2. Life of Pi (Without The Main Animals)
Okay, so this one might seem like a bit of an obvious choice, but it's actually disturbing for a whole other reason. In the Life of Pi, the titular Pi is left on a lifeboat with a zebra, orangutan, hyena and a tiger after the freighter his family (and their zoo) are travelling on shipwrecks. Pi survives, ultimately after the zebra, orangutan and hyena are all killed, and the tiger runs off. In an alternative version of his story, Pi gives an account where all the animals are in fact replaced by humans, a much darker version of the story by itself that focuses on animalistic instinct in humans. But: what if it was just animals that were meant to be on the boat with Pi? Say all the zoo animals actually died in the shipwreck. Pi would be left on the lifeboat by himself - which, in all likelihood, would mean he would never learn to fend for himself (which he learns whilst trying to fend for the tiger also) and probably would go insane through the loneliness. Suddenly, the oddly heartwarming tale no longer seems like such an attractive prospect.