Life Of Pi Conflict Essay

Life of Pi is a thrilling novel by Yann Martel, telling the story of a two hundred and twenty-seven day journey on a lifeboat between a religious boy and an adult bengal tiger. After losing his family in a shipwreck, Pi Patel is stuck on a lifeboat with a 450 pound Richard Parker. Together, they sail aimlessly, using the boat’s limited resources to survive. Throughout the novel Pi uses God as a way to cope with the multiple tragedies and obstacles he faces. In times of great difficulty, humans can lose their morals and values in exchange for survival.

Firstly, Pi’s devotion for God was clear and he often seeks clarity from god. Throughout the novel, Pi’s love for God caused him to practice three major religion at the same time; breaking any barriers between Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam. Pi believes all three religions are equally true and interconnective as “[Islam and Christianity] both claim Abraham as theirs. Muslims say the God of the Hebrews and Christians is the same as the God of the Muslims. They recognize David, Moses, and Jesus as prophets” (80, Martel). Pi was morally ambiguous, he did not know if one religion would bring him closer to God than another causing him to follow all three. When Pi was stuck on the life boat, he often called out for help from god as he feared death. As he was giving up, a voice inside of him spoke from his heart and said “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 every day. I will put in all the hard work necessary. Yes, so long as God is with me, I will not die. Amen” (164). Pi was uncertain whether or not he was going to survive however, he hoped through praying, he would as his faith in God brought him comfort.

“Without Richard Parker, I wouldn’t be alive today to tell you my story.” The significance of this quote is that the presence of Richard saves him from the effects of loneliness. “The lower you are, the higher your mind will soar.” This quote is important because when Pi is at his lowest point, he reaches for his only remaining sources of salvation, which is his faith and imagination. “Life on a lifeboat isn’t much of a life. It is like an end game in chess, a game with few pieces. The element couldn’t be more simple, or the stake higher.” The quote significance is that the few that survive the ship are force to face each other in a strategic battle of wits to see who will

Pi’s life before the boat crashing was full of hope and wonder. His presence was ethereal, making a purpose out of everything around him. His family ran a zoo, which gave him a tight-knit relationship with animals. Pi loved to try new things. He met new people which led to his exploration

The blackness would stir and eventually go away, and God would remain, a shining point of high in your heart. I would go on loving" (Martel, 232). He knows that humans are the greatest creatures made by God. As a result they can do whatever they want to, no matter how hard that action is. Pi controls Richard Parker with blowing in the whistle. One can learn clearly from Pi that it does not have to be complete loss or lack of hope. Faith transfers hope into Pi's heart. It's like giving water to thirsty grass, or charging a battery that is out of charge. He keeps faith, however, he doesn't know much about his religion. He explains, " I practiced religious ritual that I adapted to the circumstances solitary Masses without priests or consecrated on communion hosts, darshans without murtis and pujas with turtle meat for prasad, acts of devotion to Allah not knowing where Mecca was and getting my Arabic wrong" (Martel, 231). New activities lighten the monotony of Pi's daily life, though they are quickly absorbed into routine. Each "first" in the lifeboat or on the raft is treated in the account with detail and great passion. However, inevitably those firsts quickly meld into a monotonous series of repetitions that dull the senses. The first time Pi kills a fish, we are held in thrall as he hesitates and frets over the act. But, as soon as it is over, it is as though a spell has broken: Pi is now free to kill as many fish as he can, any way he can, without any sort of

1. The main characters in Life of Pi are Piscine Molitor Patel (Pi) and Richard Parker the Bengal tiger. Pi is the protagonist he is hopeful and believes that things get better. He is very optimistic which gets him through a lot of his troubles. In the beginning of the book Pi seemed to have things the rough way and continues that way but he was very hopeful. In the beginning of his lifeboat journey he was sure things would get better but as time went by he wasn't sure anymore but he had things to remind him to keep going. I also think he became more grownup and stronger by the end of the book. Richard Parker is the tiger on the lifeboat with Pi he is there every step of the way with Pi. He helps Pi get through things. Richard Parker is very

Pi's story of survival is one based on and very similar to two stories in the bible. The first is David and Goliath, a story of overcoming overwhelming odds. David, just like Pi ,was a young teenager at the time and managed to kill a powerfully known giant, Goliath. What are the chances? Same goes for Pi, a youth who survived 227 days with a tiger. He too overcame the odds, so much so, it was unbelievable. Even the investigators said, "In an lifeboat? Come on, Mr. Patel it's just too hard to believe!...We just don't believe there was a tiger on your lifeboat" (Martel, 163). Jonah and the whale is another biblical story that illustrates similar motives in Pi. Jonah refused to let his life "end" and get eaten by the whale. The same case with Pi, but instead of a whale, it was a tiger he refused to get eaten by. He set out a plan to tame Richard Parker until one day "...the lifeboat was resembling a zoo enclosure more and more: Richard Parker had his sheltered area for sleeping and resting, his food stash, his lookout, and now his water hole" (Mantel,101). From the beginning of the story, Pi spent a significant amount of time studying religion. One in particular was Christianity, a religion that teaches both these stories. If one overcame the odds and the other managed not to get swallowed by the whale, what were the chances he would merit to be just like them?

Everyone must learn to overcome, or acclimate to fear. It is an unavoidable part of life. People do not usually address all of their fears at one time, but occasionally, unlikely situations occur. In Life Of Pi, by Yann Martel, Piscine (Pi) Patel overcomes many fears, in a slight 227 days aboard a lifeboat, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. He and his family are in the process of moving, when the Tsimtsum, the boat they are boarding, mysteriously sinks. Pi is the only survivor, along with an orangutan, a zebra, a hyena, and a Bengal tiger. Although many themes are present, the most prominent through the whole book is learning to live with and overcome the very thing that causes the most grief, the most anxiety, and a lot of reflection; Fear.

Pi knows his beliefs and strives to show others its strength. Throughout the book Pi develops in several ways, but his beliefs are the one thing that stay throughout his life. Pi deals with an immense amount of loss and through his faith became a stronger person. Pi, just like most people has central morals and changes through his

There is a difference between surviving and living, had he chosen to stay Pi would have only been surviving. Pi would rather “perish in search of his own kind” rather than living a “lonely half life”(Pg 357). Showing that he still had faith that he would find true salvation in the arms of society, Pi leaves the island. This is all important to nurturing his his personal integrity; even though Pi had a lack of empathy when living on the boat he regains it. Regaining it when he made it to the mexican shore, with new insights on why animals kill to live, and just how much he needs other

(p.g 40) While Pi was at sea he compared things that he saw to icons from the christian bible, for example he saw the orangutan orange juice on a mound of bananas and compared the orangutan to The Virgin Mary another comparison was when the same orangutan got murdered by the hyena he compared it to the crucifixion of jesus christ. (BEATEACH) Pi’s christians beliefs lead Pi to believe no matter the outcome of Pi’s ordeal he would be redeemed because of his beliefs to christ. (BEATEACH) Even though Pi has a lot of religious beliefs he relies mostly on scientific methods to survive out on the ocean. Some of the methods he uses to survive are such as training the tiger richard parker that Pi is like the master because he uses a whistle to make sure the tiger knows that the food that which the tiger acquires comes from Pi. Another trick that Pi uses to help

(263) It is his belief in God that keeps him grounded and gives him the will to live. His belief is also what grants him hope and faith and the ability to see past the darkness and despair of his situation. This factor of his strong belief in God comes into focus in great detail when Pi and Richard Parker are confronted by a large lightning storm. White rods of magnificent proportions come crashing down into the deep and capricious waves. Pi is in a state of wonder.

In the novel, we as readers find that Pi is apart of three religions – Catholicsm, Hinduism and Islam. The role of religion is important and essential for Pi to survive on the boat. Even though sometimes his physical needs subjugate his religious needs, he never doubts his belief in God. Pi's survival and a big reason of why he was able to endure the 227 days on the boat was through his religious beliefs. For example:

Furthermore, his vast knowledge of animals, having grown up at a zoo, helps him to tame Richard Parker. Pi knows tigers’ psychological thinking and exploits this by classically conditioning Richard Parker. Likewise, Pi’s experience of watching a tiger kill a goat in his early childhood taught him the fundamental lesson that ‘an animal is an animal’, enabling him to strategically and mentally survive his long and testing time at sea. In addition to that, during the early parts of Part 2, Pi comes across a survival manual, a crucial object for his continued existence. The book gives him critical information on the do’s and don’ts of survival at sea and it is hard to imagine that Pi could have survived without this book which also gave him the opportunity to write down his words which were “all he has left’’.

Pi is no longer capable to survive, he had to try to eat Richard Parker’s feces. It does not concern Pi that he tried to eat Richard Parker’s fece. Pi has lost human like qualities and is now using savage characteristics to help him survive and