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Joanna Leger 2011. The Journey. Independent Study Project Life of Pi, Native Son, and The Road. What is “THE JOURNEY”?. “...follows a character or characters through a series of episodic adventures as they travel” ( Common Themes)
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Joanna Leger 2011 The Journey Independent Study Project Life of Pi, Native Son, and The Road
What is “THE JOURNEY”? • “...follows a character or characters through a series of episodic adventures as they travel” (Common Themes) • Could be emotionally, physically, or mentally tough or pleasing • Often ends positively or negatively • Huckleberry Finn, The Odyssey (Google Images)
Yann Martel • lived all around the world which influenced his works • Studied philosophy and travelled to India • 7 published works but best known for Life of Pi which won the Man Booker Prize for Fiction in 2002 • Won 7 major awards for his works including Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction, Governor General’s Award for Fiction, and Chapters/Books in Canada First Novel Award (Yann Martel) (Google Images)
“The reason death sticks so closely to life isn’t biological necessity – it’s envy. Life is so beautiful that death has fallen in love with it, a jealous, possessive love that grabs at what it can.” Life Of Pi • Published in 2001 • Fantasy/adventure/philosophical novel • Set in India, Pacific Ocean, Mexico (227 days) in 1970’s • Main Characters: -Piscine Molitor Patel (“Pi”) -Richard Parker (Royal Bengal tiger) (Martel) “…a realization that the founding principle of existence is what we call love, which works itself out sometimes not clearly, not cleanly, not immediately, nonetheless ineluctably.” (Google Images)
What Happens? • The JOURNEYof Pi Patel’s life -Zoology -Religion -Love -Moves to Canada -Ship sinking http://youtu.be/vqLcVMqYwtg#t=26s -Survival on lifeboat -Rescue to Mexican shore -Interview with Japanese (Martel) (Google Images)
How does it relate to “THE JOURNEY”? • endures through physically and emotionally trying situations while traveling on the boat • ends positively and successfully defeats death (Google Images)
Richard Wright • Author of often racial-themed and controversial novels due to his experiences with racism • Only received a grammar school education • Joined Communist Party because of Great Depression • Most known for Uncle Tom’s Children (1938) (Book of the Month Club), Native Son (1940) Black Boy (1945), Lawd Today (1963) • Awards: Spingarn Medal, Guggenheim Fellowship, and the Story Magazine Award • Moved to Paris and was an expatriate (Richard Wright (author)) (Google Images)
Native Son • Published in 1940 • Social protesting/urban novel • Set in the 1930’s in Chicago • Main characters: -Bigger Thomas -Mary Dalton -Bessie Mears -Jan Erlone -Boris A. Max (Wright) (Google Images)
What happens? • Follows Bigger’s JOURNEY to find identity -Feels oppressed and convicted by white society all of his life anger and gang afiliation -Kills Mary Dalton power and identity -Escapes with Bessie and then kills her -Jail and trial Sees equality in whites and blacks -Sentenced to death -Product of society? (Google Images) (Wright)
How does it relate to “THE JOURNEY”? • Searching for his identity • Goes through a series of adventures (crimes, murders, escapes…) • Gets what he searched for but ends negatively • http://youtu.be/6wEobLttxEg?t=40s (Google Images)
Cormac McCarthy • Novelist and playwright • Works usually explore the southern gothic, western, and modernists themes • Best known for The Road, which won the Pulitzer Prize • No Country For Old Men, All the Pretty Horses, Blood Meridian • Won multiple awards for books (Believer Book Award, Guggenheim Fellowship, National Book Award…) along with Academy awards for movies (Cormac McCarthy) (Google Images)
The Road • Published in 2006 • Post-apocalyptic and environmentalist novel • Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2007 • Major Characters -The Man -The Boy • Inspired by his trip to El Paso, Texas with his son • Oprah Winfrey’s Book Club • Created into a movie in 2009 • Emotional, frightening, father/son love story (Google Images) (McCarthy)
What happens? • Unexplained catastrophe • Follows the JOURNEY of a man and his son trying to find life and benevolent civilization -Begin to see more “bad guys” -Carry only backpacks and a shopping cart full -Go south -Find a house with humans locked in a cellar waiting to be eaten by cannibals -near death but luckily find a underground cellar -Continue on encountering more cannibalistic tribes, abandoned houses -the man soon dies (Google Images) -Family approaches the boy and they ask him to join him andthe journey continues…. (McCarthy)
Father and Son Relationship • What keeps them alive for so long -“good guys” and they “carry the fire” -push and care for each other • “What would you do if I died? If you died I would want to die too. So you could be with me? Yes. So I could be with you.” • Conflicts mostly due to boy’s misunderstanding (Google Images) (McCarthy)
How does it relate to “THE JOURNEY”? • Set out to search for better conditions • Tolerate horrifying and life-threatening episodes daily • Ends with both utter sorrow and hope • http://youtu.be/hbLgszfXTAY (Google Images)
(Google Images) THANK YOU
Works Cited • "Common Themes in Literature." Common Themes in Literature. Daniel Snyder, 30 Aug. 2006. Web. 18 May 2011. <http://www3.delta.edu/drsnyder/CommonThemesInLiterature.html>. • "Cormac McCarthy." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, 11 May 2011. Web. 18 May 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cormac_mccarthy>. • "Google Images." Google. Google. Web. 18 May 2011. <http://www.google.com/imghp?hl=en>. • Martel, Yann. Life of Pi. [Waterville, ME]: Wheeler Pub., 2003. Print. • McCarthy, Cormac. The Road. Thorndike, Me.: Center Point Pub., 2007. Print. • "Richard Wright (author)." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, 10 May 2011. Web. 18 May 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Wright_(author)>. • Wright, Richard. Native Son. New York: Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2005. Print. • "Yann Martel." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, 4 Apr. 2011. Web. 18 May 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yann_Martel>. • YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. YouTube. Web. 18 May 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/>.