A Spatial Interpretation Of Life Of Pi By Yann Martel

Life of Pi is a survival story of an Indian boy written by Canadian writer Yann Martel(1963-).His writing features an international vision due to his traveling and complex education experiences,revealing the liaisons of individual and the external environment.The story is recounted by juxtaposing diverse elements in heterogeneous spaces and by shifting different spaces.This thesis focuses on the spatiality of the story and applies Michel Foucault?s concept of heterotopia and power relations in heterotopias as a theoretical foundation to approach the kaleidoscopic spaces Yann Martel depicts in the novel.In addition to the Introduction and the Conclusion,this thesis comprises three chapters.The Introduction briefs the author and the story,as well as its international influence,followed by the theoretical basis this thesis applies,Michel Foucault?s heterotopia and its six principles.This part also includes the literature review on the studies of the novel at home and abroad.The three chapters concern several separate yet related heterotopic spaces,which are connected with a liaison,Foucault?s elaboration of heterotopia and power relations.Chapter One examines the cultural hybridity of India and Canada where the novel Life of Pi is set,analyzing the former?s caste system and diverse religions to illustrate Pi Patel?s acquisition of his unique beliefs,practicing three religions simultaneously and the latter?s multicultural policy and its role as the former?s compensational heterotopia to explain the motivation of the Patels? immigration.Chapter Two digs into the heterotopic sanctuary of wild animals,the Pondicherry zoo and the harmonious coexistence of human beings and animals in India.This chapter problematizes whether a zoo is a space of discipline or emancipation,revealing its unscrupulous essence of otherizing wild animals and a mercenary anthropocentric prison for animals and how human beings and animals share the crowded space in India.Chapter Three concentrates on the discipline in three heterotopias,zoo,school and boat,where normalization and order are obtained through the working of power,which Michel Foucault exemplifies as typical heterotopias.In Pondicherry zoo,Pi?s father instructs his two sons to respect any life forms through the discipline of Pi and Ravi.In school,Pi gets rid of his humiliating nickname by disciplining his classmates to accept his new nickname.On the lifeboat,Pi ensures his coexistence with Richard Parker by disciplining and feeding the tiger.In the Conclusion,the thesis argues that the heterotopias Yann Martel depicts are juxtaposition of not only conflicts and confrontations but also tolerance and co-existence.The author shows obvious preference for the second one.In some extreme cases,confrontation means heavy casualties while coexistence means survival.Pi intends to achieve a balance in these heterotopias by overcoming adversity with both knowledge and faith.What the author tries to convey in the book is the significance of coexistence and tolerance between cultures and between human beings and animals.