Owen Rosi Rosi

Ms. Webster
English 2
10/3/14

Both chapters 97 and 22 contribute to the overall theme of the importance of storytelling
and what the truth is. In chapter 97, Martel describes the animal story as just The story; which
leaves the reader to decide which story really happened. Chapter 22, in comparison, is a
summarization of how Pi feels for the first part of the novel. The author Martel forces the reader
to decide what they want to believe in.
Firstly, the authors use of diction and syntax in both of these chapters influences the
way the reader interprets the text. The text seems less significant because there are so few
words in the chapter, which impacts the way the reader feels about the situation. In chapter 22,
Pi comments that Atheists would rather take a leap of faith and think about life scientifically,
missing out on the better story [of religion]. In comparison, Chapter 97, which only has two
words,The story, forces the reader to decide which story they want to believe in(animal vs.
human).
Secondly, these two chapters contribute to the overall theme of storytelling because
both chapters have a more complex meaning than what is on the surface. Chapter 22
establishes a discussion about believing in atheism vs. religion. Pi comments that atheist's
plunge into religions deathbed leap of faith , whereas the agnostic would explain what is
going on with a lack of imagination and miss the the bigger story. This chapter distinguishes
atheists versus a follower of religion in that life has a better meaning with religion. Similarly,
Chapter 97 focuses on the readers belief of believing the tiger story or the human story. The
chapters sentence The story, suggests that the [tiger] story does not have an impact on the
reader because the [tiger] story is only described in only two words. The human story, which is
brief at the conclusion of the novel, is more believable than the tiger story because Pi is more
afraid to tell the [human] story than the [tiger] story because the [human] story is more savage
and gruesome. However, chapter 97 leaves both stories up for grabs for the reader to believe in.
Both of these chapters contribute to the overall theme of storytelling because they both have
more complex meanings than what is originally perceived.
Lastly, Martel chose to express his ideas in few words because he wanted the reader to
discover the deeper meaning through diction and syntax. Also, chapters 22 and 97 allow the
reader to connect to real life concepts. There are atheists in our world today who people agree
with and disagree with. Likewise, there are always going to be multiple conclusions that people
make that you may disagree or not disagree with. Both of these chapters make the reader think
about these (and other) real life situations and how to think about them.
To conclude, Martel demonstrates through chapters 22 and 97 how the bigger meaning
of the story isnt always clearly emphasized. The use of syntax and diction (in the two chapters)
influence the way the reader interprets and discovers the deeper meaning of the text. Chapter
22 and chapter 97 both delve into a deeper story, contributing to the overall theme of the novel,
which is importance of storytelling and what the truth is.