A goodbye is a powerful thing — whether it’s just for the day or whether it’s for a lifetime Life of fl focuses on it a bit, but not as much as the other themes that it covers. When Richard Parker leaves him, Pi wishes he had said goodbye, but it also reflects on his parent’s death earlier in the novel and his relationship with Richard Parker. In the story that he later tells, it shows that he and Richard Parker are the same and at this point in the novel, he is letting going of the savage side of himself that allowed him to make such a long and strenuous journey and return to normal life.
Aside from the novel, though, it poses an interesting question How much of an effect do other people leaving have on our lives, and, furthermore, does it benefit us to get a chance to say goodbye to them, or does it end up harming us?
I would say that it really depends on the situation and who the two people are.
A lot of people would want a chance to say goodbye because it makes it easier for them and gives it a sense of finality, but some people struggle with things like that because it’s too emotional and they dwell on it for too long. The amount of power that a few words can have is huge It can control lives and something that simple shouldn‘t be in this much control.
It isn’t something that can ever change, though, without changing humankind’s ability to love it’s that power, which is so much stronger than just about anything, which dictates the power of leaving. When you love someone, their absence is the thing that you fear the most, and goodbyes make it come true.
The Power and Effect of Goodbye in Life of Pi, a Novel by Yann Martel. (2023, Apr 10). Retrieved from https://paperap.com/the-power-and-effect-of-goodbye-in-life-of-pi-a-novel-by-yann-martel/