Sacrifice In Life Of Pi

Religious people often sacrifice their beloved items such as food, jewelers, and even animals in order to impress God, so they can fulfill their wishes and desires. In the novel Life of Pi by Yann Martel, the author tries to relate individual’s life’s goals and sacrifices through the characters of his story. In order to survive, the main character of the novel- Pi - sacrifices his beliefs and integrity. The young, bookish, and religious boy faces the harsh truth of reality. He stays with Richard Parker-a Bengali tiger-on the dangerous journey of his life. Throughout the novel, he learns about sacrifices and he himself gives sacrifice. One of the major themes is sacrifice; Martel argues that sacrifices are often essential in order to gain higher goals.

Life of Pi begins with an unique hook in its author’s note. In the author’s note, the fictional author is struggling to come up with a new book concept. He travels to India for inspiration and this is where he meets Francis Adirubasamy, or better known as Mamaji in the book. Adirubasamy claims that he has “a story that will make you believe in God”. After he recounts on the story, the author is determined to meet up with the main character, and he was reeled into the amazing world known as the Life of Pi. As the author listens into Mr. Patel’s adventure, his main objective was to believe in God and this was obviously completed from a quote in the author’s note. “...I agreed with Mr. Adirubasamy that this was, indeed, a story to make you believe in God.”

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.

Pi (and by extension, the author, Yann Martel) seems to think that what should compel one to believe a story is whether the story is a good one – whether it helps readers “see higher or further or differently”. Story and narrative automatically cause viewpoint, or perspective. Perspective as a literary device is a result of stories with framed narration. Is this narrator trustworthy, asks the reader in that ageless dilemma, can I believe what is written? As a form of narration, it both enriches and challenges perspectives on truth. Truth, it seems to say, can also be multi-faceted, appearing in many viewpoints.

The story of a sinking ship, while this is not a unique concept by any means Yann Martel, author, creates a dynamic story of a young man who loses everything. Pi, at the time of the accident, is practicing three religions while afloat with a plethora of wild animals. He is the sole survivor along with a rag tag group of zoo animals. The group is left afloat a small lifeboat where Pi begins a spiritual journey paramount to those he encountered in India. Despite the accident destroying many things for Pi, such as his sense of stability and family, it also created many learning opportunities for him. He is now able to practice religions, reflect, and appreciate basic human necessities. The extended time at sea has also taught him many virtues such as patience along with a greater understanding of holy text.

Audiences are left to ponder the final question left by Martel, “which story do you prefer?” Through powerful uses of imagery, audiences are drawn to the first “better” story and thus realize the beauty and power of faith. Due to Pi Patel’s pluralistic view on religions, the debate over the “one true religion” is set aside, allowing Martel’s message to impress on all audiences. Life of Pi as left many in a sea of their own thoughts. Each viewer finds their own conclusion as to which story they prefer, and it’s that impact that makes Life of Pi a successful

In the novel Life of Pi, Yann Martel reflected the idea of a world of hope and possibility through Pi’s thoughts, experiences, and religious beliefs. The first way Martel illustrated a world of hope was through Pi’s thoughts. Throughout the novel, Pi faced many situations that tested his fortitude, but he always thought hopefully. Another example of Pi’s hopeful thinking was before his move to Canada, “... I wildly waved goodbye to India… I was terribly excited.”

In the book Life of Pi, by Yann Martel, the protagonist becomes marooned in a lifeboat in the Pacific Ocean with only several zoo animals and his analytical mind to keep him company. Piscine Molitor Patel or otherwise known as Pi Patel, uses religion as he escape route and his knowledge of animal behavior to turn a horrendous ordeal into something survivable. Yann Martel states that out of all 100 chapters of his novel, that chapters 21 and 22 are the core of his book. These two philosophical chapters alone help define Pi’s story and how everyone should believe ‘the better story’. Even those these two chapters are very short, they are the heart of the novel because it highlights religion in general, the qualities of an agnostic or atheist individual and how everyone should choose to believe in what Martel calls “the better story” (Martel 63).

It seems that in Yann Martel’s Life of Pi, the gist is to make the readers believe in God. Martel delivers this using Piscine (Pi) Molitor Patel, the protagonist of the book. Pi is a young boy who shows lots of love and devotion towards God, that when he is stranded in the middle of the Pacific Ocean the only way of survival is to have faith, in which Pi does have. Martel also bases the central theme of the book relating to human faith in God where Pi represents this as he is a follower of three different religions. Finally, the narrator who is an older Pi gives two stories at the end of the book, which story is the truth is unknown that is why the narrator gives the choice to

Life of Pi was published in 2001 to warm, although somewhat mixed, critical reception, and, along with winning the Man Booker Prize, became an international best-seller. Many critics praised the book’s ability to suspend disbelief even as it tells an amazingly fantastical tale. Those that had problems with the book most often referred to what they saw as Martel’s heavy-handedness with the issue of belief in God, which they considered to underestimate both literature and religion. Other critics, however, praised Martel’s handling of the potentially controversial religious material.

Life of Pi: Literary Essay The novel Life of Pi, written by Yann Martel, is about Pi, a teenage boy from Pondicherry, India, and the fascinating story he has to tell. His story is not a typical story a teenage boy would have to share, he tells the story of his journey stranded in the middle of the ocean with a Bengal tiger. The novel is about strength, faith, and survival. Martel constructs these themes through the great use of symbolism.

In Yann Martel’s novel Life of Pi, the main character, Pi, presents two versions of his or-deal at sea: the first a miraculous tale of survival with a Bengal tiger, the second a disturbing sto-ry of utter human savagery. Although some readers may hold the opinion that there is only one true description of the events that occurred, I must reject this interpretation. Instead, I will argue that both versions represent strikingly different methods used to understand our world and Mar-tel encourages us throughout the novel to recognize how these methods combine to form a story that must be believed in order to understand Pi’s incredible experience on the Pacific Ocean.

Furthermore, readers are exposed to Pi’s love for religion and how it affects his views of the world. Pi’s religiousness is one that readers are exposed to early on in the novel as he relates his everyday experiences and trials to his religious role models:

Piscine Molitor Patel (commonly referred to as “Pi”) is one of the two narrators on the book Life of Pi which was written by Yann Martel in 2001. The main plot of the book is a young man who, after his ship sunk, found himself in a boat together with a Bengal tiger. The nook features not only the fierce battle for survival but also a multifarious discussion regarding topics such as whether you can believe in multiple religions. The book however hardly features any actions and can almost be called a “fantasy” because a 227 day survival with a tiger on board in practically absurd. On the other hand this is not a book aimed at uncovering the details about survival in an open ocean. Martel uses Pi adeptly

The notion of faith is first introduced to readers when Pi is in the town of Pondicherry and an elderly man says to him: “I have a story that will make you believe in God.” (Martel 2). This quote foreshadows the role religious devotion plays in Pi’s life. As mentioned previously, Pi is not only the story’s protagonist, but also an achieved artist, storyteller, and believer in the notion that that all