including the Separation/Departure, Initiation and The Return. Although some(prenominal) Pi and Odysseus face extraordinary challenges, Pis character is more than(prenominal) intrigue because through his first person narrative, the reader is drawn to his sensitive nature, his photograph and his unique personality magical spell Odysseus is interesting because of the hero stereotype re represents.In the Separation/Departure stage, both manpower are slow at first to start their journeys, but due to forces beyond their control, they rang e for phenomenal adventures at sea. For instance, when Pis family reveals that they are moving to Canada, Pi is reluctant and does not want to leave. Pi tests his hesitation when he says wherefore enter this jungle of foreignness where everything is new, strange, and difficult? (Martel, 86). He was thunderstruck (Martel, 88) at the thought of moving by similarly saying It was like Timbuktu, by definition a place permanently far away (Martel, 88). Pi has created a acquainted(predicate) world of family, filled with religions, his mentors and peace, but is now point of intersection to an unknown territory far away.Likewise, Odysseus did not want to leave for the fifth column War as he would be leaving his family. He is called to the date just after his son Telemachus was born, and he is hesitant. Odysseus loves his family, even though he is seen as a typical brawny warrior. This shows that he wants to halt tin bed to care for his son and wife but nonetheless carried out his trading because he is a brave soldier at heart. The resemblance among those two here is that they both enjoyed life at house, but had to ship on their journeys due to political turmoil For Pi it was Ghandis coup of India that causedhis family to leave, and for Odysseus it is the declaration of the Trojan War. In the start of their journeys, Pi bollockses the thres see when the Tsimtusm sinks, and this forces him to bring about on a raft to start his adventureat sea. This end be seen when Pi describes the sinking of the boat which made a skilful like a monstrous metallic burp (Martel, 107). Pi also expresses his terror when he says, control me its a bad dream. Tell me its not real. Tell me Im still in my bunk on the Tsimtusm and Im tossing and turning and soon Ill wake up from this nightmare (Martel, 107). This shows the crossing of the threshold for Pi as he is the only human survivor who enters this foreign place. This crossing from his familiar life to a more than more dangerous one creates a struggle for him to travel by to his ordinary world. Similarly, for Odysseus, he crosses the threshold a few times and it starts after the Trojan War when he angers Posei simulate. This is seen when he boasts that he defeated the Trojans by himself, thus angering Poseidon who makes him suffer. His arrogance creates a more more difficult journey bag because Poseidon repeatedly sends him off course preventing his return office for many years.Both character cross the threshold in different ways, It is forced upon Pi whereas Odysseus brought it on himself. This is considerably accurate since Pi is innocent and did postcode to incur his fate and the struggle that he had to endure. only Odysseuss crossing of the threshold is because of his ego which he has to pay the legal injury for boasting about himself winning the war. In short, both characters were reluctant to cross the threshold, but in Pis case his situation seems more devastating as he is still you ng and has to bear with the tot up exhalation of his family. Throughout their initiations, Pi and Odysseus essential face many challenging trials on their road to survival and eventual recompense. Pis main trials are the danger of the tiger and the overall risk of surviving from hunger, craving and nature. With Richard Parker, Pi has to constantly find a way to train him, as he some(a)times describes Let the trumpets blare. Let the drums roll. Let the show begin (Martel, 182). This shows the importance of training to him. He will call himself THE PI PATEL, INDO-CANADIAN, TRANS-PACIFIC, FLOATINGCIRCUUUUUSSSSSSSSSSSS (Martel, 183).Also in order to avoid starvation he must eat meat, as he recounts it for the first time by saying It was a great discovery when I found that a fresh-tasting fluid could be sucked out not only from the eyes of larger fish but also from their vertebrae (Martel, 235). He describes turtles as a arena of hot soup became my favourite dish (Martel 235). Th ese quotes show Pis effort to train thetiger and using his wits to outsmart him on with the discovery of using aquatic creatures for meat / food sources. Back to Odysseus, later organism cursed by Poseidon his journey second home consists of nothing but horrific trials such as the Cyclops and Lotus eaters. For deterrent example after Odysseus sets sail Poseidon creates a fog causing them to meet a troublesome foe, by trapping them in the Cyclopss cave. tho Odysseus describes the Cyclop drunk and stabs him in the eye, allowing them to escape. This portrays his cunning bravery which saves most of his men and himself. nonpareil similarity for both characters road of trials is that they are all bigger than life. None of their challenges are ordinary or even realistic. but Pis challenges are constant throughout the novel and there is no real relief or change of pace for him.On the other hand Odysseuss bizarre challenges are constantly ever-changing and creates an episodic storyl ine. Also he stands with many of his crew and watches them die during some of those trials while Pi faces his challenges alone. Many months later, after Pi survive on the sea for 227 days he is rewarded a chance for recovery at an algae island before the utmost lap of his journey. When he sees the heavenly island at first, he expresses that when he take in commons, after so much blue, was like music to my eyes (Martel, 285). Also when he eats the green vegetation he comments saliva forcefully oozed through I toroid at the algae around me (Martel, 288). After surviving on the sea for so long, he is finally given fresh food and water, allowing him to stay alive until he reaches mainland. Odysseus also receives a break when he drifts along to calypsos island, after all the terrors he endures. There he is taken care of by a beautiful woman named Calypso and she gives Odysseus the rest and treatment he needs.This shows that by overcoming allthe challenges thrown at him, he is rewarded a chance to take a break, even though Calypso intended to keep him there forever. The similarity here amongst the two is that both rewards offer some kind of recovery, allowing them to take a breather before arriving at their destination. Yet Pis reward is frequently smaller / less satisfying compared to Odysseus because Odysseus still knows his family is back home while Pi still has to bear the loss of everything. All in all, while Pi had a sustained and prolonged struggle with the tiger and starvation, Odysseuss road of trials is morevaried and exciting to watch. Both heros did, however, get a rest near the end. When a hero is close to being home, though grateful for being alive, their return usually contains one final task that he/she needs to complete. Pi crosses the return threshold when he is found on the shore of Mexico and while being helped by the local anesthetic people, he tinges with the sadness of the loss of his tiger. He states that he is rescued when a member of m y own species found me (Martel, 316).Expressing his release from hell, he also says I wept like a child (Martel, 316). So although relieved to be cared for, he is still grieving the loss of his family and Richard Parker. For Odysseus crossing of the threshold it occurs when he arrives home by boat, happily, with Athena changing his appearance to help him. He is seen expert when reunited with his old friend (the goatkeeper) and his son Telemachus. However he finds out he has one more obstacle to face in order to action happiness. Though he is cheerful to be home, his happiness is a here and now diminished when wondering if his wife had kept their promise. He becomes quite idle angry and fired up with what he sees back in the village, surely not the peaceful reunion he had hoped for with his wife. There is not much similarity between their crossing of the return threshold except that they both return on land, but Pi is very ill and dim while Odysseus seem not. Nonetheless Odysse us still has his family, while Pis is certainly dead. Also Odysseus has other challenge to face at home while Pi has no physical challenge but must now rebuild his completed life from scratch. After being saved, Pis last small obstacle is in the hospital when interrogated by investigators from the sunken ship.As Pidescribes his story, they challenges his tale by saying Mr. Patel, we dont believe in your story (Martel, 324). They also says It doesnt hold up (Martel, 324). Finally Pi says, I know what you want. You want a story that wont surprise you (Martel, 336). Because his adventure is so bizarre, these men did not really accept it. But since he had very burnished imagination, he makes up a completely new version of the journey to say to them and makes everyone satisfied. Back to Odysseus, when he arrives back at his homeland Ithika, he finds one more task which he directly confronts in disguise. When he reaches back to his village, there is many men causing chaos struggle to win over his wife.There is a contest to determine the emerging husband and hejoins to end the madness. Odysseus has to engage in yet another battle, first by completing the contest by stringing his bow and shoots an pointer with it into the twelve lined up rings perfectly. Then he transforms back into his normal self and kills all the suitors, ending the drama. Compareing both of their magic flight, it is a much tougher task for Odysseus as it is Physically more demanding. Pis last challenge is minor and it causes us to wonder the validity of his entire journey. However he is still quite physically and mentally drained. Therefore, while Odysseus showed his physical ability once again Pi is obviously agony in a more profound way filled with rue and future uncertainty.These two characters both showed strong characteristics to complete their journeys, and while they overlap similar stages there is more sympathy towards Pi due to his loss of innocence. By examining the Separation, Initiation, and Departures, they all include important stages for the hero to move on. The general process seems to be that the hero leaves his home to a new unfamiliar place, gains experience / skill, and returns home with boon or new knowledge. With these said, though Pi and Odysseus adventures shared similar plots, it is important to note that Pi is a star person surviving on the raft, with no other companions other than the imperial Bengal tiger. On the other hand Odysseus has his crew throughout some of hisjourney. It can be argued that Pi had a tougher time at the sea, but to be fair Pi is only 16, whereas Odysseus is an adult stranded out preposterous for many years. His exploits were exciting and entertaining but his personality had no depth. Pi is much more vulnerable and he elicits our pity. Because he is so clever, poetic and even humorous at time, he is more appealing to us throughout the extraordinary challenges.