Discovery is the awareness of a new piece of knowledge that further enhances an individual’s

understanding of their life. This is explored through the concepts of spiritual and creative
discoveries, represented in Life of Pi and The Night Face Up. Ang Lee’s Life of Pi (2012) is a film that
explores the spiritual journey of a boy named Pi. Julio Cortazar’s, The Night Face Up is a story that
explores the creative discovery of a man who discovered a dream-like world in which he is part of
the Motecas tribe during their battle with the Aztec tribe. Therefore, the protagonists in both texts
undergo two different processes of discovery such as creative and spiritual which causes a significant
transformation in their mental outlooks.

Discoveries can be sudden or unexpected and they can influence individuals to gain a greater
understanding of themselves and the world. Pi is on the brink of starvation, when he suddenly
discovers a plentiful island which becomes a place of rest for him and Richard Parker. Pi’s decision to
stay on the island is ruined by the drastic and unexpected change in the island’s nature; at night it
becomes acidic and carnivorous. This is conveyed through an aerial shot of the bioluminescent acidic
pools being sustained as fish flap around in agony, symbolising the destructive nature of the
carnivorous island. The repetition of overhead shots of the pools in the shape of the iris of the eye, is
symbolic of the window to the soul and the concept of clarity. This conveys that the island will
ultimately consume Pi’s soul due to the constant isolation of the island’s location and the destructive
night-time nature of the island. The island has two conflicting natures; at daytime, it represents the
circle of life, whereas at night- time, the island represents the fragility of life because the island can
remove life just as easily as it can sustain it. Therefore, the sudden or unexpected change in the
island’s nature which occurs during the transition of day to night reflects Pi’s unexpected discovery
of the fragility of life and this pushes him to leave and re-establish his connection with society.

Similarly, the ramifications of unexpected discoveries are explored in The Night Face Up. Julio
Cortazar influenced the reader to believe that the protagonist lived in the modern world of the
hospital and the Aztec world was interpreted as a dream world. Irony is represented at the
conclusion of the story because the modern world of the hospital is re-interpreted as his dream,
instead of the Aztec world which was initially interpreted as the protagonist’s dream. The
protagonist’s realisation of the changed interpretations of his worlds is conveyed through the quote:
“ He managed to close his eyelids again, although he knew….. that he was awake, that the
marvellous dream had been the other.” This quote conveys that the Aztec world is described in a
more vivid and life-like way than the hospital ‘reality’ which indicates that the hospital is in fact a
dream, instead of the Aztec world. Therefore, the author challenged the original view that the
hospital was the dream, whereas the Aztec world was real. He achieved this by revealing that the
roles of the protagonist’s two different worlds have been reversed which indicates that it is possible
for both settings to be portrayed as dreams at different stages of the story.

Discoveries can be confronting and provocative and the effects of these discoveries may irreversibly
change us. The sinking of the Tsimtsum casts Pi into the ‘ocean of life’ where he must be able to fend
for himself. His intense suffering is powerfully conveyed in the storm scene where wide shots are
used to expose his vulnerability in the wild ocean. Christ-like imagery displays him screaming at
‘God’, with his arms spread in surrender: “Why are you scaring him? I’ve lost my family. I’ve lost
everything. I surrender. What more do you want?” A sustained scene that cuts between shots of Pi
bracing himself against the sides of the boat, and shots of him and the tiger being swamped by
waves emphasises the prolonged nature of his suffering. In this scene, Pi is sacrificing or
surrendering himself to God in order to shelter Richard Parker from the devasting storm. Pi is
portrayed as the stronger character in this scene because he is putting himself in danger in order to
protect Richard Parker. This is ironic because Richard Parker was initially portrayed as the stronger
character, not Pi. Pi’s suffering is a necessary consequence that he must endure in order to achieve
his spiritual growth and discovery, because his suffering teaches how to surrender to his inevitable
fate so that he can finally find peace. Therefore, the fade to black at the end of the scene symbolises
that he has discovered the ability to deal with the loss of his prized possessions and he has overcome
his fear of mortality.

Similarly, confronting or provocative discoveries can have different interpretations which are
explored in The Night Face Up. The Night Face Up has an ambiguous nature, because it is possible for
both settings, the modern world and the Aztec world to be the protagonist’s dream worlds. The
author’s use of a selective omniscient narrator, (which can only enter the protagonist’s mind in
order to describe his feelings) reflects the third person view that the protagonist could be the
narrator of the story and he may be looking at himself in a dream (a dream inside a dream). This idea
is conveyed in the following quotes: “ He was scared to hit the woman with his motorcycle “, and “
He was scared to be taken as a scapegoat by the Aztecs” and these quotes reflect the ambiguous
nature of the story because “…….there was often plenty of fear in his dreams” .Therefore, the story
has two different interpretations which are that the modern world and the Aztec world are both
dream worlds that the protagonist created in his mind in order to escape the harshness of his real
world.

Therefore, discovery is the awareness of a piece of new knowledge that further enhances an
individual’s understanding of their life. This is evaluated and explored in Ang Lee’s Life of Pi (2012)
and Julio Cortazar’s Night Face Up through the use of two different creative and spiritual discoveries.
Life of Pi is a film that discusses the spiritual transformation of Pi and The Night Face Up is a story
that discusses the creative discoveries of the protagonist’s different worlds. Moreover, the
protagonists have endured two different processes of discovery which has significantly changed
their mental outlooks.