3.14 In Life Of Pi

In Life of Pi, his long journey and ardent will to stay alive can alone discribe pi’s transformation from a confused and sheltered boy, into a young man who is now mentally broke but somehow uses his psychological experience to strengthen himself. Pi’s spirituality and religion pushes the reader to shift its perspective.

The Life of Pi is a book that focuses on the journey of a young boy named Piscine Molitor Patel while he becomes stranded at sea with the comfort of only a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. Names are significant to this story because you can get more of a connection with someone if names are mentioned more than once and if a little backstory is given.

In the book, The Life of Pi by Yann Martel, Pi becomes a different person after he kills the flying fish. In the beginning of the passage Pi shares that he is a vegetarian, and could never hurt anything living. After Pi kills the flying fish to use for bait, he says, “I wept heartily over this poor little deceased soul” (Martel 88). This portrays the morals of Pi before he kills the flying fish. He gives life a great value and is reluctant to interfere with the wellbeing of anything living. Later in the story, Pi kills another fish, this time a dorado. After catching the dorado, Pi says, “killing it was no problem” (Martel 89). The attitude Pi has towards killing a fish changes drastically the second time compared to

Life of Pi begins with an unique hook in its author’s note. In the author’s note, the fictional author is struggling to come up with a new book concept. He travels to India for inspiration and this is where he meets Francis Adirubasamy, or better known as Mamaji in the book. Adirubasamy claims that he has “a story that will make you believe in God”. After he recounts on the story, the author is determined to meet up with the main character, and he was reeled into the amazing world known as the Life of Pi. As the author listens into Mr. Patel’s adventure, his main objective was to believe in God and this was obviously completed from a quote in the author’s note. “...I agreed with Mr. Adirubasamy that this was, indeed, a story to make you believe in God.”

Karanvir Dhami Ms. Yu ENG3U March 7, 2011 Symbolism in Life of Pi In Life of Pi there are many literary devices used to present the different themes in the novel. The main literary device used in Life of Pi is symbolism. Symbolism is often used to represent an object to something else, either by association or by resemblance. Most of the names of animals, objects and even humans in this novel have a symbolic meaning. In Yann Martel’s Life of Pi, symbolism such as pi’s name, the colour orange and the algae island, are used throughout the novel to provide Pi with protection to help him either survive or overcome his emotional pain. The mathematical pi is undefined, infinite and unable to be understood, just like Piscine Patel.

The first thing that inadvertently displays Pi as a Christ figure is his name Piscine Molitor Patel. He was named after a Parisian swimming pool that Mamaji described as being “a pool that the gods would have delighted to swim in” (Martel pg 11). The name in of itself, is a place that the gods are reborn, this show the depth of religious fervor Pi is implicated in and it foreshadows the devotion he will have in the future. In an ironic twist his name becomes a playground slur by his classmates, he comments how the harassment his name causes is his “crown of thorns”. To stop the relentless pestering he shortens his name to Pi, which in mathematical terms is a number that is irrational, infinite, and non-repeating. His classmates also soon pick

The name Pi is also symbolic because as Pi stated: “I was named after a swimming pool” (8) The word “Piscine” in French translate to ‘swimming pool’ in English. The significance of his name is because he spends 227 days in a huge swimming pool (the ocean) fighting for his life.

The mathematical constant to which ‘Pi’ relates his name has a value of 3.14 which is the approximate fraction 22/7 this represents the 227 days Pi survived at sea. When Pi is introducing himself at his new school he goes up to the board in each class during attendance, writes his name and beside it “π = 3.14” and draws “…a large circle, which [he] then slice[s] in two with a diameter, to evoke that basic lesson of geometry.” Pi repeats this same routine with every teacher on the premise that “repetition is important in the training not only of animals but

In contrast to the background of Lord of the Flies, Pi, the main character in Life of Pi, has a relatively peaceful childhood. He grows up in the 1970s in Pondicherry, South India, during a time of peace and prosperity. Except for school bullies, he is largely ignorant of violence, bar the time his father exposed him and his brother to the dangerous tendencies of the zoo animals. Furthermore, Pi explores religion for himself, and while he does have values impressed upon him by his parents, such as not eating meat, he is largely responsible for creating his own unique set of values that revolve around three major religions.

Pi’s syncretism makes him appreciate all of animal life. He worships them and is even vegan due to being Hindu and Muslim. He also feels it is a sin to harm or kill a living being. In the beginning of the novel, Pi illustrates how he values animals. Even though most of the animals he associates with are in a zoo, he makes sure they are taken care of and content. There are very strict rules in the zoo, and what is strikingly unusual is a sign that reads, “Do you know which is the most dangerous animal in the zoo?” -- pointing to a small curtain (Martel 31). Behind that curtain is a mirror. The most dangerous animal in the zoo is not, in fact, an animal, but a human being. Aside from that, Pi’s syncretized faiths are essentially dualistic. They do not go together, but in some form or fashion, they make sense. To him, religion is more than rite and ritual; it is what they stand for (Martel 48). He is a Christian, a Hindu, and a Muslim, but he feels as though each part of him understands and plays a role in it. Each of them have an aspect of God but are

Pi advances this point to convey that animals are also creatures of customs. When animals first come across their new territory, in the wild or in a zoo, they ceremonially mark “it out in the normal ways of it’s species, with sprays of urine” (18). Once the animalistic ritual is complete, the being does not feel “like a prisoner, but rather like a landholder” (18). This simile, comparing zoo animals to landholders demonstrates Pi’s insight on the comfortableness animals actually experience in zoos. Pi carries on by saying that if animals possessed the intelligence to decide, they would choose the safe enclosures of the zoo over the wild because they are fed, kept comfortable and away from any

Based on the four excerpts from Life of Pi, The Midnight Zoo, The One and Only Ivan, and The Zoo of Extinct Animals, I believe that zoos should not exist. In The Midnight Zoo on page 191, the author says, "I know it's not their home, but it is better than being here, alone, in the zoo." At this point in the story, Andrej and his group of friends tell the animals that they are going to let them out of their cages, so they can be free and not lonely anymore. Even though the zoo is a generally safe place, it makes the animals feel lonely, which is the worst feeling in the world. Also, in The One and Only Ivan, Ivan tells the readers that his domain is made up of “thick glass, rusty metal, and rough cement” (2). At this moment, Ivan is telling

As the title of the novel has already suggested, the name of the protagonist is Pi, legally known as Piscine Moliter Patel. Piscine's first name is later on shortened to "Pi", for it is a much simpler name. If the name is analyzed with further thought, a significant meaning can be uncovered. Pi's name not only represents his identity, but is in a way, connected to the theme the nature of religious beliefs. In the science field, "Pi" is symbolized as the mathematical term for " ". This term is commonly recognized as the number 3.14. In particular aspects of Hinduism, the number 3 signifies the ability an individual possess to build curiosity upon faith and connect with its spirituality. This means that they are often curious about religion

Throughout time, humans have written books based on various genres in an effort to tell a story, whether it is fact or fiction. Storytelling is one of the most beautiful ways to express ideas, and creative thoughts, involving characters, settings, to create a plot. Life of Pi, by Yann Martel, cleverly incorporates ambiguity from the omission of information, and lack of resolution. These aspects in turn, create the ambiguity, which leaves the reader to interpret the text in anyway. The ambiguity formed develops the significance of Pi’s storytelling, to the author and the readers. The post-modern aspects in Life of Pi, leave many things open to interpretation based on Pi’s storytelling ability.

Almost everyone knows that “Pi” ( ) refers to the number 3.14. The exact number is said to be 3.141592653… and so on. Researchers have studied that Pi is used to find the ratio between a circle’s circumference and diameter. Although no one knows who actually discovered Pi, it has been said that it was originally hunted by the Babylonians and Egyptians roughly 4,000 years ago. A famous Egyptian piece of papyrus gives us another ancient estimation for Pi dated around 1650 BC. Some resources suggest that Pi was discovered by making a big circle, then measured both the circumference and diameter with a piece of rope. Pi has been seen in the Old Testament of the Bible. Scientists have said that Pi is far more than just a mathematical number,