Trauma And Coping In Yann Martel's Life Of Pi

The Life of Pi, an award-winning novel by Yann Martel, tells the story of Pi Patel, a young boy stranded at sea with an adult Bengal tiger. Marooned on a tiny lifeboat adrift in the Pacific Ocean, Pi finds himself struggling to survive. Faced with imminent suffering and death brought on by hunger, thirst, and an unending battle with the elements, Pi must make a decision between upholding his and society’s strict set of morals and values, or letting his survival instincts take over. Through compelling language and imagery, Martel gives Pi’s conflict between morals, fear, and survival a sense of excitement, suspense, and climax.

Humans generally face struggles in their lifetime. Such struggles could be within themselves or with someone or something else but commonly stem from some sort of opposition in lifestyle. In Yann Martel’s novel, Life of Pi, Pi’s passion for personal survival conflicts with his moral obligations to himself internally, morphing his external character.

When we are placed in situations of desperation, we often resort to other motives that we would normally categorize as inhumane in order to survive:“When your own life is threatened, your sense of empathy is blunted by a terrible, selfish hunger for survival,” (133). This becomes apparent to Pi when he does not feel any sympathy towards the zebra, after the ruthless attack from the hyena. Pi has trouble coping with this behaviour as it is going against values that defines him as a person: religion and his moral obligations. This willpower to survive often blocks our sense of empathy for one another and controls our mind and our hearts. Later in the chapter, the hyena has an opportunity to attack the orangutan, but does not. This relates to the idea that theses two opposites of moral and survival instincts can co exist together, such as the rhino and the goat. Ultimately, the symbolism of the two opposite natures coexisting with one another proves that nature is filled with surprises and the need for balance of cooperation and competition is essential to survive.

Yann Martel writes a famous novel, Life of Pi, which conveys a story of a young man named Piscine Molitor Patel, also known as Pi, who at the age of 16 years old is abandoned on a raft for 227 days on the Pacific Ocean. In his journey, the Bengal tiger, Richard Parker, accompanies Pi. Therefore, Pi has to learn how to use the territorial dominance against Richard Parker so that Pi is able to successfully get past his ordeals alone in the seas.

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.

Life of Pi, written by Yann Martel, is a novel about a young boy, Pi, trapped with a 450-pound Bengal tiger named Richard Parker who survive together in the Pacific Ocean for 227 days. The central theme of the novel is Pi’s faith in God, which proves to be a crucial part of his survival during the extreme situation. In the book, How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas Foster, the author talks about the importance of literary elements such as symbols, geography, and stories to a literary piece. These elements are used in Life of Pi to develop its compelling story about growing up.

1. The main characters in Life of Pi are Piscine Molitor Patel (Pi) and Richard Parker the Bengal tiger. Pi is the protagonist he is hopeful and believes that things get better. He is very optimistic which gets him through a lot of his troubles. In the beginning of the book Pi seemed to have things the rough way and continues that way but he was very hopeful. In the beginning of his lifeboat journey he was sure things would get better but as time went by he wasn't sure anymore but he had things to remind him to keep going. I also think he became more grownup and stronger by the end of the book. Richard Parker is the tiger on the lifeboat with Pi he is there every step of the way with Pi. He helps Pi get through things. Richard Parker is very

Yann Martel's novel (2001) and Ang Lee's film adaption (2012) of Life of Pi harbour themes such as isolation and the extent one would go to in order to survive. The story is split into two parts, the first part focuses on Piscine "Pi" Patel's background and his religious journey. Part two focuses on Pi's predicaments while he is stranded out at sea for 227 days. The second section of the story is renown for Pi's situation with a tiger named Richard Parker. Not only does the protagonist have to focus on his own survival, Pi needed to be attentive of the Bengal tiger; all whilst dealing with his loneliness. Martel and Led convey the ideas of isolation and survivability through the use of several literary and stylistic features throughout the texts.

Life of Pi shows that humans and animals should do anything necessary to survive whatever challenges they face to live instead of just accepting death. Whatever ways that help one to survive are necessary, even if they compromise personal values, are vicious, or are wicked. Pi, a human; a hyena, and a blind man all fight to survive in a variety of ways that are examples of this thesis.

Everyone can pick an animal that they believe describes themselves or symbolizes themselves, but in Yann Martel’s Life of Pi he takes those characteristics to a new level. The symbolism of a zebra, a hyena, an orangutan, and a tiger all contribute to the characteristics of Pi and his journey through the sea, together, on a life boat.

The author of Life of Pi, Yann Martel, uses signposts to show important themes and ideas throughout the story. There is a point in the story when Yann Martel used an example of words of the wiser to foreshadow future events. Pi’s father took him and his brother Ravi, to the different exhibits throughout their zoo, teaching them about the dangers of animals. Pi’s father brought them to the tiger, Richard Parker. Ravi and Pi see how dangerous Richard Parker is, by how he tears into the goat. On the lifeboat, Pi now knows what Richard is capable of. Pi’s father mentions that the most dangerous animal in the zoo, is not in fact an animal, but is a man. Pi remembers that he’s the most dangerous animal of all. He shows this through adapting to his

Many people believe that animals feel as many emotions as humans do. In Life of Pi by Yann Martel, Pi becomes stranded on a lifeboat with a tiger named Richard Parker, and he has to do the unthinkable to persevere. Pi lives on the ocean for months, and he survives by always doing the unthinkable. Pi believes him and Richard Parker feel love for each other, animals do not want to harm or attack, and when they are brutal they still feel love.

Her final outreach in an attempt to survive was when she “hit the beast on the head with her…arm” (Martel 131). This startling action the orangutan produces is evidence that she has abandoned her passive nature when she witnesses the hyena’s brutal capabilities. Additionally, Pi, a passive character also, has violent thoughts toward the hyena after the zebra’s death because of his feeling of terror and need to survive. The death of the zebra provokes “intense hatred for the hyena” as Pi “[thinks] of doing something to kill it… [but does] nothing” (Martel 120). Pi’s reaction to the zebra’s death forms into bitter feelings for the hyena because the hyena inherently shows its true colors of savagery. However, the desire to survive prevents Pi from doing anything against the hyena because his “sense of empathy is blunted by a terrible, selfish hunger for survival” (Martel 120). This selfishness that Pi experiences is against his own moral beliefs, however he finds it necessary to look past his own morals because of his intense desire to live. Pi’s desires to abandon his beliefs and resort to violence stem from the scene of the zebra’s mutilation. Therefore, the cruel death of the zebra ignites a stronger desire to live from the other members on the boat and causes a shift in their own behaviors.

The land was his safe ground, his safe haven. He then entered the ocean, the outside, his unknown. The waves had started calm and still, then turned rough and frigid. Two hundred twenty-seven days stranded in a vast ocean and only sixteen years old. In Yann Martel’s novel, Life of Pi, Piscine (Pi) Patel’s family decides to move to Canada and sell their zoo in India. Events take a turn for the worse when an enormous storm sinks the ship, leaving Pi as the sole human survivor. Pi is found on a lifeboat along with a hyena, an injured zebra, an orangutan, and a 450-pound Royal Bengal tiger, and his main goal is survival. In an attempt to survive, Pi uses his beliefs that he acquired in India, which include zoomorphism, having faith in God, and

To begin, characters are very important in books. In Life of Pi, Piscine Molitor Patel is the protagonist and narrator. Throughout the novel Pi grows as a human. He is forced to act and do things people would never think of doing in their lives. To begin, Pi is very dependent on his family for protection and guidance. When the ship the Tsimtsum sinks Pi is forced to grow up very fast to take care of himself and later the tiger, Richard Parker. Pi stops believing that Richard Parker is a vicious, man eating beast and starts to act and gove Richard Parker protection and guidance, He does that by feeding, watering, training, cleaning up after the tiger and trusting him. In todays society, people get very