On the Migration of Pi: Toward a Rhetoric of Identification

Abstract

Yann Martel’s Life of Pi showcases a singular odyssey in which the protagonist demonstrates not so much a rhetoric of persuasion as a rhetoric of identification. One finds no conquest of otherness in the novel as is oftentimes witnessed in classical rhetorical maneuvers—Pi’s oratorical expression entails merely partial submission and repression. Pi is invariably seen to be engaged in rhetorical situations where the common remains sought for but is not possible without the immanence of division and separateness. Such a dilemma is quite the case with his views on animals and particularly with his relation to the Bengal tiger, Richard Parker. Thus, this study aims to argue that Pi’s negotiations with otherness en route feature Kenneth Burke’s idea of “identification” in the so-called “new rhetoric,” instead of Aristotle’s persuasion-bound rhetoric. That is, Pi’s migration is a quest for the common in the realm of rhetoric without institutionalizing the other.