Showing posts with label Life of Pi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Life of Pi. Show all posts

Sunday, December 2, 2012

The Color Orange

As Simon Van Booy, a British author once said so precisely, "Coincidences mean you're on the right path." Across the book, "The Life of Pi" by Yann  Martel, Pi comes along many items and, many animals. Afterall, his father is the owner of a zoo. However many of these are the color orange such as a tiger, a whistle and a buoy.  Is it just a coincidence that these things are orange or is it more? Maybe, it's a symbol.

The tiger, whistles and buoys are all orange and all have a potential to save Pi from the shipwreck (which they do because he does survive.) The tiger poses a threat to Pi, weighing several hundred pounds more than Pi, it probobly kill him with one strike. However, not only does the tiger pose a threat but also does the hyena and the orangutan. Potentially, the tiger could decrease the threat by killing the other two animals. Maybe this is how Pi survives. Maybe it is the tiger who helps Pi survive. On the life boat Pi also finds a few orange whistles attached to the many life jackets he finds. Along with the whistles he finds and a couple orange buoys. If a ship managed to come close to the life boat, Pi could signal to a boat. If the sea ever got to rough, maybe Pi used them for stability.

The color orange in the book symbolizes hope as seen by the tiger, whistles and buoys. But it also symbolizes something else. After Pi is rescued, which I don't know how yet, he moves to Canada where he starts a family. He also adopts an orange cat. Maybe the cat symbolizes survival and the hardships Pi had to face.