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What does the orangutan symbolize in Life of Pi and how does this connect to other cultures?
Quick answer:
In Life of Pi, the orangutan symbolizes Pi's mother, reflecting her nurturing and protective nature. Orangutans are known for their strong maternal bonds, mirroring the close relationship between Pi and his mother. Additionally, in some cultures, orangutans symbolize wisdom and the "old man" of the forest, suggesting Pi's mother as a wise and guiding figure in his life. This symbolism is reinforced by Pi's story, where animals represent human characters.
Pi tells two versions of his ship sinking and time on the life boat. One story is quite logical in its telling and does not include any animals. The other story is a tale of epic proportions involving animals and details that really push the reader to accept the unbelievable. The story is told from Pi's perspective, and the early parts of the story really cement the idea that Pi is likely being completely truthful to us, so we really do feel like taking Pi at his word about the zebra, tiger, hyena, and orangutan. That is why the final chapters are so frustrating. Chapter 99 has Pi giving readers the much more plausible explanation, and Chiba and Okamoto give readers the idea that Pi's entire story is built upon animals that symbolize human people. The sailor is the zebra, the cook is the hyena, and Pi's mother is the orangutan.
[Mr. Chiba:] So the Taiwanese sailor is the zebra, his mother is the orang-utan, the cook is . . . the hyena—which means he's the tiger!
The orangutan symbolizes Pi's mother in the story.
Orangutan babies tend to spend a long time with the mother, an average of 8 to 9 years which is much longer than most other ape species. Orangutans are also known to be good mothers. This is described in the story by Pi. Therefore the orangutan symbolizing Pi's mother makes sense.
In some cultures, the orangutan symbolizes the 'old man' of the forest probably because of its slow movements and solitary nature. This could tie into the story in that the mother would have been the wise and old man character in Pi's life. She always knew how to help him especially in the conflicts which Pi had with his father - the mother is the balance.
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