Truth In Yann Martel's Life Of Pi

His journal was a key element, since he always wrote about what happened. Therefore if Pi has a written record his story is believable. After Pi's last journal entry, he relies on his memory in order to tell the rest of the story. There's no evidence in the journal of what happened after his last entry, this means his memory could be inaccurate. Possibly, Pi tells the reader events that did not actually happen or he changes how things happen. Just as the Japanese businessmen did not believe Pi because he had no evidence, a reader could think the same way. The Japanese businessmen say, “Come on, Mr.Partel it's just too hard to believe” (374). People may also say that most of Pi's events are hard to believe because they might be

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.

In the novel, Life of Pi, by Yann Martel, the theme of truth is seen most prominently in the last part of the book when main character, Piscine Patel is being interviewed by two Japanese men. Pi defines truth as being relative and an invention of man, when the believability of his story is questioned. He argues that even stories, such as his, can still be true to some no matter how difficult to believe they are.

The way Pi acts throughout his journey suggests that having faith is one of the most important practises to learn as it can give an individual hope. Pi has a strong connection to all his practising faiths: Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism. Society is set to have many unspoken rules that we must abide by to

“The Real Story in Life of Pi
The difference between fiction and reality is not always evident to those who are unable or unwilling to recognize the difference.”

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.

The Life of Pi is a book filled with many fantasy adventures that will have an excellent impact on what you may or not believe in. This novel was published in 2001 by author Yann Martel. Yann Martel is a writer who is trying to make sense of life, just like any other human being trying to deal with everyday obstacles. In this book we see that the protagonist, Piscine Molitor also known as Pi takes us through an adventure that will question our faith in religion. Pi is not pleased by only following his ancestors’ beliefs; he believes that there is much more to religion. In The life of Pi we see that Pi argues amongst his family in what he wants to believe in. His father is not at all religious and Pi has taken up religion as a hobby. Now Pi is a Hindu, Muslim and a Christian and he undergoes a tragedy, a shipwreck with his family on voyage to Canada from India. As he goes through this process it puts his faith to the test. At the time of this voyage he is a teenager exploring different beliefs and he sees nothing wrong with believing in three different religions. We can argue that there is a war between religion and science. Pi on the other hand does not argue with those of other beliefs, he calls the atheists his brethrens as well. “It was my first clue that atheist are my brothers and sisters of a different faith, and every word they speak speaks of faith. Like me, they go as far as the legs of reason will carry

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.

Damaged people are dangerous Because they know they can survive. This quote was said by Josephine Hart. I have chosen this quote to express the idea that people who have gone through something usually are able to find closure and get past that obstacle. “Life Of Pi by Yann Martel” describes a teenage boy named Pi whose parents died in a shipwreck. After that tragedy it landed Pi on a Lifeboat with Richard Parker a Bengal tiger, Orange Juice a Hyena and a Zebra in the Middle of the Pacific ocean.In order for Pi to survive, he has to use intelligence and creativity. Although both the film and the book show pi overcoming his obstacles. The film does not stay faithful to text Life Of Pi because there were many differences and few similarities.

Yann Martel establishes in the beginning of Life of Pi in the author’s note that the claim to the heart of the novel in this story will “make you believe in God.” Since God is an identity that exists in a fiction or non-fiction realm, the audience is led to believe that the story to be told is true, opening the reader to the idea that belief in anything can be belief in God. Pi makes sense of his life through the expressions of Hinduism, Christianity and Muslim, “That which sustains the universe beyond thought and language, and that which is at the core of us and struggles for expression.” (Pg.68) This emphasizes Pi’s dedication and devotion to his religions and God. Martel is opening up to Pi’s story to convince the reader to find faith in Pi’s words.

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.

When writing, authors need to think of their audience and involve an element of surprise. Authors use plot twists in their writing to help them accomplish surprising the audience, allowing them to keep their audience’s interest. Not only do plot twists help keep the audience’s attention, they also make the audience question their beliefs about what they think of the story. Authors can use this tool to advance their themes. Yann Martel uses a crazy plot twist in his book, the Life of Pi, to suggest to readers that truth is relative.

However, when he finds them he leaves immediately. If he hadn't left and had convinced himself that they weren't really human teeth, he says himself that he wouldn't have left. "I might have lived for years—why, for the rest of my life—on that island. Nothing I thought, could ever push me to return to the lifeboat and to the suffering and deprivation I had endured on it—nothing! What reason could I have to leave the island?…The thought of leaving the island had not crossed my mind once since I had arrived." (279 Martel) If Pi had created a fiction for his mind to believe he would have had a guarantee of his survival, no need to return to the hell of the boat with the very unlikely

Without it, we may end up walking straight into the face of danger when there is a warning sign right in front of us. However, Martel wrote The Life of Pi to convey the message that one must not spend their life trapped in an endless spiral of this doubtful mindset, and instead choose to have faith in what there may not be proof for. In doing so, time is spared, countless aspects of life are improved, and the will to survive in dire situations becomes nearly indestructible. In this dynamic society, the choice of doubt or faith will always be there, but it is up to the people to choose the better

The saying “desperate times call for desperate measures” holds truth to an extent. In the award winning novel Life of Pi by Yann Martel, drastic measures are taken by characters in order to survive while stranded on a lifeboat in the middle of the ocean. Through his journey, main character, Pi Patel, endures many hardships and witnesses several deaths. Significantly, the death of the zebra accompanying Pi and the other animals establishes a generalization of human nature being sophisticated yet inherently vicious according to methods of survival.