Postcolonial change is exhibited in the third part of “Life of Pi” through cultural differences. In the final section of the book Pi explains his story and experience in the Pacific Ocean to two officials from the maritime Department in the Japanese Ministry of Transport. Mr. Okamoto and Mr. Chiba were assigned to finding out the mystery of how the Tsimtsum sank. When viewing the last third of this book with postcolonial literary criticism, there are cultural differences seen when Pi told his stories.
Colonialism separated different cultures and people. Before frequent immigration and travel, it was uncommon for people to leave their own countries. There are many people that had never seen people of different race or heard different languages. When Pi is taken in by the local village after landing on the beach, a group of women bathed and fed him. When the women scrubbed Pi he said: “I wondered if they realized I was naturally brown-skinned and not a very dirty white boy. I tried to explain. They nodded and smiled and kept on scrubbing me as if I were the deck of a ship” (Martel 317). In this quote it can be seen how the women most likely did not understand Pi. They might not have seen an Indian person before and could not understand English. The women could have pretended to understand to be nice or misinterpreted what Pi said. This shows the language barrier between the women and Pi.
Postcolonial perspective is also applied when Mr. Chiba and Mr. Okamoto heard Pi’s original story. They asked to know “what really happened” (Martel 335). Pi offered to give another story but the officials replied with “In Japanese story would have the element of invention in it. We don’t want any invention” (Martel 335). With this is can be seen there is some miscommunication. Pi believed by telling “a story” he was telling the truth. The perception of the word ‘story’ could have changed the way the officials understood Pi. If the officials believed that Pi was telling a narrative with the element of “invention”, they would not believe that Pi was telling the truth. The way the different cultures defined ‘story’ could change their perception of honesty.
With the officials not believing his original story, Pi eliminates the animals and replaces the characters with people. This could be an example of how Pi adapts to the officials’ perceptions and culture. The officials show little understanding of the zoo animals, a result of the cultural difference. Mr. Chiba and Mr Okamoto did not grow up in a zoo in India. They do not have the same knowledge of animals that Pi had gained from growing up in Pondicherry.
An example of the cultural difference was seen when Pi was telling the Japanese officials about the algae island. They officials did not believe Pi claiming that they will believe what they see. Mr. Chiba tells a story about his uncle with knowledge of botany. He mentions bonsai trees to which Pi answers with “whoever heard of such trees? They’re botanically impossible” (Martel 327). In this quote it’s seen how Pi has never heard of Bonsai trees. The officials maintain the belief that “carnivorous trees” “fish eating algae that produces fresh water” and “tree-dwelling aquatic rodents” (Martel 327) did not exist. Pi unaware of the tree native to Japan and the officials unsure of the algae island exhibits cultural difference. This difference causes the officials having a difficult time understanding the credibility of Pi’s information.
Throughout the final third of the book, Pi experiences a cultural shock. Postcolonial literary theory directed the focus to Pi’s adjustments as soon as he stepped foot off the boat. Pi had lived in India his entire life and is shown to have never heard someone speak Spanish before. Postcolonial literary theory examines how as Pi entered a new country and spoke to people from other cultures he had to adjust how he spoke, ate and acted. I believe this is significant to understand how “Life of Pi” could have a theme of adaptability. With reading this last third through postcolonial literary theory I developed an understanding of the problems of cultural differences.
Works Cited:
Martel, Yann. Life of Pi. Vintage Canada, 2004.
Emilia's Thoughts 