What if the glorious animals of Life of Pi never really existed? Life of Pi is no doubt a very innovative and creative novel. An example of this is how it uses animals to tackle challenges that one faces when stranded at sea. The most prevalent animals were a zebra, hyena, orangutan, and a Tiger known as Richard Parker. However the animals were never really there, but instead were just metaphors for Pi’s changing psychology and personality throughout the book. The Grant Zebra is one of the first animals Pi comes in contact with. The Zebra is a metaphor for the drastic change of Pi being thrown into this situation and how it affected him. “It was a male Grant… It landed with a loud crash on the last bench smashing it and shaking the whole …show more content…
For Pi to become stronger and survive the Hyena, his strong side, had to kill the Zebra, his weak side. “The hyena had attacked the zebra. It’s mouth was bright red and it was chewing on a piece of hide” (Martel 120). At that moment, Pi first gets the idea about how bad his situation is. Eventually, he realizes exactly what’s going on and what he must do to survive. “I had to stop hoping so much that a ship would rescue me. I should not count on outside help” (Martel 168). At this moment, Pi is completely abandoning the part of his personality that represents weakness and is starting to embrace his stronger side. This is translated by the Zebra giving up and dying. After Pi embraces a stronger side it is easy to see the similarities between him and the hyena. An example of this would be their disregard for hygiene. “My urine look delicious!...I splashed my urine on the tarpaulin and over the locker lid” (Martel 172). Although not as severe as the hyena Pi displays a large lacking of hygiene by even considering drinking his urine and pouring it on where he spends most of his time. Another trait Pi adapted from his new personality is his sense of greed. The hyena is known for greed, and even displays this on the boat. “When it was no longer satisfied with the reach it had from behind the zebra… it started pulling out coils of intestines... seemingly overwhelmed by …show more content…
“She came floating on an island of bananas in a halo of light, as lovely as the Virgin Mary” (Martel 111). As soon as Pi sees Orange Juice he relates her to a savior like the Virgin Mary. The main reason the Orangutan was introduced was because Pi lost a major factor in his life as a result of the wreck. Pi obviously loved his mother very much, and a main reason for this was because she was very protective and wanted his well-being. “‘Oh really, is this necessary?’ interrupted mother… ‘but Piscine? He’s only eight,’ Mother insisted”. (Martel 32). With the information about Orange Juice and Pi’s mother, it is easy to see the similarities between the two. Orange Juice was actually vital to Pi’s survival. “children whose mothers nurtured them early in life have brains with a larger hippocampus, a key structure important to learning, memory and response to stress” (Mom’s Love Good for Child’s Brain). Orange Juice was crafted by Pi’s psyche as a type of coping mechanism to help deal with his stress, and also help bring some joy to him. The Orangutan can also be seen as a sense of protection. This is mostly visible in the times of conflict with the Hyena. When the Hyena kills Pi’s innocence (Zebra) the Orangutan becomes anxious but still remains. Soon after though Pi’s savage and ruthless side (Hyena) kills of Pi’s protection and love. This
Pi’s father -Mr. Patel-sacrifices an animal in order to teach his children a lesson of life. He is tired of his children who stick their fingers in the animal’s cage. He wants to keep his children away from doing such dangerous things. He wants to
He is most likely frighted by this idea because he lived with animals and woke up with them every single day throughout his childhood. However when he is put in a situation where he needs to fight for survival, he needs to change his eating habits. Pi tried for a very long time to stay away from consuming animals, but at one point he realized in order to stay alive, he needed to eat his first ever animal. When reminiscing about the event he said, “You may be astonished that in such a short period of time I could go from weeping over the muffled killing of a flying fish to gleefully bludgeoning to death a dorado. I could explain it by arguing that profiting from a pitiful flying fish's navigational mistake made me shy and sorrowful, while the excitement of actively capturing a great dorado made me sanguinary and self-assured. But in point of fact the explanation lies elsewhere. It is simple and brutal: a person can get used to anything, even to killing” (185). This line is so powerful because he truly does feel bad for the animal. Even through all of the tough times that he is enduring on the boat, he still feels really bad about
Yann Martel offers two accounts of Pi’s survival story so that Pi is able to personify animals and also give animalistic qualities to humans. This exchange is only seen after both accounts are read. The reader is able to determine which he or she accepts as reality, but since the facts of the story go unchanged and both tales are primarily the same, the sole purpose is to highlight the traits humans and animals posses. Yann Martel exemplifies human traits in animals and animal traits in people through his claim in passage A by telling the two stories of Pi’s survival.
When we are placed in situations of desperation, we often resort to other motives that we would normally categorize as inhumane in order to survive:“When your own life is threatened, your sense of empathy is blunted by a terrible, selfish hunger for survival,” (133). This becomes apparent to Pi when he does not feel any sympathy towards the zebra, after the ruthless attack from the hyena. Pi has trouble coping with this behaviour as it is going against values that defines him as a person: religion and his moral obligations. This willpower to survive often blocks our sense of empathy for one another and controls our mind and our hearts. Later in the chapter, the hyena has an opportunity to attack the orangutan, but does not. This relates to the idea that theses two opposites of moral and survival instincts can co exist together, such as the rhino and the goat. Ultimately, the symbolism of the two opposite natures coexisting with one another proves that nature is filled with surprises and the need for balance of cooperation and competition is essential to survive.
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.
Whether is be the individualism of a zebra, the hope of an orangutan, the hatred of a hyena, or the determination of a tiger symbolism can be determined for any character. Pi’s journey obtains symbolism for each animal and a story of faith for himself through the sea and the rigors that he and the animals
Throughout his young life, Pi has been guided by a strong set of morals and values. A strict pacifist and vegetarian, Pi never dreamed of killing an animal, especially for food. Pi states, “…When I was a child I always shuddered when I snapped open a banana because it sounded to me like the breaking of an animal’s neck” (Martel 197). However, faced with starvation at sea, Pi must decide between adhering to his morals and satisfying his ravenous hunger when a school of flying fish descends upon the lifeboat. He chooses his own survival and decides he must butcher a fish to feed himself. Martel uses vivid details and language to convey Pi’s feelings about the necessity of violence and killing a living creature for survival. Martel conveys a sense of suspense to the reader as Pi raises his hatchet several times to
In the Life of Pi, animals have the human-like emotions. They will be mad when others do something harmful to their friends. After the ship sank, there are some animals survived on “Pi’s Ark”: a zebra, a hyena, an ape and a tiger; however, the hyena is hurting the zebra. The ape: “But with her giant arms,
Yann Martel used thirst as an important element throughout the book. It is also linked to the tiger’s original name. Pi is not physical or mentally thirsty for water but rather for the spirit of God. Through Pi’s thirst for God’s spirit Yann Martel creates a link to the Bible and Pi as the savior, Christ died in a hard way but only complained about being thirsty. Yann Martel compares Christ’s suffering with the suffering of Pi on the lifeboat with no water. With that aspects being compared the reader can already estimate the future conditions that there will be a positive outcome of Pi’s tragic journey just like there was with Christ. Pi could not let his fear for the tiger stand in his way of being alive. If he would have allowed that, that would have caused him to get scared, lose his concentration and becoming vulnerable to the tiger. Deep down he knew there was a living God that will help and guide
Piscine Molitor Patel says it himself that his survival is “hard to believe” and can hardly comprehend it looking back. Yet, the readers are promised with a happy ending, and a happy ending with Pi’s survival is what we get. However, it raises the incredible question of just how Pi managed to survive the hardships, loss, pain and suffering, all in the Pacific Ocean’s harsh, unforgiving environment. The first explanation involves Pi’s inborn desire to survive at all cost and to resist giving up. Also, Pi’s versatility to change from a life-long vegetarian to a meat eater and his creativeness in making the best out of a horrible situation are some of the key factors that contribute to his survival. Furthermore, the role of Richard Parker in
He starts out with a zebra, hyena, an orangutan, and a tiger, but the animals slowly diminish leaving only Pi and Richard Parker. Pi works to tame and care for Richard Parker, and the two survive for two hundred twenty-seven days. Pi encounters a fellow French castaway who is eaten by Richard Parker (Martel 311-320). Pi also comes across a man-eating island (Martel 322-358). The events that take place are fairly far-fetched, and the probability of all of them occurring to the same person in the period of time given is even less believable. The second story, on the other hand, is a perhaps more believable retelling of the original story. Pi relates the second tale upon the request of his interviewers for “‘a story without animals’” (Martel 381). In this story the animals are replaced with human representatives including an injured Chinese sailor, a French cook, Pi’s mother, and Pi himself. The second story, like the first, begins with many passengers on the boat, but in the end it leaves only Pi to survive by himself after brutally murdering and eating the cook who killed both the sailor and Pi’s own mother (Martel 381-391). Unlike Pi’s first story, this account is dark, desperate, and harshly realistic, without any sense of hope to counter it all. After relating both of these stories to his interviewers, Pi asks them which story they think is better (Martel 398). Although the
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.
The animals on board that Pi perceives as imperative are additionally orange. Orange Juice, the matronly orangutan, floated to the lifeboat on a raft of bananas.
Pi contacted with animals when he was very young. Therefore, when he was in trouble and afraid to solve the problem, his savagery will help him. “We fight to the very end. It’s not a question of courage. Its something constitutional, and inability to let go. It maybe nothing more than life-hungry stupidity. Richard Parker started growing that very instant as if he had been waiting for me to become a worthy opponent. My chest became tight with fear”( Martel p.187). Pi finally chose to face the tiger, and save himself. He did not choose to stay until the tiger eats him. Even if he knows that it’s difficult to survive, he did not give up. Pi stayed with animals when he was a child. His curiosity made him have a great interest in animals. He might learn something from the wild animals. Moreover, if animals did something very cruel and their behavior will probably leave a deep impression about those things in Pi’s mind. Therefore, Pi’s savagery leads him to have the determination to against the tiger, Richard
The saying “desperate times call for desperate measures” holds truth to an extent. In the award winning novel Life of Pi by Yann Martel, drastic measures are taken by characters in order to survive while stranded on a lifeboat in the middle of the ocean. Through his journey, main character, Pi Patel, endures many hardships and witnesses several deaths. Significantly, the death of the zebra accompanying Pi and the other animals establishes a generalization of human nature being sophisticated yet inherently vicious according to methods of survival.