Vanessa Mendoza

Final Essay

ENG 2400/Section O552 Professor Scanlan

December 17, 2020

 

Life of Pi and Empathy

After reading “Life of Pi” by Yann Martel published in 2001 and watching the film by Ang Lee released in 2012, we are able to compare them as they cross boundaries. How does empathy change or stay the same when a narrative like “The Life of Pi” is translated into film? To start off, what is empathy anyways? Generally speaking, empathy is the ability to understand or feel what another person is going through, the ability to put oneself in another person’s shoes. The question is: Does this idea of empathy change or stay the same between the text version of “Life of Pi” and the film? 

The main plot of the book is maintained in the film: after a big storm, Pi is stranded on a lifeboat with a tiger named Richard Parker. The story revolves around their survival, bondage together, and actions as days pass with no one who seems to come to their rescue. I was able to tell that the sense of empathy differed between text and film version. This makes sense being that we all react differently to different things. Many times when we read and book and then see the movie we always tend to see a difference and say “It wasn’t the same.” We tend to prefer one over the other by the end. Many of these actions and scenes have an empathic impact, an empathic impact that tends to change from the text version to the film. To dive deeper into this idea I will be analyzing the scenes where the hyena eats the zebra, Pi’s reasoning for not wanting Richard Parker to die, and lastly the ending when Pi and Richard Parker make it to land.  

A book will always be more descriptive, all it takes is vivid words, imagination, ink on paper. Whereas a film is a bit more limited in its ways to portray certain things. For example the scene in the book where the hyena eats the zebra is described much more violently than what is shown in the film. In the book we read: “The zebra’s broken leg was missing. The hyena had bitten off and dragged it to the stern, behind the zebra. A flap of skin hung limply over the raw stump. Blood was still dripping.” In the film, the viewer does see how the hyena attacks the zebra and bleeds but is not as vivid as the book. This may be due to the film maker’s choice and of course not all details from a book can be portrayed over to a film, it would be too long. In the film, the viewer briefly sees the shot where the zebra is attacked, the bloody color is minimal, and the scene quickly transitions on to the next scene. We are more empathetic towards Pi from the book because through the author’s descriptive word choice. The reader is able to feel how hard it must’ve been to be stranded, alone, and looking at such a violent scene.

Another example of a different type of empathy in the text is the Egoistic Thesis of empathy. This type of empathy is associated with a negative feeling or can lead to awareness of the negative consequences of not helping. Examples of these feelings are guilt and shame. We see this type of empathy in the text version of the “The Life of Pi”: “A part of me did not want Richard Parker to die at all, because if he died I would be left alone with despair, a foe even more formidable than a tiger.” Here Pi reasoned that if Richard Parker died, he would be left alone thinking about the tragic circumstances he had undergone. This type of empathy is not very clear in the film. In the film, the viewer sees what Pi goes through to make the best out of being with Richard Parker. Makes sure he has food, later on tries to tame him in order to survive but the reasons are never really clear. Whereas in the text, we read Pi’s reasoning: “Any punishment worse than death? I looked at Richard Parker. My panic was gone. My fear was dominated. Survival was at hand.” Pi’s reasoning for looking after Richard Parker was so he wouldn’t be alone, if tamed it meant Pi would be alive until someone found them. End reward: survival. In the text, the reader literally reads Pi’s logic and is able to see the Egoistic Thesis of empathy, whereas in the film the viewer is left to put the pieces together.

At the end of the film, the viewer is also moved to be empathetic towards Pi. The touching scene of Pi crying as he sees Richard Parker walking away makes us feel empathetic towards him. Batson characterizes empathy in terms of being sympathetic, moved by, being compassionate, tender, warm, and soft hearted towards the other’s plight. The scene in the movie seems to portray this scene more touchingly with the camera focusing on Pi’s crying face portraying his disappointment and despair as Richard Parker walks away. Whereas in the text we read: “I was weeping because Richard Parker had left me so unceremoniously.” This scene becomes much more vivid in the film, the viewer is even able to see Pi touched and teary in the present as an adult as he recalls that moment. The close up of Pi crying and getting melancholic as he recalls the story helps the viewer feel more empathetic for what he has gone through and how broken hearted he was when Richard Parker left. 

When you read something, you visualize it in your head according to your imagination. Whereas, a film brings it to life and gives you an alternative perspective depending on how it is translated. Viewing something a certain way may push the viewer to be more empathetic to a certain character or look at a different perspective that they hadn’t thought of. It could be that when you read a book, you feel more empathetic towards a certain character but then watch the film and feel more empathetic towards another character. This difference can be due to the film makers choice of film techniques and their take on the film. All in all, there is always some type of change from a text to a film. A text will always be open to interpretation by the filmmaker, open to different types of translations. The translation from the text to the film may be radical, therefore may change not only the plot but also the concept of empathy.