Comparing Yann Martel’s Life of Pi and A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Connor

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Characters tend to drive a story. This is certainly clear in Yann Martel’s Life Of Pi, where we follow a young boy’s tale of survival, ascent into manhood, and moving past a traumatic event. Another story that seems to be made by its characters is “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor, sporting a strong lead role in A close minded Grandmother thats set in her ways along with a downright insane villain in the form of The Misfit. The most obvious characters that can be compared between these two stories are the Grandmother and Pi, and the easiest comparison that one could make between these two strong characters are their fanatical devotion to religion. Its clear that the Grandmother holds true a strict set of Christian beliefs when she tells the person who just murdered her son and grandkids that he is “a good man” and consistently telling the Misfit that Jesus will save him. Even unto her death, she was constantly saying Jesus’s name throughout the ordeal. Pi also seems to follow a strict code of rituals as he continues to practice his religions through his journey. The author even describes how Pi came to practice all of them, further giving detail into Pi’s life as a whole and almost giving the reader a reason to empathize with his insane practice of three religions. Even on the life raft with a dangerous tiger in his presence every day, he continues to consistently follow most of the rituals of each religion with fervor, unless he is unable to physically perform them. Another comparison that could be made between Pi and the Grandmother is their views on the world. The grandmother’s view on the world is a very close minded one, Whereas Pi’s view is much more universal. Pi’s view seems to find beaut... ... middle of paper ... ...cally die a slow and painful death instead of giving it a quick end. Both Pi Patel and the Grandmother from Life of Pi and “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” respectively, have many similarities to each other that are more than just baseline. The way they handle situations and adapt to change, however, are drastically different, and it ultimately cost one of them their life. Richard Parker grew to respect Pi as an equal, or at least accepted the fact that they both needed each other to live. The Misfit, however, disliked the Grandmother for her set-in-her-ways attitude and it ultimately cost her life. Even minor characters such as the goons and hyena’s or the Family member’s shared similarities that seemed to exist in many stories. The fact of the matter is that characters seem to both drive the plot, describe the situation, and display the main themes of each story.

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