Preview

Life Of Pi Animal Symbolism

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1427 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Life Of Pi Animal Symbolism
Throughout literary history, animals have been utilized in tales to convey moral ideologies. Frequently, these animals interact with the human race. This literary technique is modeled in the novel Life of Pi. This novel details the adventure of Piscine "Pi" Martel as he is stranded in the Pacific Ocean with a hyena, a zebra, a orangutan named Orange Juice, and a tiger named Richard Parker. Pi is polyreligious; he is a Hindu, Christian, and Muslim. Pi's religious beliefs aid him in his struggle to survive. The animals also play an interesting part in Pi's religious involvement. The animals are an "essential component of the story" because they "decenter human beings" and "put animals back in the center of our secular and religious imaginations" …show more content…
While on a family vacation, Pi visits a Catholic Church and a Islamic Mosque. He hides in the shadows afraid to cause a scene. Slowly, he adapts to the environment and speaks to holy men employed by both sanctuaries. Pi is fascinated by these religions and wishes to understand them; he finds comfort in the prophets, gods, and ideologies that follow. While on vacation, Pi is confronted by group consisting of a representative from of each of the faiths because they were not aware that he was attempting to practice three religions. Pi's parents and brother are oblivious to the fact that he frequents a church and mosque. Similar to the holy men, they are shocked. Everyone but Pi's mother demanded that he chooses one religion to practice; however, his refuses stating that he finds comfort in all three religions, much to their chagrin (Martel). During this encounter, Pi states, "Bapu Gandhi said, "All Religions are true,' I just want to love God" (Martel 69). Once home, Pi continues to practice Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam. This faith based foundation propels Pi to survive while stranded at sea with feral animals. When hope seems lost, he reverts to his religious practices, prayer, and

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Yann Martel's Life Of Pi

    • 595 Words
    • 3 Pages

    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.…

    • 595 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Life of Pi Humor

    • 368 Words
    • 1 Page

    Mark Twain once said that, “Humor is mankind’s greatest blessing.” This could not be more true in Yann Martel’s novel, Life of Pi. In the novel, Pi, a sixteen year old Indian boy is shipwrecked in the Pacific Ocean. Pi is cast overboard into a lifeboat along with a tiger, orangutan, hyena, and a zebra. Pi is left to survive for two hundred and twenty seven days with his companion, a four hundred and fifty pound Bengal tiger. Humor is used throughout the whole novel to help Pi get through his ordeal. Humor breaks up tension and gives the novel a less serious tone. There are many examples of humor throughout the novel. One example is in towards the beginning of the novel when Pi discusses his childhood. Pi’s real name is Piscine Molitor Patel, but all the kids pronounce his name “pissing.” He finally gets rid of his horrible nickname by announcing that his name is “Pi” during role call at school. This example shows how the author uses humor to create a less serious tone. Also, towards the middle of the novel, while Pi is stranded out in the Pacific, he attempts to train Richard Parker. Pi humorously says, “Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, without further ado, it is my pleasure and honour to present to you: The Pi Patel, Indo-Canadian, Trans-Pacific, Floating Circuuusss!!!”(165). Humor is used in this example to show that Pi still has hope and is trying to make the most out of his horrible situation. Furthermore, the author uses humor in the very last chapter of the novel when Pi is being interviewed by Japanese officials. For example, when Pi is done telling the officials his story, they think that Pi is making it all up, so Pi makes up another story replacing all of the animals with humans. This is yet another example of how the author uses humor to help create a less serious tone in the novel. In conclusion, the use of humor in Life of Pi is prevalent throughout the novel and it is used to help break up tension and create a less serious…

    • 368 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the book 'Life of Pi' you find a young man, who grew up in a very religious world surrounded by animals of wisdom. The author goes into deep explanation of Pi's life, about how he grew up in a zoo and had a tough childhood. Pi develops a love for a higher power and starts to grasp the understanding of God, by learning three different religions. The religions were Islam,Christianity and Buddhism. After each of the teachers found that he was following multiple religions, each of them told him that he could only follow one. Pi continued to follow each of the religions and eventually studied zoology, shocker! Anyway in time soon Pi was on a boat with his parents journeying to Canada where the boat mystically crashed and began to sink. Pi escaped…

    • 764 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Life Of Pi Theme Analysis

    • 353 Words
    • 2 Pages

    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.…

    • 353 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Pi's Devotion To Religion

    • 284 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Pi's devotion to religion helped him through all the tough times in his life, especially the two hundred twenty seven days at sea. Throughout the story, Pi discovers three religions, Hinduism, Christianity and Islam. One day while sitting down eating breakfast, Pi noticed three hills and on each were a church, a mosque, and a temple. Pi was nervous, but got the courage to visit each of these places of worship, in this moment he fell in love with all three religions.…

    • 284 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Life Of Pi Analysis

    • 899 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Why don’t we start in Pi’s childhood, where it all began? Pi grew up in a small town in India. He grew up in the zoo environment, with his dad being the ZooKeeper. So, that very clearly…

    • 899 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Life Of Pi Banned Essay

    • 960 Words
    • 4 Pages

    First off, Life of Pi teaches that anything is possible with God and constant perseverance. Pi manages to live on a twenty-six foot lifeboat with a 450 pound Bengal tiger for a stunning 227 days! He can only do this by keeping the constant belief that God is present. While in India, Pi states, “Religion will save us” (Martel 27). He keeps this belief the entire voyage. For example, Pi states, “I practised religious rituals that I adapted to the circumstances. They brought me comfort; that is certain. But it was hard, oh, it was hard. Faith in God is an opening up, a letting go, a deep trust, a free act of love – but sometimes it was so hard to love” (Martel 208). Despite Pi’s low spirits, he continues to trust that God has a plan and will get him out of the current situation. Not only is Pi one with God, but also one with nature. He is deeply thankful for every sea animal he kills, using every part of the animal’s dead body. He even goes as far as drinking a dead sea turtle’s blood. Life of Pi is a passionate story that strongly reaffirms the existence of a God and for this reason, should not be…

    • 960 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Yann Martel’s novel, Life of Pi, is an inspirational story of a young boy fighting for his life as a castaway with the company of a Bengal tiger. Through his religious beliefs and perseverance he is able to survive, but with great difficulty. In an allegorical sense, this story is brilliant. Pi recreates his story using animals to metaphorically represent the humans who were in his treacherous, archetypal journey because it appeals to everyone more than the frank and straightforward story. Attraction to this allegory proves the deeper point that life is meaningless without believing in the beauty and art of the quest at hand.…

    • 957 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Why Is Pi Come Out Alive?

    • 827 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Now open your eyes think how could you have survived on that boat. Pi survived on that boat with a tiger for 227 days on the Pacific Ocean. The only reasons he came out alive was because these three beliefs with is God,his family and his caring of life. Because Pi's parents were strongly religious and had been brought up a serious Hindu. Religion is important to him in his everyday life.…

    • 827 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The second reason for The Life of PI on religion/spiritual. Patel learns to become very spiritual during his 227 days of being stranded on a lifeboat. He starts to understand of how this world understands by learning through just one animal the bengal tiger. Even though it didn’t talk to him personally like a human would. But it showed him through the most effective way of showing a human being and that is through action. He learned that everything has a place in this world. When he delivers food and water to the tiger he learns to coexist with the tiger and begin to start a relationship with the…

    • 635 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Life of Pi write-up

    • 601 Words
    • 2 Pages

    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…

    • 601 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Life of Pi Rough Draft

    • 664 Words
    • 3 Pages

    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..…

    • 664 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    “Bapu Gandhi said, ‘All religions are true.’ I just want to love God” (Martel 76; ch.23) says Pi in response to being rebuked for his practice of multiple religions. The notion that religion should not be discussed in polite company is demonstrated clearly by the scene Martel depicts in Chapter 23 of “life of Pi”, in which the pundits of Hinduism, Islam and Christianity come almost to blows over Pi’s enthusiastic practice of the three. It is this youthful fascination which equips him for the turbulent time yet to face him, and it is the Truth he discovers in the three religions, unaffected by adult-like notions of exclusivity which benefits him.…

    • 1052 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Life Of Pi Religion Essay

    • 623 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Born a Hindu, Pi has no doubts about his religion. However, when Pi was 14, he was introduced to Christianity. Pi initially misjudges Christianity, thinking it an irrational religion. Yet Pi's faith is soon fortified upon recognizing the mutual goals of all religions.…

    • 623 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When the Tsimtsum sank, not only was Pi shoved face to face with the unknown, but he also lost his family, the core of his human context. Instead, he had to try to survive. Life of Pi is a story about struggling to survive through seemingly insurmountable odds. Throughout the novel, characters are seeking the meaning of life. Pi abandons his lifelong vegetarianism and eats fish to sustain himself. Orange Juice, the peaceful orangutan, fights ferociously against the hyena. Even the severely wounded zebra battles to stay alive; his slow, painful struggle vividly illustrates the sheer strength of his life force. As Martel makes clear in his novel, living creatures will often do extraordinary, unexpected, and sometimes heroic…

    • 468 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays