Hallucinations In Life Of Pi

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One of the greatest mysteries among readers of Yann Martel’s The Life of Pi is the section in the novel containing the strange Algae Island. Some believe that the Island is a figment of Pi’s imagination, a hallucination. Others believe that it is real and has supporting evidence of it being so. Personally, I believe both and neither at the same time. Throughout this paper I will explain why. People who believe the island is fictitious usually say that it’s impossible. There can never be a man-eating island made of algae with tribes of meerkats scouring its “soil”. People often counter this with “Oh, it’s just a story. Anything can happen.” The entire book is based on real world reality. Everything, except this scene, could take place in the real world. So why would the author go from writing a realistic fiction novel to a sci-fi novel and then back again? The only way this island could be real is if it was a hallucination. …show more content…

Pi has a great deal of mental and physical factors that could possibly cause hallucinations including dehydration, hunger, stress, and lack of proper nutrients. The brain needs all of these things to function. If it does not have these it tries to make up for it causing misfires and such in the brain's neural pathways resulting in external perceptions of non real things. Although grossly simplified, one could see how he could hallucinate an algae

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