Essay On Vegetarianism In Life Of Pi

In part one of Life of Pi, Yann Martel depicts the story of a young Indian boy who lives in India with his family and it seems picture perfect. The family lives on a mediocre salary and his father owns a zoo with plenty of animals. We learn throughout this part that Piscine is just a normal kid who has a love for animals just like his father and is just as passionate about religion. In fact he almost goes through a religious awakening eventually partaking in a variety of religions such as Hinduism, Catholicism and Islam. It is as if he cannot get enough of one religion so he keeps on adding religion after religion. However at first those religious elders do not agree with Pi’s decision to follow different religions, but his family gradually

Pi was born into the Hinduism, becoming involved in its rites and rituals as an infant (“Life of Pi”). One of the rituals of being a Hindu is believing that all animals are sacred. For Pi, being stranded out on the Pacific Ocean, this was a problem for him. Pi had no other source of food except for the few packages on the lifeboat, which were quickly running out. Pi hesitates to kill one of flying fish that land on his lifeboat, but the lifelong pacifist and vegetarian breaks the fish’s neck (“Life of Pi”). It was hard for Pi to hurt the fish and then he remembered a story from the Hindu religion of Markandeya and falling out of Vishnu's mouth into the universe. This inspired him to see how small and meaningless his suffering actually was. (Martel). So his faith in Hinduism was a double-sided sword in which he found more light than darkness

In The Vegetarian by Han Kang, what appears to be one insubordinate South Korean woman’s choice to not eat meat, becomes a much larger issue revolving around what is normal, and just how far others should be allowed to impose their own views of reality onto another person’s life. Yeong-hye’s unusual ways, while strange to the mainstream culture’s expectations, present their own rationality in her mind. She sees it as a way to oppose the violent tendencies of human nature, in order to find her own peace in life. Kang takes this idea to the farthest extent with the philosophical question, should a person be allowed to choose to die because their life is just that, their own life? The unique perspective of this novel comes from a South Korean author, which helps to develop her questions based a childhood trauma in her country. This tragedy leads to her novel’s exploration of the idea of what is normal, the impossibility of understanding another individual’s idea of normal, and is it rational to commit suicide if it is connected to one’s idea of normal. All these questions are connected through Yeong-hye’s choice to be a vegetarian, and are presented to the reader to form their own views throughout the novel.

While on the road to nowhere, Pi starts to acquire water from the rain and obtains food to stock up while he’s worrying about the 400 pound tiger that’s on the lifeboat while Pi is on a small raft. When Pi starts to tame Richard Parker he can finally call him a friend and now has a purpose. As a Hindu, Pi does not eat meat but that went out of the window when he catches a fish and eats it raw to stay alive. When it comes down to survival there is no preference in what to eat.

At the beginning of Life of Pi, Pi Patel has to adapt to his new situation, and the constant fear of his newfound boatmate, a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. Pi, a vegetarian must learn to survive, which in his situation, involves the killing and eating of animals. To preserve his life, he must distance himself from his former life of vegetarianism. “I wept heartily over this poor little deceased soul. It was the first sentient being I had ever killed. I was now a killer. I was now as guilty as Cain. I was sixteen years old, a harmless boy, bookish and religious, and now I had blood on my hands. It’s a terrible burden to carry. All sentient life is sacred. I never forget to include this fish in my prayers.” (Martel, 183). Pi has

Pi’s journey to come to love this God was more of a struggle than Hinduism because of his confusion of the Jesus as a sacrifice, but Pi states “The more he bothered me, the less I could forget Him. And the more I learned about Him, the less I wanted to leave him” providing him with purpose, meaning and direction. This quote can be a reflection of Pi’s relationship with Richard Parker as he learns to live with him at sea. Pi could not forget the Bengal tiger because he had to be aware of him to keep himself safe. This forced Pi to learn about Richard Parker and as he learned about him, Pi came to love the tiger, making it easier to live with him. Pi applied Christianity to his very own survival. Not until Pi suffers from hunger and thirst, becomes sad and anxious, is heckled and harassed, and puts up with adversaries who (at first) do not respect him and then is saved after praying for survival does he truly feel the love that Christianity promises. Pi takes the common precept of love, which is ever evident in the Christian faith and applies in order to survive with

In Life of Pi, the main character is Piscine Molitor, though people call him Pi. Pi’s family was on their way to immigrate to Canada via ship, though the ship sinks in the middle of the ocean and the only survivors are Pi, an orangutan, a zebra and a tiger stranded on a lifeboat. Later on, the orangutan and zebra die, leaving a hungry tiger that is unpredictable and Pi who has limited resources, in the middle of the ocean. If Pi wants to not die and have a chance to survive, he must stay alive from the ocean and the tiger. Since Pi is stranded on a lifeboat with a tiger in the middle of the ocean with limited resources, Pi has to survive mentally and physically throughout the whole ordeal.

When Yann Martel tells of Pi Patel’s life story after the shipwreck, he presents it in two distinctive ways: one being with animals, and one without. As a young boy, Pi began to develop a love of animals as a result of growing up on the lands of Pondicherry Zoo, his family zoo in India. He also finds that he has a deep passion for religion. Supposedly, Life of Pi will make one believe in God, as it did to Pi in these two stories.

Piscine “Pi” Patel was shipwrecked and lost at sea which he remained for 227 days. In the crash he lost his entire family and was the sole human survivor. He maintained his sanity and innocence by putting his life into god's hands. Pi stayed true to himself and his religion and constantly prayed and talked to god. The Author of the book claimed that the story of Pi would make you believe in god. He developed this claim by detailing the long and adverse time at sea. Not only physically with the lack of food and fresh water, Pi also had a hard time surviving mentally seeing how he was stranded on a life raft for 200 plus days with only a tiger as his company.

In Life of Pi, the movie displays an tragic shipwreck, which leaves a boy and a tiger for dead in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, without any survival tools or prior experiences. The boy, also known as Pi, is left with an Adult Bengal Tooth Tiger. A vicious animal preying at all times. The role that adversity plays in the film has Pi leaving no choice than to adapt to the culture around him While an average young boy or in-fact any person would freak out and lose hope, Pi decides that the wanted to fight and survive. As quoted in the film, Pi says “ You must take life as it comes and make the best of it”. This quote he says, he describes how when you are thrown into a problem, you

Throughout the 1st part of the novel we see Pi grow up and adopt many contrasting religious beliefs. Pi was born Hindu, which is shown on page 66 when the 3rd religious men are arguing about Pi’s belief, “Nonsense!” cried the pandit. “Piscine was born a Hindu, lives a Hindu and will die a Hindu!” This quote presents that Pi follows the Hindu religion, he however also follows both Islamic and Christian faiths as well. These are both shown on two different page, for Christianity this is displayed on page 57 when the text states, “ I booted up that hill. Though Father Martin was no IN- alas, his block was slid over- thank God he was in. Short of breath I said,

The faith Pi has in God and himself is shown when Pi is on the lifeboat will all the animals. Event happening on the lifeboat included Richard Parker eating the hyena. When this occurred Pi started losing faith in himself but he reassured himself. This is when his faith started to emerge. Pi starting to develop faith in himself, which can be considered as one of the most important factors for Pi being able to survive.

It is difficult to talk about the Life of Pi text without making a reference to faith, and the same goes with explaining Pi’s survival. Pi’s belief in pluralism and acceptance of the three religions, Hinduism, Christianity and Islam aid his future and is a crucial part of his survival at sea. His faith in knowing “so long as god is with me, I will not die” gives him the mental strength and will power to survive his ordeal. Even in the middle of the ocean, Pi practices all his religious rituals such as ‘‘solitary masses without consecrated Communion Hosts’’

Life of Pi shows that humans and animals should do anything necessary to survive whatever challenges they face to live instead of just accepting death. Whatever ways that help one to survive are necessary, even if they compromise personal values, are vicious, or are wicked. Pi, a human; a hyena, and a blind man all fight to survive in a variety of ways that are examples of this thesis.

Bengali polymath, Rabindranath Tagore, once said “you can’t cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water.” In the novel Life of Pi by Yann Martel, the protagonist, Pi, faces many challenges at sea while being accompanied by a tiger by the name of Richard Parker. This tiger, though a nuisance, proves to be essential in the role of Pi’s survival. Throughout the story, Richard Parker symbolizes survival, a reflection of Pi, and a being of God.