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The Inherent Connection between Global- and Local- ization in Life of Pi

Ashley Ayrer

21^st Century Literature and Globalization

Nathan Long

December 6^th, 2007

In Life of Pi by Yann Martel, there are numerous examples of the influence of globalization, which is prevalent in our society today. Although most people have a vague understanding of globalization, the debate that relates to the phenomenon is very complex – including arguments that globalization is beneficial to everyone; that it benefits no one and should be countered with trends toward localization; and that neither of the previous two angles are correct and both globalization and localization should be appreciated as inherently connected.

Life of Pi, as a contemporary novel, is rampant with reminders that we live in a globalized world, but it is challenging to interpret what claim, if any, Martel is attempting to make about the current debate about globalization. Although Pi is certainly a character in a globalized world, his actions on the lifeboat demonstrate trends toward localization that are taking place around the world to counter globalization. It may seem daunting to try to imagine where all of this leaves the novel – is Pi a globalized text, or a text that illustrates what nations should do to counter the effects of globalization? There is no easy way to reconcile these ideas, but perhaps the best way to understand Life of Pi as a contemporary text that hinges on the aftermath of globalization is to consider it an example of a more contemporary theory in which autonomous nations act as both facilitator to and victim of globalization. Pi is not only demonstrative of this theory, but, having grown up in a globalized world, he also understands it.

New Religion? Globalization, Localization, and Glocalization Defined

Globalization is an idea that is very challenging to define; because it is so prevalent in our world, it is not surprising that many people in a variety of fields try to define it, resulting in a jumble of various definitions and connotations. Although, with respect to globalization, broad understandings are better than constrictive definitions, for the purpose of this paper, the definition provided by Manfred Steger, Professor of Politics and Government at Illinois State University, will be suitable. He offers his understanding in Globalization: A Very Short Introduction: “globalization is best thought of as a multidimensional set of social processes that resists being confined to any single thematic framework” (xi). Essentially, globalization is the breaking down of not only trade barriers, but also cultural borders.

Paula Fass clarifies the definition in her collected essays on the phenomenon. She classifies globalization as “changes that have taken place since World War II and have accelerated in the 1990s, as worldwide communications, free markets, and the massive migrations of peoples are remaking personal identities and cultural boundaries” (199). These are two of many different understandings of globalization that illustrate the idea that it is a very complex phenomenon that cannot be defined concisely and clearly.

In response to globalization, many communities have begun to lean toward self-sufficiency and autonomy. This reaction, which has been forming since the first inklings of globalization, is commonly referred to as localization. Groups that have formed as part of this localist response to globalization often rely on self-sufficiency to thrive; regions that resist the effects of globalization choose to provide for themselves and not rely on help from other regions.

Localization, however, like globalization, is not a new construct. In 1975, David Morris and Karl Hess, co-founders of the Institute for Local Self Reliance, discussed the effects of globalization and solutions to the problem. Although globalization was not yet a coined term, the processes Morris and Hess describe – institutions and governments that “wage devastating wars, are everywhere at odds with their own citizenry, torn by internal stresses, and increasingly viewed as absolutely incapable of decently regulating the lives of the millions over whom they claim sovereignty” (3) – remind one of the same forces of globalization that cause such problems today. Furthermore, the solution that Morris and Hill pose to the problem is the same solution that communities leaning toward autonomy choose today – opting for “community housing… [and] collectively owned food stores and neighborhood production facilities” (15). While unchecked globalization will most likely never be achieved, an entirely localized world will most likely never be realized either. In that vein, it is important to consider a third, newer perspective on the forces that are behind globalization and localization.

In more recently published views about globalization, some authors pose that globalism and antiglobalism are not separate ideas, but rather, ideas that depend on one another to exist. In his essay “How Global Is It?” Thomas Peyser, English Professor at Randolph-Macon College, suggests, “in a paradoxical way, local particularity becomes a sign of global consciousness” (244). In other words, globalization and localization are reactions to one another. In analyzing the role of the independent state in global interactions, William Sites, professor of social science at the University of Chicago, observes that “such a conceptual reframing makes possible a fuller consideration of the state as simultaneously facilitator to and victim of globalization” (122). These theories, in which globalization and localization are both included, breed the new theory of “glocalization.” In the talk that she delivered at O’Reilly Emerging Technologies Conference, Danah Boyd defines glocalization as the fusion of the global and the local (1). Although her talk related more to glocalization with respect to the technical design field, her theories still reveal clever insights into the relationship between globalization and localization. The term “glocalization,” though juvenile because it has so recently been surmised, is perhaps one of the most accurate – instead of looking at the world in an absolute way, the theory of glocalism attempts to reconcile the actions of globalist and localist behaviors. Gloablism, localism, and glocalism are all evident in Life of Pi.

So Where’s the Pi?

In the first part of Life of Pi, the globalized world in which Pi has been raised is introduced. It makes sense that as a member of this globalized world, Pi has been affected by cultures of other countries even before leaving his native India. It is important to remember, however, that although Pi lives in a globalized world and sees the effects of it constantly, he does not choose most of the features of this globalized world. Although he does choose to practice Islam, Buddhism, and Christianity in his adolescence, and goes on to fill his house with a mesh of cultures in his adulthood, most of the expressions of globalization in his world are forced upon him. In this sense, we can begin to see that globalization can sometimes be a smothering force that surrounds us even if it is not desired.

There are many elements in Life of Pi that reflect a globalized world, but Pi’s actions on the lifeboat embody some theories that have been proposed in an effort to counter globalization. Worldwide, there have been trends toward regionalism and autonomy to counter the smothering force of globalization worldwide. This phenomenon, best expressed by the term Localism, is primarily expressed when which Pi transforms into a completely autonomous figure on the life boat, one who must provide entirely for himself without help from anyone. As Pi learns to provide for himself and for Richard Parker, the tiger in his lifeboat, Pi begins to emulate the trends toward self-sufficiency that many areas incur to counter the effects of a globalized world. In this sense, Pi’s actions on the lifeboat can be read as a metaphor for the trends toward self-sufficiency that are a defining factor of localization: The difference between Pi and the group leaning toward autonomy, however, is that again Pi has no choice in the matter. He does not choose to become self-sufficient to counter something that he does not believe in; he must become self-sufficient in order to survive.

The two major opposing theories regarding globalization – that it is a worldwide phenomenon that is beneficial to everyone and that it is a smothering force that should be countered – are present in Life of Pi. An understanding of the more contemporary theory of glocalization, however, can help to unite these two ideas. This juvenile theory about globalization is perhaps the most accurate, and it is fitting to have it depicted in a book where the main character is an adolescent with a quite accurate understanding of the globalized world in which he lives.

Around the World: Globalization in Life of Pi

Japanese-owned cargo ship Tsimtsum, flying Panamanian flag, sank July 2^nd, 1977, in Pacific, four days out of Manila. Am in lifeboat. Pi Patel my name. Have some food, some water, but Bengal tiger serious problem. Please advise family in Winnipeg, Canada. Any help very much appreciated. Thank you.

–Pi’s message in a bottle, 238

Life of Pi, a novel centered mostly on a sixteen-year-old Indian boy floating in a lifeboat in the Pacific Ocean with only a Bengal tiger for company, is rife with images of a globalized world. From the zoo that Pi’s father owns to the island that Pi discovers in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, each globalized image in the novel reminds the reader that globalization is a force that is inescapable and omnipresent. While these images abound in Life of Pi, it is important to remember that Pi does not choose most of the symbols of globalization in his life; much like the phenomenon of globalization itself, these symbols exist not because he wants them to, but because he lives in a society in which they have been accepted.

Even before analyzing the metaphors and symbolism in the prose, it is worth taking time to acknowledge that the structure of Life of Pi in many ways mimics some facets of the ideally globalized world, which is, according to Steger, a world in which the processes of globalization “make many of the currently existing borders and boundaries irrelevant” (7). Like this interconnected world, the structure of Life of Pi has borders – those between sections and chapters – but they don’t always seem entirely necessary. They rarely break at the places that conventional sections would – that is between days and nights – but instead, Pi often sections arbitrarily. He declares that he is unable to organize his story in a linear fashion:

What I remember are events and encounters and routines, markers that emerged here and there from the ocean of time and imprinted themselves on my memory. The smell of spent hand-flare shells, and prayers at dawn, and the killing of turtles, and the biology of algae, for example. And many more. But I don’t know if I can put them in order for you. My memories come in a jumble. (192)

Because Pi’s memories are jumbled, he is unable to section chapters the way that conventional authors would; he narrates things as he recalls their importance to him. Accordingly, each chapter is a section of time that sticks out in Pi’s memory, and most of them are random. To have chapters dividing the book is simply to carve out the region of each particular moment. In the end, though, they are all moments in the same journey. In this vein, the chapters in the larger story are similar to nations in a larger global context. In the ideally global world, every country would be tied together by global forces, just like each chapter in Life of Pi is cohered by the greater story. The borders between nations, like the chapter headings between moments, only serve to point out the boundaries. Although they are present, they are not essential.

One of the first reminders that Life of Pi is set in a globalized world is the discussion of Pi’s travels, both desired and actualized. We learn in the first chapter that Pi desires to travel to cities all over the globe: “Oxford is the fifth on the list of cities I would like to visit before I pass on, after Mecca, Varanasi, Jerusalem and Paris” (6). His desires for travel are as borderless as the ideally globalized world. By the end of the novel, Pi has taken an extraordinary voyage from India across the Pacific Ocean; he washes up on the shores of Mexico and ultimately makes it to Canada, which was the original destination of his journey. While he is the one who chooses his travels as an older man, the path that he takes during his initial journey from India to Canada is not of his own planning. His father made the decision for the family to move, and while he is in the lifeboat after their ship sinks, Pi is unable to make any decisions regarding where he floats: “I had no means of controlling where I was going – no rudder, no sails, no motor, some oars but insufficient brawn” (193). Clearly, Pi has no agency about where he will travel after the Tsimtsum sinks.

As Pi’s message in a bottle reminds us, the very vessel that Pi was traveling aboard is an amalgam of a variety of different cultures. Pi and his family “left Madras…on the Panamanian-registered Japanese cargo ship Tsimtsum. Her officers were Japanese, her crew was Taiwanese” (90). This cargo ship, though it isn’t in the story for very long, is another manifestation of the forces of globalization. This ship is globalized in every sense – it has been manufactured and registered in two separate continents, it is leaving from yet another continent, its crew is from various locations, and its purpose is to facilitate the spread of globalization by carrying Pi’s family, along with animals from a variety of countries, from India to Canada. This ship is another result of globalization that is in Pi’s life that he did not choose. Once again, he is aware of this symbol of globalization, as he makes clear as he narrates the origin of the ship, but he did not actively request its presence in his life.

While Pi is stranded in the Pacific Ocean, he by chance meets another character who is just as globalized as he is, if not more so. Although Pi is blind and cannot see this man, he acutely observes to the foreigner: “you speak as if your tongue were a saw and English words were made of wood. You have a French accent” (248). This man, although he is (assumedly) from Europe, craves such foreign delicacies as “boiled beef tongue with a mustard sauce,” “tripe,” “roast suckling pig stuffed with rice, sausages, apricots and raisins,” and “marinated rabbit stewed in red wine” (244-5). These exotic dishes, portrayed here as the desired meals of the Frenchman, are delicacies from across the globe. Whether or not the Frenchman has traveled extensively and had these meals in their countries of origin, his mere knowledge of them exemplifies the globalized influence of cultures.

On a similar note, one of the most elaborate symbols of globalization is a metaphor that Pi creates throughout his story about God:

I would touch the turban I had made with the remnants of my shirt and I would say aloud, “THIS IS GOD’S HAT!”

I would pat my pants and say aloud, “THIS IS GOD’S ATTIRE!”

I would point to Richard Parker and say aloud, “THIS IS GOD’S CAT!”

I would point to the lifeboat and say aloud, “THIS IS GOD’S ARK!”

I would spread my hands wide and say aloud, “THESE ARE GOD’S WIDE ACRES!”

I would point at the sky and say aloud, “THIS IS GOD’S EAR!” (209).

As this passage reveals, Pi has fashioned a world in which everything that he can see has some relation to God. In this sense, God has tied together the visible elements in Pi’s life the same way that globalization ties together various elements of the globe.

Later in the novel, when Pi reaches land in Mexico, he observes: “This beach, so soft, firm and vast, was like the cheek of God, and somewhere two eyes were glittering with pleasure and a mouth was smiling at having me there” (285). Whether an attempt to keep his faith in God or not, Pi has construed a face of God in which sky and land both have a place, and he has imagined a world in which God has a claim to everything that is visible to Pi. In keeping with this theory, animal, sea, land and sky are tied together by an all-powerful force. This metaphor that Pi has created is very similar to the process of globalization, in which a powerful force, globalization itself, ties together many things on the globe; the wide acres, ark and cat that are cohered through God are akin to the nations and people that are joined together through globalization.

Another manifestation of globalization is apparent at the end of Pi’s voyage, after he has recovered in Mexico: “Mexican and Canadian officials opened all doors for me so that from the beach in Mexico to the home of my foster mother to the classrooms of the University of Toronto, there was only one long, easy corridor that I had to walk down” (286). In this final section, it is quite obvious just how present globalization has been in Pi’s life. He can finally make it – after being without borders for so long in the Pacific – to the country that he was destined for in the beginning of his journey. His choice of the word “easy” shows that Pi certainly has an understanding of just how fluid countries become when impacted by globalization.

There are many tangible symbols of globalization in Life of Pi, but the zoo that Pi’s father owns in Pondicherry is more than that; it is a fully functional microcosm of a globalized world. As Pi points out, “In a zoo…we bring together in a small space what in the wild is spread out” (17). The zoo in Pondicherry is full of animals from all areas of the globe – Himalayan and sloth bears, Indian elephants and Nilgiri tigers (89); Moluccan cockatoos…and burly American bison (14). These animals live together in Pondicherry without national boundaries and operate together in their world. According to Steger, the ultimate goal of the forces behind globalization is to “intensif[y] and expan[d]…cultural flows across the globe” (69). The zoo therefore functions as a microcosm of what the ideal globalized world would consist of: people (or in this case animals) from many different regions of the globe existing together without cultural conflicts.

There are various communities in Life of Pi that contain the same aspects of the ideal globalized society; certainly, the most elaborate of these communities is the massive algae island that Pi’s lifeboat runs into. This island, though it may not seem like a valid manifestation of the global because it is self-contained and undiscovered, is a great example because of the interesting network that it contains.

Foremost, this island, which is somewhere in the Pacific Ocean and nowhere near land, is teeming with South African meerkats (265). Clearly, these meerkats have found their way to this island despite the fact that it is outside the bounds of their natural habitat. What these meerkats have done is one of the defining goals of globalization: they have pervaded a border.

The trees on the island are also figures that can be associated with globalization. Whereas the meerkats mimic the trends of migration in a globalized world, the trees symbolize nations in such a world: “The trees were so near each other that their branches grew into each other’s spaces; they touched and twisted around each other so that it was hard to tell where one tree ended and the next began” (278). Like nations affected by globalization, the trees are actively ridding themselves of borders. They are becoming so entangled with one another that the distinct boundaries between them are becoming indiscernible. Similarly, Pi discovers that the trees “either lived in a symbiotic relationship with the algae, in a giving-and-taking that was to their mutual advantage, or, simpler still, were an integral part of the algae” (271). This observation completely agrees with the discussion of the ideal globalization recognized by Steger.

Like globalization, this floating algae island has no root. In the same way that globalization was not manufactured or designed but arose out of progress and cannot be attributed to any one person or nation, Pi cannot and does not try to explain what may have produced this island. Instead, he marvels at its complexity and observes its rootlessness:

the island was not an island in the conventional sense of the term – that is, a small landmass rooted to the floor of the ocean – but was rather a free-floating organism, a ball of algae of leviathan proportions. And it is my hunch that the ponds reached down to the sides of this huge, buoyant mass and opened onto the ocean… (271-2)

This island has no definite root, and because of that, Pi struggles to explain it. This is another example of a symbol of globalization that Pi has no control over; he has no authority over these symbols but he is extremely aware of their presence in the same way that he has no authority over globalization but is conscious of its presence in his life.

The zoo in Pondicherry and the algae island are not the only microcosms of the ideal globalized world; there are others that surface during Pi’s time on the lifeboat. Pi first notices other life besides himself and Richard Parker when he observes a community under the water’s surface:

With just one glance I discovered that the sea is a city. Just below me, all around, unsuspected by me, were highways, boulevards, streets, and roundabouts bustling with traffic…fish like trucks and buses and cars and bicycles and pedestrians were madly racing about, no doubt honking and hollering at each other. (175)

Once again, Pi observes an inhuman civilization working together without discernible boundaries. The community that Pi depicts under the surface of the water is reminiscent of a bustling metropolitan city. Pi even points out, “This is surely what Tokyo must look like at rush hour” (176). It is fitting that Pi would draw this comparison, since metropolitan cities, as centers of commerce and trade, are often the first areas affected by globalization.

Although the zoo, the island, and the community under the water are all areas that exhibit aspects of globalization, they are also somewhat localized. The members of each respective community work together without the help of outside forces. In this sense, they contain aspects of localism as well as globalism.

Homebodies: Appearances of Localism in Life of Pi

Certainly, there are many instances of globalization in Life of Pi, and there are also plenty of manifestations of localization. Like the phenomenon of globalization, the concept of localization is not easily defined, but there have been many attempts to summarize it in a concise way, and one of the clearest definitions is found in Martin Wolf’s Why Globalization Works. Even though this text argues that globalization, the force that localization counters, is entirely beneficial, he offers a concise, objective definition of localization: localizers “believe that the prosperity of the citizens of existing countries would be enhanced by fragmenting the integrated markets of contemporary national economies into self-sufficient villages or manorial economies” (317). In other words, many communities are beginning to provide fully for themselves to make the powers of globalization obsolete. Wolf goes on to say, “those in favour of economic localization apparently believe that the power of corporations would be smaller if they were freed from the pressures of global competition” (317). Although it is true that Wolf goes on to dispute this theory in following paragraphs, he still observes what is important about localization – that the main goal of people practicing localization is to exist without pressures that are inherent in a globalized world.

Since the earliest signs of globalization began to form, there have been people resisting the phenomenon. In Neighborhood Power: The New Localism, published in 1975, Morris and Hess argue that forming neighborhoods would be a powerful way to resist the forces of worldwide assimilation, what we might now call globalization. They argue: “tenant unions, food co-ops, vegetable raising, neighborhood government, political demonstrations, are all part of an integrated and revitalized neighborhood” (44). Communities worldwide have pursued this solution and begun to become self-sufficient.

In her editorial “Think Global – Eat Local! Delicious ways to counter globalization,” Helena Norberg-Hodge describes the trend toward an alternative lifestyle for those people who wish to not feel the effects of globalization. Before she offers her “delicious ways,” she introduces the reasons why people counter globalization in the first place:

Increasingly, citizen groups around the world are beginning to argue that it is a highly centralized and subsidized economic system…that is the prime culprit behind so many of our personal, social and environmental ills…It is from this global economic system that people are starting to reclaim all that is clear to them: control over their jobs, their food, their communities, their environment, their lives…grassroots movements are pulling in the opposite direction: people are taking the economy into their own hands. (209).

It may be true that this article in The Ecologist is not the most scholarly in the canon of research about localization, but it is definitely one of the most genuine. As a member of a small community that has begun to lean away from the effects of globalization and toward self-sufficiency, Norberg-Hodge is able to accurately observe the changes that are taking place in her society: “more and more people are also joining a variety of community supported agriculture (CSA) schemes which bring farmers and consumers into closer contact” (13). With this observation, Norberg-Hodge reveals that the reaction to globalization is spreading as rapidly as globalization itself, while countering the effects.

Norberg-Hodge is more than a common observer of the phenomenon of localization – she is an active supporter of the idea. Throughout her article, she describes the benefits of CSA schemes and urges readers to shift to self-sufficiency:

The goal of localization is not to eliminate all trade, but to reduce unnecessary transport while encouraging changes that would strengthen and diversify communities at the community as well as the national level…The movement to create sustainable communities, or ‘eco-villages’ is perhaps the most complete antidote to dependence on the global economy (14).

Clearly, Norberg-Hodge acknowledges the fact that trade, one of the most important facets of globalization, is not entirely negative, but that the goal of localization is to create self-sufficient areas that do not rely on outside communities to survive.

Accordingly, in Life of Pi, there are many communities that exist on their own without help from other communities. Since they don’t have other regions around, they inherently have no borders, and therefore are examples of regions that don’t need to depend on other places. While they are borderless and therefore represent the ideal globalized world, they are also self-sufficient and therefore represent the ideal localized world. One example of this is the community of algae and sea creatures that begins to form on the back of Pi’s lifeboat. This is reminiscent, in some ways, of a globalized world in that it is without boundaries, but it also exhibits many traits of a localized community. When this community begins to form on the back of Pi’s raft, he observes, “an upside-down town, small, quiet, peaceable, whose citizens went about with the civility of angels” (198). This miniscule community, because it is without boundaries, is exemplary of the idea of localism. It exists on its own, without influence from or interaction with any other communities.

Although communities can exhibit traits of individualism and self-sufficiency competently, the characters in Life of Pi who are without globalization are much more effective. The Bengal tiger Richard Parker and Pi’s mother are two characters in this novel that display traits of localization. While Richard Parker exists without awareness of the impacts of globalization, Pi’s mother is forced to feel them, and as a result, she has an aversion to the phenomenon.

Although the zoo in Pondicherry is rife with symbols for globalization, Richard Parker is not one of these symbols. In fact, he is one of the least globalized characters in Life of Pi. He is the first main character to be introduced that is completely uninfluenced by a globalized world. Richard Parker was caught in India and has lived in the zoo his entire life. He “was born in Bangladesh and raised in Tamil Nadu” (248), which are cites that are in and border India, respectively. According to the National Geographic website, “Bengal tigers live in India and are sometimes called Indian tigers…Over many centuries they have become an important part of Indian tradition and lore.” Clearly, Richard Parker is a strictly regional entity and has not been affected by globalization the same way that animals from other parts of the world in the zoo in Pondicherry have been.

What makes Richard Parker different from Pi, who has also been in India since birth, is that when Tsimtsum sinks, Pi is able to adapt to his new environment. He learns to collect food and water enough for not only himself, but also for Richard Parker. We are reminded many times that if it weren’t for Pi, Richard Parker would not have survived on the lifeboat:

I could not abandon Richard Parker. To leave him alone would mean to kill him. He would not survive the first night. Alone in my lifeboat at sunset I would know that he was burning alive. Or that he had thrown himself in the sea, where he would drown. (283)

The fact that Richard Parker is not able to survive without the help of Pi is ironic; Richard Parker is at once an example of a localized character that exists without influence from other cultures or nations, but he cannot achieve the self-sufficiency that advocates of localization idealize. These conflicting ideas are support that no idea about localization is going to be absolute, the same way that no ideas about globalization will ever be absolute.

Another character in Life of Pi that exhibits localist ideals is Pi’s mother. Whereas Richard Parker, as an animal who relies heavily on instinct and not understanding, is unaware of the global nature of his travels, Pi’s mother does understand the implications of the move, but her ability to understand this causes her to be anxious about the move. Unlike most characters in the novel, Pi’s mother lacks faith in globalization. She doesn’t express a strong desire to relocate, and just before the family is leaving, she expresses her anxieties by asking her husband if they should bring cigarettes, although they don’t even smoke, with them. Pi imagines the thoughts she is having:

Yes, they have tobacco in Canada – but do they have Gold Flake cigarettes? Do they have Arun ice cream? Are the bicycles Heroes? Are the televisions Onidas? Are the cars Ambassadors? Are the bookshops Higginbothams? Such, I suspect, were the questions that swirled in Mother’s mind as she contemplated buying cigarettes. (91)

Clearly, Pi can sense that his mother is apprehensive about leaving behind everything that she loves. The irony here is that globalization, as a uniting force, would ideally facilitate the move for her. Because of the lack of borders, it would be more likely for Gold Leaf cigarettes or Onida televisions to be in Canada. Mrs. Patel, however, is reluctant to accept this and instead tries to hold on to the features that make her home distinctive. It is very clear that she appreciates the localities particular to Pondicherry. In this sense, she is a character that, though existing in a global context and moving across borders, is very attached to local features – so much so that she is afraid to leave and lose them. Her hesitation to be part of the global community is precisely what makes her a figure for the theory of localization.

Hybrid Theory: Expressions of Glocalization in Life of Pi

Technology helps and good ideas spread – these are the two laws of nature. If you don’t let technology help you, if you resist good ideas, you condemn yourself to dinasaurhood!

-Life of Pi, 75

Throughout Life of Pi, it is apparent that Pi is aware of the omnipresent force of globalization in his world, a force that can be both oppressive and beneficial. It can be inferred through many instances in the text that he recognizes the phenomenon and understands the effects that it has on his life. Because of the time period that he was raised in, and because the major mentors in his life also understand it, Pi is able to recognize and to have faith in the elements of globalization. While in Pondicherry, during his time at sea, and throughout the rest of his life, Pi discovers that globalization is inescapable, but is not always a negative experience. Perhaps this is the reason that Pi is neither globalist nor antiglobalist. Ideas from both reactions to globalization – one being that it is a series of forces that is highly valuable and the other being that it is extremely domineering and harmful – are present in the text. It may seem challenging to unite these two ideas, but an understanding of Pi as an amalgam of the two – as a glocalized figure – both merge the two theories and further enforce the idea that Pi is able to recognize all of the evident signs of globalization in his life.

In “Regionalism in the World Economy: building block or stumbling stone for globalization?” Andreas Dür, social researcher at Manheim Centre, poses that globalization and localization, or regionalism, are not entirely opposite:

On the one hand, regionalism may at least partly be a response to globalization…the process of globalization imposes reform pressure on nation states. Countries respond to this pressure with regional agreements, which enhance the economic efficiency and political acceptability of the reforms implemented. On the other hand, regionalism may have an impact on the process of globalization…In addition, regionalism possibly influences the process of multilateral trade negotiations, which have been one of the engines of globalization. (Dür 183)

This idea is close to the theory of Glocalization discussed by Sites. In this theory, globalization and localization are not total opposites or extreme sides of a spectrum; instead, they are more closely related. They are in fact reactions to each other and each is imperative to the other’s existence. With respect to which perspective of globalization – building block or stumbling stone – is correct, Dür observes that, “Both effects…seem to be logically possible and also empirically relevant” (183-4). Dür further explains his stance on the matter:

My starting point therefore was to accept that both effects are empirically relevant, and that neither of the two metaphors can capture the complexity of the effects of regional agreements for the process of globalization. Only the integration of the two perspectives in a comprehensive model can yield a satisfying explanation of the available evidence. (Dür 196)

In this conclusion, Dür makes clear that neither the stumbling stone theory nor the building block approach are exclusive. This theory is more realistic than the previous theories that globalization is a solely positive force or that it destroys economies and should be averted completely. Dür is hesitant to stick to an absolute theory and instead poses that, like most things in this world, and in Life of Pi, an absolutist approach is going to leave many questions unanswered.

This theory is enacted often in Life of Pi. It is clear from the beginning that Pi was raised with an understanding of globalization; we learn that Mamaji, Pi’s mentor and close family friend, studied in Paris for two years, while “the French were still trying to make Pondicherry as Gallic as the British were trying to make the rest of India Britannic” (10). The integration of two cultures, although this specific reference regards colonialism in French India, contains a strong characteristic of globalization – the permeation of culture across borders.

Because Mamaji studied in such a globalized context, he is able to pass his knowledge of the globalized world on to Pi. Mamaji even gives Pi a gift that is absolutely globalized: “The day I came of swimming age, which, to Mother’s distress, Mamaji claimed was seven, he brought me down to the beach, spread his arms seaward and said, ‘This is my gift to you.’” (9). The sea, which Pi will eventually become very familiar with, is the ultimate borderless environment; in delivering this present, Mamaji passes down an understanding of globalization to Pi.

In her book Children of a New World, Paula Fass argues that children raised today have an understanding of globalization: “children are most definitely part of the Western sensibility about globalization, and childhood is a particularly sensitive node for cultural contention in the politics of globalization…children are everywhere present in this debate” (202). Clearly, Pi is exemplary of the type of child who, because he is raised in a global context, is able to understand it.

Pi is also under no illusions about the power and swiftness of globalization, or at least of worldwide change. While on the lifeboat one night observing a storm, Pi notes, “The sky cleared and the waves seemed to flee with the clouds. The change was as quick and radical as changing countries on land” (159). When Pi left, his native Pondicherry was under intense duress and undergoing many changes. With an unlimited amount of time to reflect on the situation, Pi is able to reflect on the reasons why his father wanted to move and what opportunities globalization offered for him. Once again, his understanding of the phenomena that are occurring in his world allows him to make connections to things that are happening in his surroundings.

As described at length previously, there are numerous manifestations of globalization throughout the novel, and most of them are not of Pi’s choosing. There are a few, however, that Pi does choose, from his choice to observe three religions to his decision to decorate his house with remnants from all over the world. Although it is trivial, Pi’s decision to section the chapters the way he does also offers a comment on this matter of choice; Pi admits that he delegates the form in his story:

I am a person who believes in form, in the harmony of order. Where we can, we must give things a meaningful shape. For example – I wonder – could you tell my jumbled story in exactly one hundred chapters, not one more, not one less? I’ll tell you, that’s one thing I hate about my nickname, the way that number runs on forever. It’s important to conclude things properly. (285)

Pi’s concern with conclusions and form is so strong that he is adamant about the structure of his story – in the end, Life of Pi is one hundred chapters long. The idea that he is able to delegate this reminder of globalization in his life emphasizes the idea that no theory about globalization will ever be absolute.

In addition to considering the breakdown of the chapters, Pi also deliberates upon his name. Piscine Molitor Patel, the name given to Pi at birth by his parents, contains elements from two different countries; the Piscine Molitor pool in Paris was Mamaji’s favorite pool, and Patel is of course Pi’s paternal Indian last name, the second most popular name in the country (12). When Piscine gives himself the nickname of Pi, he at the same time transforms his name from a meld of French and Indian into a highly globalized figure (which happens to be Greek); the mathematical symbol Pi is present in virtually every advanced culture across the globe, and the number stretches into infinity, which is by nature borderless. It is interesting that Pi was given one name and chose another, and both represent globalization; this demonstrates the idea that since some aspects of globalization are self-chosen and others are oppressive, globalization can be seen as neither completely bad or absolutely good.

Perhaps the most blatant example of a chosen aspect of globalization is his choice of religion. Born into a secular family, Pi discovers three different religions. His hybridized religion is distinct from any that he has seen, and what he is left with is an “extraordinarily individualized faith” that is “the natural result of his actions” (“Ann”). Pi’s religion, because he has decided to practice three different faiths that are traditionally not practiced together, disregards the boundaries of traditional practices of faith. In that sense, Pi’s religion is entirely globalized.

Of course, the presence of all three religions in Pondicherry is a facet of a globalized world as well – if it weren’t for the dismissal of national boundaries, these three religions, and their respective wisemen who appear in the book, would not exist together in the same area, and Pi would never have been exposed to the beauties of the various religions. It is because of globalization that Pi is able to understand all of the religions and also identify with their respective figureheads, referring to his “crown of thorns” (20) and his tendency to “[feel] like the persecuted prophet Muhammed in Mecca” (21).

In addition to an understanding of religion, Pi also acknowledges that he understands the ideal borderless world. Consider the conversation between Pi and his mother regarding his choice to study three religions:

“I don’t see why I can’t be all three. Mamaji has two passports. He’s Indian and French. Why can’t I be a Hindu, a Christian and a Muslim?”

“That’s different. France and India are nations on earth.”

“How many nations are there in the sky?”

She thought for a moment. “One. That’s the point. One nation, one passport.” (73)

Pi’s closing remark in this argument is simply, “If there’s only one nation in the sky, shouldn’t all passports be valid for it?” (74). Evidently, Pi is wise enough to understand the idea of borders and that religions, in their truest sense, should be borderless. This understanding facilitates a similar understanding of the ideal globalized world, in which one passport would be valid for all nations. Although this is an extremely ideal vision of globalization, the fact that Pi can grasp it as a concept illustrates the idea that he understands the prospect of a borderless world.

The difference between this expression of globalization and its smothering forces of globalization that have been seen so far in Life of Pi is the fact that Pi chooses to practice his religion this way. Similarly, when Pi grows into an adult, he infuses his home with elements of a globalized world:

In the entrance hall hangs a framed picture of Ganesha, he of the elephant head…On the wall opposite the picture is a plain wooden cross…there is a small framed picture of the Virgin Guadalupe…Next to it is a framed photo of the black-robed Kaaba, holiest sanctum of Islam…On the television set is a brass statue of Shiva as Nataraja, the cosmic lord of the dance. (46)

Obviously, Pi has allowed his globalized religion to permeate his home.

In addition to religious paraphernalia, Pi embraces globalization in other ways. Consider what the narrator of Chapter 6 reveals about Pi’s kitchen while reading brand names:

I can’t even tell what language they’re in. We are in India. But he handles Western dishes equally well. He makes the most zesty yet subtle macaroni and cheese I’ve ever had. And his vegetarian tacos would be the envy of all Mexico. (25)

Clearly, Pi’s meals as an adult are another embodiment of globalization. He uses various ingredients to cook dishes from around the globe. Like the religions that he practices, the foods that Pi cooks are a combination of many different cultures.

The manifestations of globalization that Pi chooses for himself serve as reminders that, although globalization can be an oppressive force, it is also one that produces an amalgam of cultures that should often be appreciated. Despite the fact that the forces of globalization contributed in the most literal sense to the shipwreck – if they weren’t crossing borders, there would have been no ship to wreck – and to Pi’s tenure at sea, and in effect have victimized him, he still chooses to see the effects of it in his life. Though he will not allow the forces behind globalization to completely overwhelm him, Pi will not fully disregard them either. He heeds his father’s advice to not resign himself to dinasaurhood by refusing to benefit from the spread of good ideas. In this sense, Pi is neither a globalist nor an anti-globalist, but rather a glocalist who, like the state in Sites’s article, is both facilitator to and victim of globalization.

While Pi never explicitly states that globalization is pertinent to the failure of Tsimtsum, he certainly implies that there were some negative consequences of the phenomenon; the lack of communication that exists between the passengers and the crew because of a language barrier is one example: “They made us feel unwelcome in the common room and hardly said a word to us during meals. They went on in Japanese as if we weren’t there” (314). Because globalization is the force that brings people together by disregarding boundaries, it is ironic that on this globalized ship, the Indians are unable to communicate with the Japanese. It is also important that this particular symbol of globalization founders; the ship sinks.

Pi’s understanding of globalization allows him to do more than simply recognize the effects that it has on his life; it also allows him to have faith that his lifeboat will be found. After Tsimtsum sinks, Pi is optimistic about what is happening worldwide: “Right now in Tokyo, in Panama City, in Madras, in Honolulu, why, even in Winnipeg, red lights were blinking on consoles” (113). Because Pi has been raised in a globalized setting, he has faith in the sort of help that globalization will be able to offer him. In this sense, Pi enacts Sites’s theory about the state in the process of globalization, that it is “simultaneously facilitator and victim of globalization” (121). Even after Pi has been victimized by globalization – he certainly would not have been stranded on a lifeboat if it hadn’t been for the decision his father made to move across the globe – he facilitates the thought of globalization by believing that it will help him be found.

Can’t Go On Without You: Conclusions

As a child who has been raised in a globalized context, Pi is able to understand and recognize the effects of globalization throughout the story; in this regard, he is similar to the members of a developing generation of people who have been surrounded by globalization their entire lives and have begun to comment that globalization and localization are not opposite phenomena, but that they are reactions to each other. As an adolescent, Pi is the perfect metaphor for the nascent theory that the processes of globalization and localization are not opposites but instead interactions, and that neither would be possible without the other.

There are many instances in this novel that reinforce the idea that nothing is absolute. While there are many symbols for globalization, localization, and glocalization throughout the novel, most of them work on multiple levels. The algae island that Pi stumbles on in the Pacific may have an internal structure – in which the roots and branches intertwine – that reminds us of globalization but, having not yet been discovered by the rest of the world, it is obviously not entirely globalized. Also, the idea that it is entirely self-sufficient relates it to the idea of localization.

As a whole, Pi’s story works on all of these levels; it cannot be denied that he lives in a global world, and that he understands it as such. It is also true, however, that Pi’s actions on the lifeboat more closely resemble the actions of someone rebelling against the oppressive force of globalization. The theory of glocalization tells us that we must not choose either localization or globalization as the ultimate power, but a combination of the two. The same is true of how to read Life of Pi as a contemporary novel. It does not make a comment on whether the forces of globalization or localization are positive or negative; rather, Martel presents aspects of both thoughts and does not easily reconcile them. Life of Pi may lack a comfortable, neatly tied-together theory about globalization, but it certainly addresses all of the theories that are present in the debate today.

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