Piscine To Pi Research Paper

Being narrated by an older version of the main character, Life of Pi is a story about a man named Pi Patel. Most of the beginning of the novel includes all the history of his life; it introduces topics such as his major, the definition of his name, and his family. His majors are religion and Zoology, which comes back later in the book. It also gives the reader the interesting background of the meaning of his name, based off of a swimming pool. These larger topics and more were shared with the readers. A prominent part of all of this is the fact that it almost always comes back to animals.

The book starts with Pi recounting his youth and where he grew up along with the many things that shaped his character. He tells stories of his teachers, insults that made him change his name, and his faith in three religions. I made the assumption that Pi was living an upper-middle-class lifestyle in India because Pi attends a good school as he says, “After St. Joseph’s, I went to Petit Seminaire, the best private English-medium secondary school in Pondicherry.” (Martel 21) and the quality of

Karanvir Dhami Ms. Yu ENG3U March 7, 2011 Symbolism in Life of Pi In Life of Pi there are many literary devices used to present the different themes in the novel. The main literary device used in Life of Pi is symbolism. Symbolism is often used to represent an object to something else, either by association or by resemblance. Most of the names of animals, objects and even humans in this novel have a symbolic meaning. In Yann Martel’s Life of Pi, symbolism such as pi’s name, the colour orange and the algae island, are used throughout the novel to provide Pi with protection to help him either survive or overcome his emotional pain. The mathematical pi is undefined, infinite and unable to be understood, just like Piscine Patel.

The first thing that inadvertently displays Pi as a Christ figure is his name Piscine Molitor Patel. He was named after a Parisian swimming pool that Mamaji described as being “a pool that the gods would have delighted to swim in” (Martel pg 11). The name in of itself, is a place that the gods are reborn, this show the depth of religious fervor Pi is implicated in and it foreshadows the devotion he will have in the future. In an ironic twist his name becomes a playground slur by his classmates, he comments how the harassment his name causes is his “crown of thorns”. To stop the relentless pestering he shortens his name to Pi, which in mathematical terms is a number that is irrational, infinite, and non-repeating. His classmates also soon pick

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 name Pi is also symbolic because as Pi stated: “I was named after a swimming pool” (8) The word “Piscine” in French translate to ‘swimming pool’ in English. The significance of his name is because he spends 227 days in a huge swimming pool (the ocean) fighting for his life.

He received his unusual name from their family friend’s favorite swimming pool, Piscine Molitar, in Paris. This name is significant to the story since it shows a correlation between the boy and the water from birth. Piscine was constantly teased in school so he shortened his name to Pi to better fit into Indian society. In Thomas Foster’s book, he says, “Actions can also be symbolic" (p 112). Through this symbolism, the reader comes to better understand Pi through his actions, shortening his name that connects him to the water to be better able to be accepted by others. His actions to survive in the Pacific, then, can be considered the symbolic fulfilment of his destiny received from his name. Another example of the strong symbolism used in the book can be seen when Pi is on a trip to Munnar in India. There, he sees three mountains and imagines them as representing the three different religions of India. He is not able to understand the fundamentals of each religion and, thus, these mountains portrayed his struggle to come to terms

Pi Patel’s full name is Piscine Molitor Patel, we are told that Piscine’s name is derived from the French word for “swimming pool” the inspiration for the name in the form of a family friend who had fallen in love with a pool in France and told his friend–Pi’s father–it should be the name of his newborn son. This family friend, Mr. Adirubasamy, is the one who teaches Pi to swim which ties in with the theme of survival as Pi is the only one in his family who survives thanks to his swimming abilities which Mr. Adirubasamy bestowed to him. There is also some irony in the name Piscine, in that as a child he is tauntingly called Pissing and when is stranded it occurs to him he may need to drink his own urine or ‘piss’.

There is a foreshadowing device in Piscine’s name because the pool that he was named after was “as big as small oceans” (19) and he survives later on in the Pacific Ocean which is the largest ocean on planet Earth. Everything that he was taught as a little boy, all of the lessons on swimming made sense because it was all useful in the survival. Pi was the only one who knew how to swim in his family and it seemed like faith that he only survived the big storm. Patel’s nickname ‘Pi’ relates to the novel as the theme was religion, it hit the aspects. The reader can understand Pi’s

In contrast to the background of Lord of the Flies, Pi, the main character in Life of Pi, has a relatively peaceful childhood. He grows up in the 1970s in Pondicherry, South India, during a time of peace and prosperity. Except for school bullies, he is largely ignorant of violence, bar the time his father exposed him and his brother to the dangerous tendencies of the zoo animals. Furthermore, Pi explores religion for himself, and while he does have values impressed upon him by his parents, such as not eating meat, he is largely responsible for creating his own unique set of values that revolve around three major religions.

At school in 4th grade, I heard about An infinite number called pi. Then I heard that on pi day (March 14) who ever memorized the most pi got a pie (the food). So every day and night until March 14 I memorized as much pi as I could.

When he was growing up in India, he was constantly bullied and made fun of by his classmates, because they called him “pissing” since it sounded similar to his name, Piscine. When I was in elementary school, I was sometimes made fun of when people chanted “Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater”, and each of us found a way, or attempted to find a way to end the teasing. The name Piscine, when pronounced, greatly resembles pissing, and because of this other students and teachers occasionally teased the main character; sometimes this teasing was even unintentional: “My hand would be up to give an answer, and I would be acknowledged with a “Yes, Pissing.” Often the teacher wouldn’t realize what he had just called me” (Martel 21). When he moved schools when he was a boy, Piscine started to go by the name Pi, after the first two letters of his first name. With this change, he was able to suppress all of the teasing. I also sometimes had difficulties with my first name when I was in school. Since I was mad about people teasing me because of my name, I considered going by my middle name, Henry. I believed that if I began to go by Henry, then I would not be made fun of any more. But I remember walking with my mom one afternoon, and she said that I didn’t really “look” like a Henry, and that was the only reason I stayed with Peter! I can connect with Pi because we both were teased about our names when we were young, and we both attempted to do something, or did do something about

piscine Patel was his name he gave him self a nickname "pi" because the kids would always make fun of him and say he was pissing so when he changed schools he decided to go up on the board and write down "pi" and the symbol pi so that people can remember his nickname. Pi grew up with animals as in his father was the owner of the Pondicherry botanical garden (new big zoo in India) so pi ended up majoring in religious studies and zoology. Later on in the book pi starts to get interested in different religions. He ends up practicing Hinduism catholism and Muslim and at one point he gets caught all 3 priests were walking together by the beach and they bump into pi and his family, pi got scared and the priests told the parents they were happy to have pi in their

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

Piscine Molitor Patel, or Pi, was named after the cleanest, most pure swimming pool in all of France. This brings in the cinematic effect of the water and what it resembles throughout the movie. When good things happen, the water will be clear and pure. When bad things happen (or will happen), the water is cloudy or reflective. At the young age of 11, kids from Pi’s school start making fun of him, calling him “Pissing”, soiling the pure and innocent meaning behind his name and what it stands for. “With one word my name went from an elegant French swimming pool to a stinking Indian latrine, I was pissing everywhere.”