Evgheni Melman
Prof. Sean Scanlan
English 2400, Section O552
December 17, 2020
Empathy and Ethics in “Life of Pi”
Ethics and empathy when depicted in written stories or films help to shape exceptional characters with deep and profound morals. What is empathy? According to the Empathy handout, “Empathy is the capacity to understand or feel what another person is experiencing from within their frame of reference…” or in other words, being able to place yourself in place of others. Ethics are moral principles that govern a person’s behavior, and can vary significantly from person to person. Generally, normative ethics are divided into three types: Deontology, Virtue, and Utilitarian ethics. Deontology ethics are about following strict pre-set behavioral rules that are either given to you or you gave to yourself. Virtue ethics are about “being a better person” and focus on virtues themselves (positive traits that make its possessor a good human being), moral character, family, friendship, emotions, etc. Utilitarian ethics are about “ends and not means,” and providing “the greater good for the most people.” In this essay, I will analyze how empathy and ethics are depicted in literary works and their film adaptations on example of “Life of Pi” story by Yann Martel and its film adaptation of the same name directed by Ang Lee.
In the text version of “Life of Pi” by Yann Martel empathy is prevailing throughout the story, but in the film version, we only see a few occasion. One such occurrence is in the scene where the hyena attacks wounded zebra on the lifeboat not long after the shipwreck. In the scene we can see a close-up shot of Pi crying and screaming at the hyena to stop its assault on zebra is if Pi was feeling zebra’s pain himself. One other such occasion is the scene where Pi helps Orange Juice, the orangutan, onto the lifeboat and after noticing that she had lost her baby orangutan lies to her by saying “Don’t worry, I bet mother and father found him. They will be here soon.“ He knew that they won’t come, but decided to comfort Orange Juice with a lie because he could understand her sorrow. Slightly later, Pi notices that Orange Juice has sea-sickness and says “Sorry, Orange Juice, I don’t have any sea-sickness medicine for you.” This scene shows that Pi understood what Orange Juice felt at the time as if he was in her place and felt sorry for not being able to actually help her. What is interesting, is that the written story adds a touch of utilitarian ethics to the scene of Orange Juice’s onboarding. After Orange Juice gets on the boat, Pi says “I clung to hope that a zebra, a familiar prey and an orangutan, an unfamiliar one would distract [hyena] from the toughs of me.” This addition is a prime example of utilitarian ethics, as even though hyena attacking zebra and orangutan is bad and would make Pi sad, the greater good is that hyena will not attack him instead and he can stay alive.
An example of utilitarian ethics intertwining with empathy that is present in both versions is the scene where Pi kills a fish to feed himself and Richard Parker. He says,
I wrapped the fish tightly in the blanket. … I imagined what it would feel like if I were wrapped in a blanket and someone were trying to break my neck. I was appalled. I gave up a number of times. Yet I knew it had to be done, and the longer I waited, the longer the fish’s suffering would go on. Tears flowing down my cheeks, I egged myself on until I heard a cracking sound and I no longer felt any life fighting in my hands.
In this scene we can clearly see Pi placing himself in the position of the fish and feeling extremely sorry for what he is about to do. But doing it brings greater good for both him and Richard Parker, so he puts his deontology ethics aside and, hesitantly, does it anyway.
Virtue ethics are depicted in the film in the scene where Pi saves Richard Parker by letting him back onto the lifeboat after he jumps off the lifeboat in an attempt at catching a fish. This is a clear example of virtue ethics because it shows the Pi’s virtues and moral character. That is because the safest choice for Pi would be to claim the lifeboat for himself and leave Richard Parker to drown, instead Pi chose to be a “better person” and save the tiger even though that meant living on the raft in fears for his life. Another scene where virtue ethics are at play, is the one where Pi and Richard Parker finally reach the solid land in Mexico. In that scene, Richard Parker leaves Pi unceremoniously without looking back and Pi is mourning his loss. The scene shows how much Pi bonded with the Richard Parker as if he became his friend or even a family member, and shows us Pi’s feelings, virtues, and moral character.
Deontology ethics are shown throughout the story. All the scenes where Pi will not eat or harm animals as he is a vegetarian, like the scene at the family dinner where he refused to eat lamb even after being suggested to do so by his father, represent the vast majority of deontology ethics depictions. By being a vegetarian, Pi follows a strict set of rules that he gave to himself that guide and assess his choices. We also see Pi going against his deontology ethics numerous times, like the time he killed and ate the fish to survive.
In conclusion, empathy and ethics play a huge role in the “Life of Pi,” and omission of them would make the story plain and the characters ordinary. Written story and film do vary slightly in their presentation of the two, but the general picture stays the same, and it is of a unique character solving unique problems in unique ways.
