Thesis F - Conclusions
Can’t Go On Without You
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.
