Dualities in the Mind of Pi Molitor Patel A Philosophical Approach to Truth in "Life of Pi"

Abstract: The aim of the essay is to analyze what happens to the protagonist Pi in Martel Yann‟s novel Life of Pi. The essay will focus on how he devolves as a sophisticated human being, how the extreme situation he is in triggers a duality in his mind and why he in the end has two versions of his story. It will point out that in extreme situation of great peril and desperation hope is necessary for the ability to continue the struggle to survive. The essay will also discuss the perception of truth based on choice and belief since this is what creates the two different versions of the story. It will bring up empiricism as a method for knowledge and point out some issues with it. Ultimately the essay concludes that choice is the deciding factor of what a person will view as truth and that perhaps there can never be any objective record of an external reality to the subjective minds of human beings. The protagonist in the novel has made a choice to believe in something that perhaps others will not accept as truth, but in the end that does not matter to him because he needs to believe in it.