For centuries, the language of Mythos has allowed mankind to open up its imagination and spiritual side to obtain the emotional truth. Human condition has led people to forgo the mythical stories for the dry, yeastless factuality. The Life of Pi by Yann Martel tests the human imagination with a story centering on a young boy named Piscine Patel and his survival story after tragically losing his family. He finds himself stranded on a boat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with a fully-grown Bengal tiger. Similarly, Daniel Wallace’s novel Big Fish, elaborates on the stories of a father's incredulous life and his son’s wish to comprehend the truth about his father. Analogous to The Life of Pi, Big Fish uses a combination of fact and fiction to…show more content… In the Life of Pi, Pi’s ‘true’ traumatic experiences as a castaway create a difficult environment for him to live and thrive. As a means of coping for his traumatic experience he tells the “better story” that contains animals instead of humans. “That's what fiction is about, isn't it, the selective transformation of reality? The twisting of it to bring out its essence?” (vi). In doing so, Pi doesn’t have to face the reality of how cruel and ferocious people can be. Contrary to Pi, in Big Fish, Edward Bloom uses storytelling as a way of communicating to his son the truth of what he was like, what he did, and what he loved. In the vignette, “In Which He Has A Dream”, William encounters people from Edward’s life that he envisioned he effected. For example, in William’s lawn, he encountered an old man that said (is this all one quote?? if yes indent it and format it as i did with the quote above) “we all have stories, just as you do. Ways in which he touched us, helped us, gave us jobs, lent us money, sold it to us wholesale. Lots of stories. They all add up over time. Over a lifetime it all adds up ….And what did my father do for you? “He made me laugh” (139). Edward had an ability to affect people and make them laugh “which was perhaps his most extraordinary” (130) power according to William. In the short story, “In Which He Buys A Town, And More” Edward is again seen as a loving and influential man in the town of Spectre. While discussing the story and influence of his father, William says “he clearly loves the town so much, and all of the people in it, and they love him back, because it is impossible not to love my father” (148). In the retelling of Edward’s mythical stories by William, the reader sees how Edward lived and wanted to be remembered. Edward’s stories had the truth of how he perceived himself and what he wanted to be known to the world. Through the various purposes of
