Life of Pi Essay

“It is true that those we meet can change us, sometimes so profoundly that we are not the same afterwards, even unto our names.” This mighty quote, plummets out of the novel Life of Pi. Its idea of the story that Yann Martel tells in this novel is of a journey that makes the story sound realistic. It’s undoubtful that only a master storyteller, like Yann Martel himself, could write such dominant and lifting quotes. Martel gives us the novel Life of Pi, which is a coming of age story about a young boy who reaches maturity through tragic, but uplifting loss and miraculous survival. The story, Life of Pi, is reflected apron on a wild journey that comes with many adventures, tragics, some laughs, and also survival.

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.

In life it is essential to have a companion to rely on, spend time with, and experience the world with. Without this extraordinary person, it makes it much more difficult to thrive and survive in life. Throughout the novel Life of Pi by Yann Martel, the main character, Pi Patel, shares a very special and inexplicable relationship with his only companion on a lifeboat for 227 days. This 450-pound bengal tiger, Richard Parker, proves to be Pi’s only comrade on his small boat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Through his relationship with Richard Parker, Pi learns that the most critical aspect of survival is having a companion to distract him from his traumatic experience and provide him with a reason to live.

Pi has been a vegetarian most of his life, he believes that animals are sacred and should not be killed for food. However, while trapped on the lifeboat, Pi begins to change his morals in order

Throughout the entire novel the author gives us characteristics about Pi, he is the protagonist and, for most of the novel the narrator. In the chapters that frame the story and tell us everything that has happened they portray Pi as a shy, graying, middle-aged boy, whom tells the author about his early childhood and the shipwreck that changed his life, and gave him a new friendship with someone whom you would never believe a human could become friends with. This novel makes everyone question the truth which makes us wonder if Pi’s story is accurate and makes us wonder what pieces we should believe. Pi emphasizes the importance of choosing the better story which makes

Humans generally face struggles in their lifetime. Such struggles could be within themselves or with someone or something else but commonly stem from some sort of opposition in lifestyle. In Yann Martel’s novel, Life of Pi, Pi’s passion for personal survival conflicts with his moral obligations to himself internally, morphing his external character.

Survival is an instinct. Often times, in order to survive, people must shed a part of their innocence. For some, it may be subtle, taken in tiny bites along the way, and for others it could be in one traumatizing moment. Ang Lee, director of “The Life of Pi,” explores this theme throughout his film. Lee shows the viewer this loss in the use of imagery, lighting, and color. He takes the viewer on a journey through the eyes of Piscine Patel as his innocence and humanity slowly get chipped away and he is forced to do what is necessary to survive and the lengths he goes to to regain that lost innocence.

The will to live is a strong urge of survival that occurs when one’s life is threatened. The novel and film Life of Pi is about a boy named Piscine Molitor Patel who is lost in the middle of the Pacific Ocean due to a shipwreck with a 450 pound Bengal Tiger. The theme that fits the novel and film the best is the will to live. The novel and film effectively prove the theme by using symbols to portray how badly Pi wants to live. Characterization also plays an important role in proving the theme as the novel and book show how Pi and his tiger have to change themselves to live. Cinematic techniques such as different types of camera angles are used as well to prove that the will to live is the essential theme in the film. In the novel, Yann Martel shows how the camera angles prove what they prove. The film and novel Life of Pi effectively capture the theme of the will to live by the effective use of symbolism, characterization, and cinematic techniques.

"Thy will be done". Pi is fascinated by, in search of Hinduism, Catholicism until Islam. From each of the religion it draws patterns that help him understand the surrounding world. In the end, all questions are answered in his “lonely” journey. Pi which although gives God his life while loses everything and all what he loves in single moment. Pi’s journey where it seemed it was only bad moments, but Pi from his spirituality would find and relate everything thru his faith, It gave him reason to believe that it will have a good ending. ”It is the irony of this story that the one who scared me witless to start with was the very same who brought me peace, purpose, I dare say even wholeness.” (Martel,pg.57). As Pi told the Yann that without his love for religion and spiritual life he would not have survived. Pi used his faith of three religions as a guidance, he managed to keep his prayers daily and routinely. As Pi fought for his life not only the tiger gave him worries but the ocean emptiness around him for so long we would think Pi would just quit and give up on everything, but Pi was so influenced by the religion it kept him motivated. Thru his journey Pi cared more about the tiger named Richard Parker, he risked his life to keep the tiger satisfied with food and water. Pi had balance danger and peace of his religious

Pi kills a fish for the first time and that experience has changed him. At first, Pi was upset about his actions but sees that one must do what they must to survive. Pi desperately will do whatever is needed in order to survive even if that means doing things he never imagined himself doing.

Isolation acts as a good method to collect thoughts and sort out complex situations. However, Yann Martel, the author of Life of Pi, writes about isolation from a different perspective. Piscine Molitor Patel, a sixteen year old boy, experiences hardships which shows how easily change occurs. The book takes place on a stranded lifeboat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Pi must live with no human contact besides an adult Bengal Tiger.

When Pi witnessed his family die as well as the Frenchman losing all sense of humanity, he cannot bare to narrate the events. That is why he devises an imaginative story about animals killing each other, because it is natural in them and less heart-breaking.

Pi survives emotionally, physically, and spiritually but there is still one more means of survival which is considered even more difficult to deal with than the rest- Mental survival. It is surprisingly easy to fail your mental health, especially in Pi’s current situation. Whether he is happy, healthy, and one with god or not, it would be easy to lose his grip on his own sanity; hence why it is considered so difficult. In both stories he experiences life-changing trauma like death, loss, and multiple life-threatening situations, but to hinder the setbacks of this trauma, he keeps himself busy, puts a hold on his feelings, and pushes himself to survive. For example, he refuses to let himself have too much pity for the zebra and he even forces

In the novel, Life of Pi, by Yann Martel, it tells the tale of Pi from dual perspectives, Pi’s and the author’s. Pi tells the majority of the story, describing his adventure of surviving being stranded on a lifeboat, infested with zoo animals, for 227 days. The reader is put into a position where they are learning along with Pi about religion, faith, and being extremely resourceful. Pi transforms based on his experiences, spirituality, and relationships showing how the author utilizes his character’s faith to shift the reader’s perception of religion.

Yann Martel, the author of Life of Pi, tells a miraculous survival story that everyone will want to believe. He tells readers about the life a boy, who later in the story gets stuck on a lifeboat with fierce companions for 227 days. Piscine Molitor Patel, otherwise known as “Pi”, accompanies his family in moving to Canada from India, though the ship sinks and he then tells his journey twice. Pi told his journey in two versions, an animal version, and a human version. In both versions Pi is accompanied with a zebra/sailor, a hyena/cook, his own mother/orangutan, and himself/tiger (Martel 311). Though the characters in the novel, like Pi, the Chinese officials, and the writer, preferred the animal version, the preferred version would be the human version.