Love And Emotions In Life Of Pi By Yann Martel

B. One of Pi’s traits is that he is religious, this affects his actions because he is constantly praying to his Muslim, Cristian, or Hindu God. Pi is also very intelligent, this affects his actions because his knowledge of animals helps him domesticate Richard Parker. C. Pi started out as a normal boy who was very interested in animals and religion. Throughout the book he becomes a person who is tortured by thirst, and hunger.

He created an unknown bond with him and didn’t notice it until they departed. “Richard Parker escapes into the woods without even looking back”. This quote signifies Pi’s inner-emotions towards Richard Parker. When Pi is brought back to the modern world he notices he is not his same self. he is now a man. His mind is then fixed into a new mind-set of “survival” and “scarcity” making it an obsicle to re-adapt to civilization, limiting what he would usually do with his life as a kid to dispersing his new assets he didn’t know he ever

Being more comfortable around such a beast, however, later proves to be a fault of Pi’s. The unpredictable behavior of such a wild animal causes a huge threat to Pi. Richard Parker exemplifies this wild behavior by “bursting over the ridge at full gallop…coming [Pi’s] way high speed” (Martel 263). Pi describes this event as a “rapid and direct approach of a known killer” which casts a different image of Richard Parker than the previous seemingly harmless companion (Martel 236). Pi’s reaction to his fear is using his method of whistle which causes more anger within Richard Parker. Richard Parker’s unexpected reaction to the training method proves how capricious a personality of an animal is. Thus, attempted taming of a wild animal was merely a distant goal Pi thought he had accomplished.

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.

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

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.

In the rare times, we see Richard Parker throughout the novel we simultaneously see the savage side of pi. Whenever the mysterious tiger makes an appearance we often see Pi partake in something barbaric to survive. Pi Patel was never one to break the flesh of another living thing but being on the lifeboat for those unpleasant 227 days he is forced to do things that go against his own moral compass. Martel does a fantastic job of symbolizing the character of Richard Parker as the savage ways pi demonstrated to survive his ordeal. The main way we can draw this conclusion of Richard Parker representing Pi comes from the many textual examples throughout the novel. For example, as Pi gains consciousness and awareness of his surreal surroundings after the sinking of the Tsimtsum he goes straight into survival mode as Richard Parker appears. Whenever Richard Parker is hidden Pi is always in a calm and restful state, this meaning that as Pi’s need for

Richard Parker as an Allegorical Representation of Pi’s Crisis of Faith and Humanity It is clear throughout Life of Pi that despite condemning the anthropomorphism of animals (Martel 34), Pi, himself has a tendency to apply human characteristics to the animals he encounters throughout the story this includes the animals living in his father’s zoo that he claims to anthropomorphize to the point that they speak perfect English(cite). To keep Pi from falling into the pitfalls of believing that animals are capable of feeling in the same way that humans are Pi’s father one day shows him and his brother how savage an animal such as a tiger can truly be. This event in and of itself is the perfect set-up for introducing Richard Parker who is a projection

Pi advances this point to convey that animals are also creatures of customs. When animals first come across their new territory, in the wild or in a zoo, they ceremonially mark “it out in the normal ways of it’s species, with sprays of urine” (18). Once the animalistic ritual is complete, the being does not feel “like a prisoner, but rather like a landholder” (18). This simile, comparing zoo animals to landholders demonstrates Pi’s insight on the comfortableness animals actually experience in zoos. Pi carries on by saying that if animals possessed the intelligence to decide, they would choose the safe enclosures of the zoo over the wild because they are fed, kept comfortable and away from any

Now Pi had respect for himself. It may not have been that Pi did not respect himself before becoming of a spiritual difference but after he had he saw respect in a different perspective. In learning he was a child of the most heavenly King and experiencing the unforgettable importance of his self through religion and a relationship with God, it became more clear to Pi that he had a purpose. In response to this Pi brought his foot down in a life or death situation and believed that he would be able to survive. With God's help, Pi determinedly supplied the means to live for both himself and Richard Parker. However, Pi's respect did not stop there. Beside himself, Pi also had a respect for Richard Parker and made sure he had the favor returned. Pi's respect for Richard Parker is represented by the fact that if it were not for the tigers company Pi would have become even more doubtful and want his life to end. Pi thanked Richard Parker for his companionship and for that he helped to take care of him. The respect does not stop there though. As a means of staying alive in another aspect all together, Pi needs respect from the tiger. Being that they are both animals at the top of hierarchies they both have a mind set for territorial boundaries. Pi instills in Richard Parker that he is the boss and they both have their sides of the life boat. Eventually,

Richard Parker, the tiger, is a symbol of Pi himself. Pi directly correlates himself with Richard Parker. If Richard Parker “give[s] up” (121) then Pi is giving up. When swimming toward the life boat Richard Parker “look[s] small and helpless” (121) much like Pi actually is. Next to the tiger, zebra, and hyena Pi is small and feeble; he has no way to defend himself against the other animals. Pi egging Richard Parker on, toward the boat; “keep[ing him] swimming” (122) shows Pi’s resilience for survival; determined for Richard Parker to survive, which is actually his determination to survive. It is often mistaken in the novel as to whether Pi is speaking of himself or of Richard Parker because they could be the same being.

Without morals civilization would crumble, but take away everyone and losing your morals might just save your life. In the book Life of Pi, Yann Martel creates a storyline that follows a boy’s life and the events that occur before, during and after being stranded on a life raft with a tiger. The main character, Pi, undergoes horrendous events that challenge him to change his ways to survive. In times of difficulty, man can lose his morals and values in exchange for survival. Martel exhibits this theme through Pi’s hunger, the cook in the human story, and the slaughtering of Pi’s fellow shipwrecked acquaintances.

(Martel 285). Richard Parker was so important to Pi throughout their journey, he kept him alive and kept him from complete loneliness and despair. That is why Richard Parker, a grown Bengal tiger, was the best companion choice

Pi is cast away at sea with only other main character, a tiger named Richard Parker. Although it may seem like a farfetched idea there are real life examples of animals learning to live with humans, “all are instances of that animal equivalent of anthropomorphism: zoomorphism, where an animal takes a human being, or another animal, to be one of its kind”. With a tiger on board the raft, the already horrible situation could have become even worse, but Richard Parker (the tiger) takes Pi as one of his own. Pi’s mind allows him to connect with Richard Parker and allows them to succeed together in this life and death situation. Because Pi is able to connect to him, Richard Parker represents the balance between nature and humans during times of need. In an ordinary situation, a tiger would just attack a human, but when the two are stuck in a dangerous situation together, the tiger forgets that it is a predator and works with Pi. Pi’s mind allows him to communicate with the tiger, which is one example of the amazing things his mind allows him to do during his stressful time lost at

The result of Pi’s response to Richard Parker’s behavior saved Pi’s life numerous times. The peaceful relationship between the two protagonists helped them both endure 227 days at sea, struggling against all odds. With Pi’s prior knowledge of the body language of animals, he is able to successfully asses his options with the intent of optimizing his chances of survival. During the falling action of the novel, Pi and Richard reach a beach in Mexico, meaning that his bravery and valiant decision to