Life of Pi: Significance of the Flying Fish
Life of Pi Essay; Significance of the Flying Fish
In Yann Martel’s compelling novel Life of Pi, the main character of the story, Pi Patel, undergoes intense hardships as he lives a castaway’s life on the Pacific Ocean, after losing his entire family and everything he held close to him when the cargo ship, the Tsimtsum, sinks into the dark depths of the sea. Pi finds himself on a lifeboat with several animals, and eventually, with a massive Bengal Tiger, and through all of this hardship and suffering Pi experiences realizations of the cruel survival instinct within every person, and loses his innocence of a perfect world without pain. Through a pinnacle event in the story, the killing of the flying fish, Pi’s innocence to the real world is completely torn, and signifies his progression to an enlightened maturity aware of natural human instinct, and reveals also to the reader the cruelty and evil within each and every human being and the extent of what we would do in order to survive.
The best way to depict the immensity of Pi’s transformation is to have knowledge of who Pi was initially before this chain of events, to really understand where and what Pi came from. A major contributor to Pi’s innocence to killing animals for food is the fact that he was a devout vegetarian, due to his Hindu faith and love of animals. Pi recalls his love of life and creation on page 15, in which he states, “I spent more hours than I can count a quiet witness to the highly mannered, manifold expressions of life that grace our planet. It is something so bright, loud, weird and delicate” (Martel, 15). Pi reveals his love of animals through this quote, and also reveals the kind of emotional connection he has with the animals. They are able to uplift Pi’s spirits and feelings because he feels like he is the presence of another living being, which to him, feels like the presence of another person. Another instance in which Pi’s fascination and admiration for animals is clearly seen is
In Yann Martel’s compelling novel Life of Pi, the main character of the story, Pi Patel, undergoes intense hardships as he lives a castaway’s life on the Pacific Ocean, after losing his entire family and everything he held close to him when the cargo ship, the Tsimtsum, sinks into the dark depths of the sea. Pi finds himself on a lifeboat with several animals, and eventually, with a massive Bengal Tiger, and through all of this hardship and suffering Pi experiences realizations of the cruel survival instinct within every person, and loses his innocence of a perfect world without pain. Through a pinnacle event in the story, the killing of the flying fish, Pi’s innocence to the real world is completely torn, and signifies his progression to an enlightened maturity aware of natural human instinct, and reveals also to the reader the cruelty and evil within each and every human being and the extent of what we would do in order to survive.
The best way to depict the immensity of Pi’s transformation is to have knowledge of who Pi was initially before this chain of events, to really understand where and what Pi came from. A major contributor to Pi’s innocence to killing animals for food is the fact that he was a devout vegetarian, due to his Hindu faith and love of animals. Pi recalls his love of life and creation on page 15, in which he states, “I spent more hours than I can count a quiet witness to the highly mannered, manifold expressions of life that grace our planet. It is something so bright, loud, weird and delicate” (Martel, 15). Pi reveals his love of animals through this quote, and also reveals the kind of emotional connection he has with the animals. They are able to uplift Pi’s spirits and feelings because he feels like he is the presence of another living being, which to him, feels like the presence of another person. Another instance in which Pi’s fascination and admiration for animals is clearly seen is