Prompt Five: Weather

When an author states the weather in his or her story, there are two reasons. The most obvious being that stating weather allows the reader to imagine the setting. The second is much more complicated but more essential to the author’s plot and the reader’s interpretation. An author does not simply write that the setting is rainy because the story occurs in the damp city of Seattle or the weather was foggy because it was early dawn. Thomas C. Foster contends that weather foreshadows events and symbolizes a theme. For example, rain may symbolize the cleansing of a character’s mind, body, and spirit. The fog foreshadows a character’s confusion possibly from a lapse in judgement. Foster also explains that the significance of the weather is each reader’s interpretation. Sometimes it may be raining in a story and not symbolize anything. Because the weather did have did not affect the plot, the reader has the opportunity to interpret the significance of this element.

In Yann Martel’s novel, Life of Pi, weather is significant in the story’s plot and theme. For example, when the main character is aboard a ship, a dark and powerful storm occurs. Storms typically symbolize disaster, not happiness or comfort. This storm foreshadows an event that will drastically affect the story. In this case, the main character, Pi Patel is hurled off the boat. Patel then awakes in a life boat surrounded by the ocean water and a beautiful sky. This beautiful sky symbolizes the hope and possibility that he will survive. Although Pi Patel's life was in shambles his life would change just like the weather.