Loss Of Innocence In Yann Martel's Life Of Pi

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

Most people don’t have to suffer trauma in a lifeboat all by themselves. Further, most people don’t have to retell their story years after with accuracy. That is exactly what Pi has to do in Yann Martel’s novel Life of Pi. There are many challenges that Pi goes through that Pi goes through that could make him an unreliable narrator including a lack of written records, trauma, loneliness, and the effects dehydration and malnutrition has in a person. Furthermore, by considering Pi’s unreliability the reader comes to understand that the truth of his story remains irrefutable and therefore the truth is more important than the facts. Pi could be assumed by the reader to be an unreliable narrator through a lack of written record of his experiences from the past, his trauma and loneliness at sea, and the mental effects of dehydration, malnutrition and hallucinations.

Religion is “the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods” (Dictionary). In society, many people follow the ethics of certain religions in order to make decisions about their life. The author Yann Martel uses Piscine Molitor Patel in the novel Life of Pi to send a message to readers about using ambiguity to create a theme about morality through the use of religion as spiritual beliefs can stabilize and nourish one in times of hardship. The use of religion, story-telling and science compared to religion resulted in ambiguity and therefore illustrated the theme of the importance of morality.

Martel uses Richard Parker’s physical qualities and actions to symbolize the savagery Pi converted to in the beginning of his struggle. During his long journey Pi has no option but to dehumanize himself for survival. In the story with humans Pi is forced to kill the cynical frenchman because he killed his mother; despite this, Martel still depicts Pi as a murderer. His primitive actions are why Martel chooses to create another story and depict him as an animal, a tiger. For a human to kill another human is extremely

In the novel, Life of Pi by Yann Martel, the social issue surrounding the loss of innocence is explored. While reading the two parts of the novel, I noticed that Pi’s innocence changes drastically. In Part One of the novel, Piscine is still living in Pondicherry India and is still a young innocent boy. In Part Two of the novel, Piscine is sailing through the Pacific Ocean, doing what is necessary for his survival. At the beginning of the novel, Pi Molitor Patel and his family live in Pondicherry, India.

Throughout the novel, Pi’s thoughts reveal and internal struggle between his desire to live and his own beliefs to what is morally right. Pi grows up on varying religious viewpoints because he studies different religions. His religious diversity forms a moral standard of “dignity not …depravity” (Martel 71). He values dignity and character over corruption of morals initially because he sees

In the novel, Life of Pi, by Yann Martel, the theme of truth is seen most prominently in the last part of the book when main character, Piscine Patel is being interviewed by two Japanese men. Pi defines truth as being relative and an invention of man, when the believability of his story is questioned. He argues that even stories, such as his, can still be true to some no matter how difficult to believe they are.

To simply be alive consists of the acts of breathing and having blood pump through the body, but to be a human being consists of much more complexity. The nature composed of a human being involves having self sovereignty on our own emotions, opinions, desires, faiths as well as having a moral subconscious. Yet, what occurs when a situation allows an individual to react in a behaviour that doesn’t follow these defining factors of human nature? In Yann Martel 's Life of Pi, he creates the conflict of a cargo ship sinking, and the only notable survivors on the life raft consists of a hyena, a zebra with a broken leg, an orangutan, and a 16-year-old Indian boy. The protagonist of the novel, Pi Patel, is faced with a personal survival conflict

When writing, authors focus on what they wish for their audience to gain from the story, what they want the readers to learn from the actions and thoughts of the narrator. In The Life of Pi Yann Martel uses Pi and his experiences whether the audience believes Pi’s grand story of his survival or not, to impart upon them the relativity of truth. In the beginning this is shown threw Pi’s explorations with different religions already guiding the reader to consider what truth means with his thoughts on the different religions. It is later explored in Pi’s telling of what occurred to him while shipwrecked to the officials and their reactions to his tale. Especially once it becomes clear that the few differences between the stories were the lack of animals in one. Pi asks the officials which story they prefer; the officials can choose to believe whichever story they prefer, and that version becomes the truth to them.

Again, within this story illusion leads to God. Chapter 94 brings to attention the fact that that this story is being told through an intermediary. “We must give things a meaningful shape.” Brings to attention again that through story telling, life is given shape and can be believed in with the most extraordinary details by believing in God. (pg.341-343) By not ending the book after Pi’s story ends, Martel is again questioning the audience to believe or not believe the story. The remaining five chapters of the book, the dialog Pi has with the two men from Japan ends. Truth is juxtaposed to reality in order to encompass God. “So tell me, since it makes no factual difference to you and you can't prove the question either way, which story do you prefer? Which is the better story, the story with animals or the story without animals?' Mr. Okamoto: 'That's an interesting question?' Mr. Chiba: 'The story with animals.' Mr. Okamoto: 'Yes. The story with animals is the better

Yann Martel’s theme of truth being relative is again established when Pi experiences a shipwrecked. On the lifeboat, Pi continues to survive living with a bengal tiger, he survives after seeing the other animals on the boat kill each other, and he survives by eating fish even though he is a vegetarian. Inspite of all the suffering Pi is going through he still turns towards God. This is proved when Pi says, “I practised religious rituals that I adapted to the circumstances – solitary Masses without priests or consecrated 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. They brought me comfort, that is certain. But it was hard, oh, it was hard. Faith in God is an opening up, a letting go, a deep trust, a free act of love – but sometimes it was so hard to love. Sometimes my heart was sinking so fast with anger, desolation and weariness, I was afraid it would sink to the very bottom of the Pacific and I would not be able to lift it back up...The blackness would stir and eventually go away, and God would remain, a shining light in my heart. I would go on loving” (208-209). Through this quote, Yann Martel is showing how Pi continues to worship God even though he was suffering and struggling with his faith. Pi still believes that God is the most important to him inspite of what his is going through emotionally

Life of Pi written by Yann Martel uses many literary devices to present the different themes in the novel; and allegory, along with its many examples, is prevalent in this novel as the number one mechanism to demonstrate the character and theme growth. Through religious allegory, symbolism, and imagery, Yann Martel uses Pi and his voice to make readers question the real meaning behind Life of Pi.

“One possible grief reaction rarely studied or described is seeing illusions or hallucinations” said John M. Grohol. In the book Life Of Pi, Pi Patel a young boy survived a shipwreck that killed his entire family. He survived on a lifeboat for 227 days. He did this with an imaginary companion who kept his mind busy and pushed him forward. This hallucination had a name.

In the last section of Yann Martell’s, Life of Pi, there are many interesting literary device aspects shown throughout the story, mostly revolving around imagery, symbolism, and allegory. After observing Pi suffer greatly from deterioration, lack of sustenance, and loss of faith, hope finally resurrects itself! Pi’s life boat comes upon an island made of pure vegetation. Everything is paradise to Pi, however, as the days pass, Pi starts to notice some peculiar events going on. One day, as Pi climbs a tree on the island, he discovers a human set of teeth wrapped in leaves.

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.