The book Life of Pi by Yann Martel was published in 2001. The story is primarily about an Indian boy named Piscine Molitor Patel, who survives a shipwreck with a Bengal tiger. Unfortunately, this book is not a part of a series; the characters in the book do however, have an interesting relationship with the author. Yann Martel is from Canada, as stated in the book. The Patel family was moving to Canada, this is also the place Piscine “lives” currently. Martel got the inspiration from his story in Pondicherry, the originally home of the Patel family. Although the meeting of the two was in a sense ironic, it is still the perfect commencement for this realistic fiction.…
In Yann Martel’s Life of Pi, Piscine Molitor Patel illustrates the suffering of a survivor following a major traumatic event. After a cargo ship carrying a full zoo and all of Pi’s family sinks, Pi is left with a few animals and his thoughts to keep him company. While at sea, his supplies dwindle and he has to resort to extreme measures. These measures come into full effect when Pi’s boat leads him to another survivor. The characters of Pi and the other survivor, a French man, portray how the need to survive can force these survivors to resort to savage actions.…
The film Life of Pi explores the concept that discoveries allow man to access to a higher plane of spiritual and self-understanding. Through Pi’s strong connection with his multi-religious and cultural background, Ang Lee demonstrates his struggle between pragmatism and faith when he is stranded at the Pacific. For instance, Pi is enforced to disobey a tenet of his Hindu faith and hammer the dorado to death so that his predatory companion has something to sustain on. Yet his childhood sincerity that animals have souls and his exceptional sympathy for them bring about a sense of remorse .The saturated green colour and the accompanying diegetic sound portrays fish’s vicious slaughter and his pained expression having to disregard his culture - the Indian vegetarianism. To overcome this trauma, Pi associates the sacrifice of the fish as a mean of saviour using the symbolism of the legends about the Vishnu god in Hinduism “Thank you Vishnu for coming in the form of a fish and saving our lives”. Evidently, Pi’s childhood exploration of divinity alters when he finds himself in the middle of the ocean. Ingenuity and tolerance lies beneath his attempt to balance the reality and faith rather than primarily favour one side or the other .This change indicates that he becomes increasingly aware of his capability from co-existing with Richard Parker, facing starvation and near extinction. Insightfully, the film proposes that religion or reality is not entirely contrasting through his successful manipulation of the twos to stay consistently…
While reading the book The Life of Pi you come across a ton of themes. There is not just one theme to pick from and the entire book is not just black and white. The Life of Pi is an amazing story about how a young man went against all the odds and survived something that most would see as certain death. The theme that I picked out for this book is the boundaries between humans and animals.…
Pi’s hero’s journey begins with his ordinary life in Pondicherry, India. His father owns a zoo and he loves to help out and examine all the animals. Pi is very religious, therefore; he prays on his prayer rug almost every day. Pi was called to adventure when his family told him one day that they were moving to Canada. “We’ll sail like Columbus” (111). Pi’s father said this in relation because the Patel’s, themselves, were about to sail across the ocean. They will be traveling on the Tsimtsum across the Pacific Ocean. Pi was not thrilled when he heard this from his dad. He refused this call because he was agitated that he was getting ready leave everything behind in India. That meant he was vacating the zoo and also he was leaving all of the religious teachers he had met. “We…
Siddhartha tells the story of a man searching for peace; Life of Pi captivates the life of a boy trying to comprehend the world around him. Both protagonists, Siddhartha and Piscine Patel, use a type of “guess-and-check” system while venturing through the world. Throughout his lifetime, Siddhartha is a Brahmin, Samana, businessman, and ferryman. Meanwhile Piscine as a young boy tries to follow three different religions at the same time. Looking at the world through different perspectives taught both Siddhartha and Pi how to live and understand life.…
- The stages include; the ordinary world, the call to adventure, refusal of call, meeting with the mentor, crossing the threshold, tests allies and enemies, approach, the ordeal, the reward, the road back, the resurrection, and the return with the elixir.…
Over the course of this unit, I have read the so called “life changing” novel “The Life of Pi” by Yann Martel. This work of art happens to be a national best seller and has collected many literature awards. Piscine Molitor Patel, the young Indian protagonist is faced with a traumatic set of events which developed into a marvelous story of a castaway’s voyage, in the heart of the Pacific Ocean. This essay will discuss the essential factors which enabled Pi to overcome the extreme circumstances and survive, to fulfill the archetypal quest hero pattern. The three main factors that saved Pi’s life are his religion, sanity, and will power. Pi Patel, a native of India is born and raised and lives at his father’s Pondicherry Zoo. Pi believes in three faiths, Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam which plays a major role in his development as a character. At the age of 16, Pi’s family boards a Japanese cargo ship with their animals, in hope of starting a new life in Canada. However, the ship sinks and Pi is forced onto a lifeboat with his three other companions. Over the course of the story, Pi endures gruesome events on the ocean in his lifeboat. Pi overcomes all the conditions and survives, due to the motivation of his best friend, Richard Parker the Bengal tiger. Pi Patel was successful in his quest to survive, and demonstrated the archetypal hero quest pattern. The outrage stage begins when his ship sunk, and mostly everyone dies except for him and three others. Pi “commits to the journey,” but it’s not as if he has a choice; he’s about to be on a voyage for two hundred and twenty seven days. Pi faces the challenge and adventure stage, when he becomes companions and Richard Parker’s master on the boat. He faces the “heart of the storm” when he goes against his religion, and green diet and starts to eat meat to survive. Pi finds out that his reward is the fact of living. Pi is blessed by…
Life of Pi by Yann Martel, follows the life of a young boy named Pi, who is marooned in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean after a shipwreck. He is only accompanied by a zebra, an orangutan, a hyena, and a brutal, barbarous Bengal tiger. Young Pi must confront the elements and live at the will of Mother Nature throughout the book as he tries to stay alive in the vast abyss of the Pacific Ocean. How to Read like a Professor, by Thomas Foster is a guide to unlocking the hidden truths in any work of literature. In Chapter 19, “Geography Matters”, Foster explains how geography can play a leading role in literature in shaping the plot, characters, tone, and theme. In Life of Pi, geography assumes a central role in Pi’s narrative.…
In the book Life of Pi the author Yann Martel wrote about a young boy named Pi Patel surviving on a lifeboat by himself. Throughout the entire book Pi was very close to religion and in the end his religions were the main reason he had survived. At the start of the book Yann Martel introduces three religions, Islam, Christianity, and Hinduism. There are three main points that aided in Pi’s survival. One being that Pi was open to religions and started to follow the Islamic faith. The second reason is that Islam believed that one should pray five times a day, and Pi did exactly this. The last reason is that the religion believes that suicide is completely forbidden and Pi was thinking of committing suicide on the boat. Pi believing and following the Islamic faith most defiantly helped him survive on the life boat.…
In Life of Pi, storyteller Pi Patel explains the firsthand account of his adventures. When his family’s zoo business fails in India, they embark on a sea voyage to begin a new life – however, one night aboard their ship in the middle of the ocean, a deadly storm hits, leaving Pi trapped in a lifeboat with several zoo animals. After several brutal incidents, including Pi murdering a hyena, Pi is then left to…
In the novel Life of Pi by Yann Martel, there are three themes that seem to overpower throughout; religion, fear, and hope. When the main character in the novel, Pi, is forced to move the family's zoo from Pondicherry India to Canada in search for a better life, their boat suddenly begins to sink in the middle of the pacific ocean. Miraculously Pi is the only human that survives. But unfortunately for this poor boy he is stuck on a 26 foot lifeboat with a zebra, an orangutan, a hyena, and a three year old bengal tiger named Richard Parker. The themes religion, fear, and hope are repeatedly stressed to try to get the reader to greater grasp the concepts of what Pi was going through while stranded on a lifeboat for 227 days. These three themes are also the driving forces that strive and help Pi to fight for his survival even when there are no signs of success..…
In the world's wide spectrum of stories that are to either be told or written, stories have elements. Their elements being: characters, plot, setting, and etc. No matter the story, what mainly fabricates these imaginary or real events are characters. In Life of Pi, we are being told about life from a boy's perspective. The boy's name is Piscine Patel and later becomes to be known as Pi (Martel 23). Pi is a boy who was born in India and his initial religion being Hindu (50). As the story progresses, we acknowledge that he is inspired by his father named Santosh Patel. Santosh Patel is known to be a father, but also known for his previous status as a owner for a hotel. Due to his devotion to curiosity and love for nature, he abandoned his position…
Religion is important. It gives people something to believe in. Religion brings people together, gives hope, and gives people a deeper understanding of the world around them. For Piscine Patel, better known as “Pi”, religion is of upmost importance. In the novel, The Life of Pi, Pi decides to follow multiple religions. He follows Islam, Hinduism, and Christianity. Though controversial, Pi believes that by following multiple religions it allows him to love God more. After reading the novel it is clear that Hinduism and Christianity were the most impactful religions on Pi’s life. Hinduism and Christianity seem very different at first look, yet they both influence Pi’s life throughout the novel, with Hinduism leaving more of an impact.…
Life of Pi is a story that it can be translated in completely opposing ways. While one reader might find it deeply religious, another may find Pi's story as atheistic. However, there is a common theme that the book urges to all readers, which is to have faith in your beliefs. Through the character Pi, Yann Martel proves how hard yet ultimately rewarding, it can be to have faith.…