Preview

Life of Pi Rough Draft

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
664 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Life of Pi Rough Draft
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..

Pi is a strong believer and practices Hinduism, Christianity, and islam. Believing in all three of these religions Pi sees good things in every one of them because he loves and believes so strongly in god. “I just want to love god” (Martel, 69). Even through the emotional and physical strain Pi faces while on the lifeboat, he still finds the time to pray to god everyday pleading for him, or it to help him survive.
“I was giving up. I would have given up if a voice hadn't made itself heard in my heart. ‘I will not die. I refuse it. I will make it through this nightmare. I will beat the odds, as great as they are. I have survived so far, miraculously. Now i will turn miracle into routine. The amazing will be seen everyday. I will in all the hard work necessary. Yes, so long as god is with me, I will not die. Amen.’” (Martel, 186) Pi’s dedication to god gives him the hope he needs in order to survive his unfortunate predicament.

Fear, another dominant theme in the novel also gives Pi the will to fight for his survival. Fear is a human emotion that sometimes prevents humans or any animal to be successful.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    In How to Read Literature like a Professor, Foster also talks about allegories. The relationship between the tiger and Pi can be considered an allegory. A lot of the time spent on the boat is the classic fight of good vs. evil. Pi, seen as a naive child who could do no wrong, takes the role of the good character. Richard Parker represents the savage “dark side” and takes the role of evil. As the story progresses you see that each could not survive without the other. Richard Parker showed Pi that he could not have survived by being the sweet faultless boy who could not kill and eat a fish. Pi showed Richard Parker that he is inferior to Pi by training him and getting him food. The battle between the two at the beginning digressed to a mutual realization that good cannot always conquer evil and evil…

    • 1658 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    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.…

    • 598 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    First, when pi was a little boy he became fascinated with three different religions. THe three religions were islam,hinduism, and christianity. The story says” But he can’t be a hindu,a christian, and a muslim. It’s impossible. He must choose.” In the quote the religious leaders have brought to attention that pi is practicing all religions. His parents are shocked because the religious leaders were fighting over pt. Each of the religious leaders wanted pi to devote himself to their religion because of the way he practices the religion. Religious leaders do like to see the youth involved with their studies or helping out the community.…

    • 477 Words
    • 2 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 sees Richard Parker as a companion and not an enemy. So, an emotional need of Pi is companionship and having a sense of purpose. “ It was Richard Parker who calmed me down. It is the irony of this story that the one who scared me witless to start with was the very same who brought me peace, purpose, I dare even say wholeness” (Martel 162). With this said, although Richard Parker may be the one that scared him witless the whole entire time, it kept him alert and gave him a purpose to keep living and stay true to his goals and faith. Next, Pi also needs something to keep his mind busy and sane. So, he creates a schedule. “I kept myself busy. That was one key to my survival. On a lifeboat, even on a raft, there’s always something that needs doing” (Martel 190). Every human needs something going on in their head because if not, they would be dead. Pi acknowledges that and creates a schedule for himself to keep him busy and sane. This goes along with the sense of purpose and not giving up on what he set himself to…

    • 1073 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Life Of Pi Analysis

    • 899 Words
    • 4 Pages

    While he was in the lifeboat, he used praying for a couple of things. He used it to pass the time, but it also was used by him to keep his faith restored, and help him get through this really rough time in his life. He often prayed whenever something would go wrong, but at the same time he would just pray to pass some time, and talk to god. The last thing that occurred on the lifeboat that could have affected his mindset is his realization that his family was really gone. He started to understand this heart-wrenching fact in chapter 49, when he starts to decide to look through the rations of the lifeboat. His realization that they are dead causes him to have a decrease in hope of being found and he kicks into survival mode and doesn’t focus on being found but just staying alive. Pi was on the lifeboat for a very long time. 227 days to be exact. In that amount of time, many people tend to lose their sense of communication with others. It is typically highly unlikely that people can just come back into the normal world. However, when Pi returned, he was fully functioning, and was able to come back and do interviews, and later have a wife, children, and pets. That is pretty amazing when you think about it. Lastly, Pi is seen as the protagonist in the entire duration of the story That can prove that he had great determination and will to live because he came out a hero. He did a lot of really great things whilst on the…

    • 899 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Pi is trapped at sea, no way home, all alone, with no family. “The endings are the same as every other, we’re only here to die”. Like the rest of his family, he thinks he will die as well at first before he gains all of his hope.…

    • 651 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    In “Life of Pi”, by Yann Martel, Pi had to overcome emotional obstacles in order to survive his 227 days in the Pacific. Pi faced challenges that would have prevented his physical survival; hesitation, loneliness, despair and boredom. These obstacles would have crippled his mind if he did not conquer them. Pi not only overcomes these obstacles to survive the journey, but takes away valuable lessons from his experience. In order to face the challenges that were presented to him, Pi had to face the imperfections within himself.…

    • 1648 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better 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

    While I was reading the Life of Pi, I ran into a quote that caught my attention, and I feel as if it sums up the emotion behind the struggle Pi encountered. While he was on the boat, Pi states,…

    • 569 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    How Did Pi Survive

    • 589 Words
    • 3 Pages

    He knows that survival it a top priority. In The Life of Pi, it states that, “You must take life the way it comes at you and make the best of it” (Martel 91). Never once did Pi lose hope. He always tried to find a way to survive with some dangerous animals on board and live. “Even when God seemed to have abandoned me," the older Pi says, "he was actually watching” (Cooper).…

    • 589 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    After Pi overcomes his self pity, he decides that he was going to do everything in his power to survive. Pi thinks to himself, “I only had to hitch the other end of the rope to raft...and I might be saved”(Martel 150). This reveals that theme because in Pi’s eyes the building of a…

    • 623 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Life of Pi

    • 888 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Pi had to deal with thoughts of suicide while on the boat. One of his faiths, Islam says in the Five Pillars of Islam that if one has time, they should be praying a minimum of five times a day. While on the lifeboat Pi did exactly that. He would pray five times a day according to how the faith believed it should be. A quote that supports this is when Pi is explaining to the reader his…

    • 888 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sacrifice In Life Of Pi

    • 489 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Pi ends up being the sole survivor on the lifeboat, and it is his faith in himself that makes survival possible. He endures a lot in those 227 days at sea and faces many hardships that he has to overcome. He has lost his family, he is dealing with a crazed murder, and eventually he faces solitude on his journey. He has only himself to count on to get through this exhaustive ordeal. At one of his lowest points, when the reality of his situation really sets in, Pi is worried about dying.…

    • 489 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Struggles In Life Of Pi

    • 675 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In the beginning of the novel, before his journey, he is taught by his father to fear Richard Parker. Piscine holds this fear, even after being stranded on the lifeboat with him. “Richard Parker rose unsteadily to his feet on the tarpaulin … I turned around, stepped over the zebra and threw myself overboard.” However, at some point during the journey, Pi begins to realize his ability to control the tiger and to understand where he fits in.…

    • 675 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays