Who is justifies to tell stories about real people? Was Art justified in telling his father's story? Is it justified to analyze the story as we do in class? Are we justified to interpret the story in the way we think is correct?
In the movie Life of Pi, the main character, Pi, tells his story of survival as a 16 year old to another man. When he finishes the story and is leaving the area, as he's about halfway through the door, the listener stops him and asks something along the lines of "what do you want me to do with your story now?" Pi turns, seems to shrug and says something like "it's no longer my story, do what you want," and leaves the listener behind. *
Life of Pi is a very controversial movie and book in the sense that it is difficult to tell what parts of the story are true and what parts are not. But isn't it so with all stories? Even autobiographies have parts to them that are exaggerated or slightly false, but those parts may not have been false to the person telling the tale.
Often it is hard to get the truth of a story fully told. There is no black and white way to tell a story truthfully. You can either convey the emotions as they were felt, or the facts as they occurred. There is rarely an in-between. Art Spiegelman seems to use a bit of both in his graphic novel Maus. However, I believe that it is impossible to tell if he truly uses both or just tells the truth of either emotion or fact; because a story is a story. It is always up for interpretation. Humans can't read minds, so the story will never be told precisely the way the author wants to tell it. Ever. Every story will always compromise the truth of something, whether that truth be the loss of emotional representation or factual. And to me, that is the only black and white part in stories.
*I watched this movie a while ago, this may not be exactly what happens, but it is what I remember of the ending
In the movie Life of Pi, the main character, Pi, tells his story of survival as a 16 year old to another man. When he finishes the story and is leaving the area, as he's about halfway through the door, the listener stops him and asks something along the lines of "what do you want me to do with your story now?" Pi turns, seems to shrug and says something like "it's no longer my story, do what you want," and leaves the listener behind. *
Life of Pi is a very controversial movie and book in the sense that it is difficult to tell what parts of the story are true and what parts are not. But isn't it so with all stories? Even autobiographies have parts to them that are exaggerated or slightly false, but those parts may not have been false to the person telling the tale.
Often it is hard to get the truth of a story fully told. There is no black and white way to tell a story truthfully. You can either convey the emotions as they were felt, or the facts as they occurred. There is rarely an in-between. Art Spiegelman seems to use a bit of both in his graphic novel Maus. However, I believe that it is impossible to tell if he truly uses both or just tells the truth of either emotion or fact; because a story is a story. It is always up for interpretation. Humans can't read minds, so the story will never be told precisely the way the author wants to tell it. Ever. Every story will always compromise the truth of something, whether that truth be the loss of emotional representation or factual. And to me, that is the only black and white part in stories.
*I watched this movie a while ago, this may not be exactly what happens, but it is what I remember of the ending
I really agree with your stance, and I especially like your quote. Who's to say that any one person is lying when they tell a story? The way I remember it will be the truth for me, just as the way you might differently remember it will be the truth for you. I like how you connected this to The Life of Pi, because it reminded me of The Things They Carried. There's no one way to tell a story in its entirety, and there's no way to ensure your readers will view it the same way, either.
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ReplyDeleteAnkita, I like how you started your post with questions causing me to develop my own opinions before reading your position. Your question “Are we justified to interpret the story in the way we think is correct?” is very interesting. People have different ideas on different topics, but each person remembers/interprets something in a way that makes the most sense to them. I also like how you made the connection to The Life of Pi allowing you to make your point that there's no one way to tell a story and have each reader interpret it the same way.
ReplyDeleteAnkita,
ReplyDeleteI really love your stance on this topic! It kind of reminds me of The Things They Carried when Tim O'Brien talked about happening truth and story truth. I think it is kind of similar to what you're saying in that an event that happened may not always be interpreted the same way for everyone because emotions and other factors compromises the happening truth of something.
Jennifer Hu, fifth hour.
I liked the rhetorical questions that you asked in the beginning of your post. It made me think of my personal stance on the topic, and I found myself agreeing with you more and more as the post went on.The connection with The Life of Pi was also interesting and unique.
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