Pi, who’s name was Piscine Molitor by his father as a young by after a swimming pool in France. Piscine was resourceful to change his name to avoid ridicule in junior high school. He changes his name to Pi. Pi is the Greek symbol for the math equation of 3.14 he does this so that he is no longer known as “Pissing Molitor.” Pi is later on a sole survivor of a shipwreck in the
In Life of Pi, the main character is Piscine Molitor, though people call him Pi. Pi’s family was on their way to immigrate to Canada via ship, though the ship sinks in the middle of the ocean and the only survivors are Pi, an orangutan, a zebra and a tiger stranded on a lifeboat. Later on, the orangutan and zebra die, leaving a hungry tiger that is unpredictable and Pi who has limited resources, in the middle of the ocean. If Pi wants to not die and have a chance to survive, he must stay alive from the ocean and the tiger. Since Pi is stranded on a lifeboat with a tiger in the middle of the ocean with limited resources, Pi has to survive mentally and physically throughout the whole ordeal.
Yann Martel`s Life of Pi follows A journey of a young man and a Bengal tiger as they travel across the ocean in a lifeboat.Director Ang lee made many consider the book to be beautiful,but virually unflimable.Being needed to told on screen Ang lee discerned very adeptly,about Life of Pi ‘’if there is will there is a way’’.
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
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
What happens when an Individual seeks union with divinity Where the protagonist Piscine Molitor Patel “Pi” is visited by the most extraordinary dreams, trances, visions, thoughts, sensations, and remembrances. In this 2012 American survival drama film Life Of Pi written by David Magee and directed by Ang Lee, Pi is
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.
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.
In Pi's 227 days of being stranded in the sea, he has had many problems that have
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.”
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’.
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
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.
It is known that one of the most difficult things to do, is survive on sea in terms of a survival situation. (Grade Saver). Surviving on sea is one difficult thing to do on your own although imagine doing it with a Bengal tiger? Not imaginable, but it did happen with Piscine Molitor Patel of Pondicherry India. Pi survives on sea for seven months (227) days from India to the coast of Mexico mentally and physically because he had hope, Richard Parker, and religion. Without these three things- he may not have survived because he speaks about the importance of these things to him and the role that they play in his life and the influence they have on him on this treacherous, lengthy journey.
Pi could survive on the ocean for many months is a miracle, and he even stayed with a tiger during the venture. He probably was eaten by the tiger, but he didn’t. In Yann Martel’s Life of Pi, Pi survival depended on his past experiences, Pi not only survives, he becomes stronger due to learning how to swim when he was young, believing in three religions, and stay with animals for a long time because he father used to own a zoo.
“Survival is the ability to swim in strange water” (Frank Herbert). Pi demonstrated life on the Pacific as a test of all aspects. Life on the Pacific tested his physical endurance, he was lost for two-hundred and seventy seven days. In that time, Pi demonstrates his faith towards God, himself, and Richard Parker. Pi develops a robust bond with Richard Parker, then connecting spiritually. Survival in the novel Life of Pi is etched in the deepest parts of the story. These aspects of the novel are depicted through personal and self-reflection within himself. Pi survives because of his strength, faith and a close relationship with Richard Parker.