Life Of Pi Dualism

Discoveries within an individual’s life involve a notion of duality, presenting challenging obstacles, however acting as a catalyst to the maturing of one’s perspective. Both, Ang Lee’s film The Life of Pi and poet, Robert Frost’s Road Not Taken, explore this concept as Lee portrays the astray protagonist, Pi Patel, as he experiences a development in his personal identity as well as a spiritual internal conflict, whereas, Frost conveys the indecisiveness of human nature and creates a notion of choices having consequences. In nuanced way, the two texts underpin that undergoing the challenges are necessary to enlighten an individual’s mindset.

Firstly, Lee suggests a physical challenge the astray protagonist faces as he is cast into the barren

Pi’s syncretic perspective is foregrounded early on, as he states, “Faith is a house with many rooms”. Shortly after, Lee foreshadows Pi’s hind sighted challenging conflict with his spiritualism, as Pi expresses, “You cannot know the strength of your faith until it has been tested”. Pi’s faith being challenged is introduced after the first storm, Lee uses a wide shot portraying Pi and Richard Parker floating in the darkness, coupled with close-ups of Pi’s distressed face, conveying his despair and isolation. This establishes a feeling of Pi’s nihilistic doubt regarding an overlooking deity. However, his doubt is contrasted with a similar scene, but with the presence of a golden sunrise, creating a vast reflective ocean. The optimistic connotations of the environment symbolise a celestial figure re-connecting with Pi, offering a new spiritual perspective. Ultimately, an overhead shot, depicting Pi’s insignificance in his domain, reveals that Pi’s new perspective as he has embraced being part of a larger picture, trusting in an unknown again. Pi’s conflict regarding his religiosity is depicted as an arduous discovery, however it develops a new

The tonal shift, representing the speaker’s confidence, used within stanza 3 and 4 suggests the persona’s realisation the second path is not likely to be explored, “I shall be telling this with a sigh”, exemplifies the tonal change, reinforcing the challenge of regret inhibiting progression. The speaker’s ambiguous nature regarding the contentment of their choice is portrayed by the multiple contradictory phrases and tones. In stanza 3, the line, “I doubted if I should ever come back”, depicts the self-realisation that his choice has resulted in an opportunity cost. The pessimistic expressions represent the consciousness of the persona and the internal challenges they are facing. Although Frost reveals the certainty of doubt and regret, he conveys it is necessary to internally evolve an individual’s perspective. This is re-iterated at the end of the poem, the individualist nature of the persona is expressed as he takes the road, “less travelled”, metaphorically representing him denying societal values and suggesting a change in perspective. While Frost may connote regret as a challenge throughout the poem, readers understand it acts as a guide to making the right choices for developing