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Definition of Foreshadowing
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the story. Foreshadowing can be achieved directly or indirectly, by making... read full definition
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the story. Foreshadowing can be achieved... read full definition
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the... read full definition
Chapter 5
Explanation and Analysis—Pi's Name:
Much of Pi’s childhood in Part 1 foreshadows his eventual journey in Part 2. One of the ways the book employs foreshadowing is through the multiple meanings of Pi’s name, which he carefully lays out. Pi, or Piscine Molitor Patel, was named after a French swimming pool, establishing Pi’s connection with water early in the novel.
Furthermore, his name being of French origin also sets up the complicated relationship with Frenchness that follows Pi throughout the story. Several people whom Pi is close to, like Mamaji and Auntieji, have connections to France. However, he often characterizes the French as having poor personal hygiene or being especially savage, as with the French cook. The French origin of his name may then be a reference to how he has been impacted by French colonialism (Pondicherry, India, where he is from, was colonized by the French). In this context, Pi's French name could hint at his own potential for violence, which comes to fruition on the lifeboat.
However, Pi also views his name as subject to change, either by his own volition or the influence of those around him, as shown in Chapter 5:
It is true that those we meet can change us, sometimes so profoundly that we are not the same afterwards, even unto our names. Witness Simon who is called Peter, Matthew also known as Levi, Nathaniel who is also Bartholomew, Judas, not Iscariot, who took the name Thaddeus, Simeon who went by Niger, Saul who became Paul.
This attitude showcases Pi’s willingness to change and evolve but also foreshadows that, like the disciples he mentioned, he will also experience a spiritual journey that changes his very being.
Furthermore, Pi’s eventual nickname of “Pi” is a result of other students bullying him by calling him “Pissing,” an experience which he compares to the suffering of various religious figures. To stop the bullying, he becomes “reborn” as Pi Patel, a name he conditions his classmates and teachers to call him through repetition and association with the Greek letter and mathematical constant pi (π). Pi a number with an infinite number of decimal places, which parallels the fact that Pi as a person is endlessly complex and does not offer a singular, concrete ending to his story. By emphasizing the importance of Pi’s name and its many meanings, Martel forewarns readers not to take Pi or any part of this story at face value.
Related Themes:
Chapter 8
Explanation and Analysis—Hyena's Nature:
When reflecting on his childhood, Pi often describes what he learned about animals in the zoo, from their ruthlessness to how they were tamed. These descriptions foreshadow him eventually being stuck on a lifeboat with multiple animals (and eventually just Richard Parker. the tiger) One animal that he pays close attention to in Part 1, which also eventually shows up on the lifeboat, is the hyena. In Chapter 8, Pi's father points to the danger of the hyenas:
"The strongest jaws in nature… They’ll start eating you while you’re still alive."
While this first mention of hyenas is among a list of other dangerous creatures, this gruesome depiction sets up the later Pi's horror when he witnesses a hyena brutally attack and eat a zebra and an orangutan. Pi recalls this ravenous nature in Chapter 43, when he describes the hyena on the lifeboat:
Nothing goes to waste; even grass upon which blood has been spilt will be eaten. Hyenas’ stomachs swell visibly as they swallow huge chunks of kill. If they are lucky, they become so full they have difficulty moving. Once they’ve digested their kill, they cough up dense hairballs, which they pick clean of edibles before rolling in them. Accidental cannibalism is a common occurrence during the excitement of a feeding; in reaching for a bite of zebra, a hyena will take in the ear or nostril of a clan member, no hard feelings intended. The hyena feels no disgust at this mistake. Its delights are too many to admit to disgust at anything.
This somewhat gruesome portrayal of the hyena sets the stage for the hyena’s eventual antagonism on the lifeboat. From this description, the reader gathers that hyenas are the antithesis of gentle humanity: they are ruthlessly resourceful and will betray their own "clan member[s]" for any additional morsel of food. This resourcefulness takes on a new light when the hyena’s human counterpart of the French cook is discussed at a different point in the book. Just as the hyena is portrayed as brutal yet not necessarily cruel, the French cook is portrayed not as a sadist but as a selfish survivalist who is willing to sacrifice his dignity and moral. The acknowledgment of cannibalism among hyenas in the same line as discussing hyenas eating a zebra also foreshadows how the hyena’s later attack and consumption of the zebra corresponds to the French cook eating the Chinese sailor.
Related Themes:
Chapter 43
Explanation and Analysis—Hyena's Nature:
When reflecting on his childhood, Pi often describes what he learned about animals in the zoo, from their ruthlessness to how they were tamed. These descriptions foreshadow him eventually being stuck on a lifeboat with multiple animals (and eventually just Richard Parker. the tiger) One animal that he pays close attention to in Part 1, which also eventually shows up on the lifeboat, is the hyena. In Chapter 8, Pi's father points to the danger of the hyenas:
"The strongest jaws in nature… They’ll start eating you while you’re still alive."
While this first mention of hyenas is among a list of other dangerous creatures, this gruesome depiction sets up the later Pi's horror when he witnesses a hyena brutally attack and eat a zebra and an orangutan. Pi recalls this ravenous nature in Chapter 43, when he describes the hyena on the lifeboat:
Nothing goes to waste; even grass upon which blood has been spilt will be eaten. Hyenas’ stomachs swell visibly as they swallow huge chunks of kill. If they are lucky, they become so full they have difficulty moving. Once they’ve digested their kill, they cough up dense hairballs, which they pick clean of edibles before rolling in them. Accidental cannibalism is a common occurrence during the excitement of a feeding; in reaching for a bite of zebra, a hyena will take in the ear or nostril of a clan member, no hard feelings intended. The hyena feels no disgust at this mistake. Its delights are too many to admit to disgust at anything.
This somewhat gruesome portrayal of the hyena sets the stage for the hyena’s eventual antagonism on the lifeboat. From this description, the reader gathers that hyenas are the antithesis of gentle humanity: they are ruthlessly resourceful and will betray their own "clan member[s]" for any additional morsel of food. This resourcefulness takes on a new light when the hyena’s human counterpart of the French cook is discussed at a different point in the book. Just as the hyena is portrayed as brutal yet not necessarily cruel, the French cook is portrayed not as a sadist but as a selfish survivalist who is willing to sacrifice his dignity and moral. The acknowledgment of cannibalism among hyenas in the same line as discussing hyenas eating a zebra also foreshadows how the hyena’s later attack and consumption of the zebra corresponds to the French cook eating the Chinese sailor.
Related Themes:
