Sabrina
Warren
April
29, 2012
Circumstance
vs. Personal Attack
In
Yann Martel's, Life of Pi,
and, Mockingjay,
by Suzanne Collins, Katniss Everdeen and Pi Patel experience
traumatic events that affect them psychologically. However, Katniss
is able to harbour hatred from her ordeal and is unable to recover
since it was intentionally done to harm her, whereas Pi ended up on a
lifeboat because it was circumstantial. Both characters lose an
equal amount in their life, but their emotional trauma and the
everlasting effects of their horror, differs substantially based on
circumstance versus personal attack.
On
July 2nd,
1977 the Tsimtsum sank, leaving Pi orphaned on a lifeboat with a
brute cook/blind Frenchman that resembles a hyena; the Taiwanese
sailor as a zebra; Pi’s mother as an orang-utan; and Pi’s
survival instinct manifesting as Richard Parker, an adult Bengal
tiger. Mr. Okamoto believes the ship to have sunk from a major hull
breach, causing the ship to sink quickly and leave behind debris. It
was under circumstance that the Tsimtsum sank and therefore, leaves
to chance the 227 days Pi spent in the open solitude of the lifeboat
and soul-destroying loneliness of the Pacific. When Pi’s situation
changes from safely on his way to Canada to a deadly lifeboat and
treacherous ocean, he is forced to reinvent his perspective on life,
ideology, and beliefs in order to adapt as a result of circumstance.
Storytelling comes down to the idea of truth, which is simply too
traumatic for Pi and he therefore creates the animal story as a way
to mask the atrocities witnessed while at sea and soften the reality
of the darkness that lie await in humans. “The world isn’t just
the way it is. It is how we understand it, no? And in understanding
something, we bring something to it, no? Doesn’t that make life a
story?” (Life of Pi: part 3, page 335). The use of the animal and
the human story presents the idea that while the events of the story
remains the same, it is the consequence behind it that determines
Pi’s perception of it and allows him to manipulate this reality, to
make his journey different. It is circumstance that enables Pi to
manipulate his perspective about his ordeal and recover from his
trauma because he is only a victim of chance. Therefore, he isn’t
able to hate the animals or humans he spent time with, because
circumstance had contrary effects to them compared to Pi. Moreover,
it was an occurrence that they came to be on the lifeboat together
and took part in, or experienced the barbaric deeds of others. At
the end of his ordeal, he can only bear to remember so much, meaning
he is able to list the sensations, but refuses to delve into the
effects of it on his psyche. The distress of the lifeboat breaks Pi
down to his core, but the complete chance of his event enables him to
resurface into an evolved version of his self and drowns out his
ability to feel hatred for his time on the lifeboat and the people
and animals he shared it with. Through circumstance, Pi is able to
omit the barbaric, violent side of him that allowed him to survive in
favour of transferring his horrifying acts to his alter ego, Richard
Parker. Pi is then able to cope with the emotional pain experienced
through the harsh reality of surviving at sea and the gruesome,
hidden traits of humans.
Through a form of punishment for the
Districts of Panem, Katniss has to participate in the annual Hunger
Games, where she competes for her own survival at the cost of the
lives of 22 others. Having survived the Hunger Games, she is then
sent back in as a tribute in the Quarter Quell; however, she escapes
the arena along with some of the other tributes to District 13 where
she learns a rebellion is underway in the Districts. Katniss'
influence over the Districts causes her to become the target on both
fronts of the war between Coin, Snow, and anyone who sees her as a
deadly threat or think they can easily manipulate her. “A fire
mutt knows only a single sensation: agony. No sight, no sound, no
feeling except the unrelenting burning of flesh.” (Mockingjay: part
3, page 348). The intentional human aggression that takes place in
Katniss' life forces her into a state where she has no sight, knows
no sound, and no feeling except the agony of fire that burns bits of
her flesh from her body, which inhibits her recovery. Throughout
Mockingjay, Snow is so focused on tormenting Katniss for the part she
plays in the rebellion, in an attempt to deny the truth of her claims
against the Capitol by personally attacking Katniss with the people
she loves. Roses are a small but potent symbol of the cruelty and
power that President Snow claims over her. They are used to not only
send a message to her, but the sight and smell of them, are
specifically designed to unhinge, and ultimately cause her to
associate terror and illness with them. In truth, the rebellion is
realistically a three-front war of personal attacks where Snow is
openly drowning Katniss to maintain power, while Coin is secretly
pulling her under more and more. Moreover, while Snow and Katniss
are watching each other, Coin is secretly manipulating both of them
to expend their resources to tear down each other and then step in
and take control, replicating the Hunger Games. During the
rebellion, Katniss is used as a pawn to be played in President Snow
and President Coin’s personal games, in which their battle for
power causes her to suffer emotionally from their personal attacks.
In the end, the deaths Katniss witnesses builds upon her horrors,
personally bestowed upon her by Snow and Coin, causing her to
experience emotional numbing and regularly re-experience the horrors
she witnessed through flashbacks and nightmares.
“It’s important in life to conclude
things properly. Only then can you let go. Otherwise, you are left
with words you should have said but never did, and your heart is
heavy with remorse.” (Life of Pi: part 3, page 316).
Pi is able to let go of the horrors he witnessed and begin a life
that incorporates his ordeal, like religion and his orange cat,
knowing that the circumstances that left him on that lifeboat with
those people/animals, is over. Katniss, however, is unable to
release her terror and hatred for the intentional harm because those
personal attacks place her in the crucible where the fire becomes so
intense she begins to question her survival. Personal attack leaves
Katniss unable to recover from her trauma because she knows that the
darkness in humans will never dissipate and that any pleasure she
feels or loved ones she has, can easily be taken away. Through the
use of manipulation, deception, and intimidation, both Snow and Coin
attempt to press on
Katniss, drain her, and seek to wear her out in order to gain
complete control. Pi faces difficult circumstances and is able to
emerge unscathed by using storytelling and manipulating reality to
make it easier to deal with the ruthlessness of man. The story with
the animals provides heart and soul, as well as an emotional appeal
to hope and faith, which provides Pi with a greater peace of mind.
Circumstance allows the psychological recovery of Pi because it
illustrates the simple process of nature taking its course. It is
the overt human aggression that assaults the mental and physical
health of human beings rather than through the circumstance of a
disaster.
The cruelty of reality and the barbaric
killing in, Life of Pi,
and, Mockingjay,
both cause psychological, emotional suffering to Pi and Katniss
alike. Although, the extent of those effects differentiates due to
the softer, more attractive endeavour of circumstance compared to a
play by play of the worst of humanity when the ordeal is of human
design. The grim darkness of the battle for power displays the
cruelness of man more so when it causes the emotional destruction of
a single person through the use of manipulation and personal attacks.
