Life of Pi Symbolization
We in the twenty first century use technology and other luxuries to distract us from death. Whether it be watching television or eating, we don’t think too much about when we are going to die. We focus more on how our friends are doing or if we need a new pair of shoes. However, Pi didn’t have all the distractions like we have.
Pi spent 227 days stranded on a life boat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. Pi fights starvation, madness, and solitude throughout the journey.
Pi battles death so much in the story, the relationship he has with it becomes extremely intricate. It seems as though by the end of the novel Pi could have easily dated death.
Yann Martel expresses death
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.
Pi faces a very extreme environment and a very extreme situation when he had to keep the tiger alive. According to the text, “I was alone and orphaned, in the middle of the Pacific”, which was his only companion in the middle of the ocean on the lifeboat, to survive.(page 79) In the situation, even under the extreme circumstances Pi stays cool and collected and focus’ only on survival. With the mentality to survive, and wanting to end the pain of thirst, “I think it was this that saved my life that morning, that I was quite literally dying of thirst”(page 81), Pi decided that his life wasn’t going to end now. He
In Life of Pi, the author Yann Martel utilizes symbolism throughout the novel to illustrate the adaptive path one goes through to cope with conflict; succumbing to a lower morale, seeking hope through religion, and self conformity.
Life of Pi is an extravagant film about an young clever Indian boy, Piscine “Pi” Patel, who experiences an incredible, breathtaking yet agonizing adventure. After Pi’s family decides to sell their zoo in India and move to Canada, Pi faces a catastrophe when an appalling storm strikes the ship, leaving Pi as the only human to survive. The young boy is not alone; a fearsome tiger and companion, Richard Parker, is also found on the lifeboat. Overtime, the two main characters of the film attempt to learn to trust each other in order to survive. Throughout the film, Pi Patel’s motivation and memory is exemplified throughout his prolonged, distressing adventure at sea.
In Pi's 227 days of being stranded in the sea, he has had many problems that have
When he was fifteen, Pi became a Muslim, but Pi’s parents figure about his religions as they sit in a restaurant and are confronted by Imam and Pandit. Pi talks to his dad about the 1970’s politics in India, his father moved the whole family to Canada because of the actions that took place. The family did not set sail for Canada until June 21, 1977, Pi’s mother made sure she had her cigarettes since she did not know if she could find her favorite brand in Canada, but she was also nervous leaving a place where she lived her whole life. As they were sailing aboard the Japanese cargo ship, it sunk into the Pacific Ocean and Piscine ended up in a life boat. He saw Richard Parker in the water struggling to stay alive, Pi rushes to save the 450 pound tiger. But then he realized how idiotic that plan was and dives into the
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
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.
Being an epitome of The Hero’s Journey, Life of Pi displays the first stage, the Call to Adventure, when the Tsimtsum (ship) sinks and Pi is ultimately left with only a Bengal Tiger and his wits to survive. Due to the rich and diverse experiences he had with his family and friends, he is well prepared to take this journey.
Pi said that he had survives 227 days on a lifeboat with an adult male bengal tiger named Richard Parker. As interesting as that sound it is highly unbelievable, Richard Parker would have quickly become hungry and attack Pi. Pi stated when they were on the island on “ He killed beyond his need. He killed meerkat that he did not eat. In animals, the urge to kill is separate from the urge to eat” (Martel,269. Eventually
It can be noticed that Pi and Richard Parker were finally on less aggressive terms which symbolized Pi starting to accept that he had to start living with the hate and his demoralizing decisions or the hate/tiger will consume him from the inside out. Pi’s imagination of Richard Parker served as a sanity check so that Pi wouldn’t be self consumed by his demoralizing and hatred factors. Richard Parker’s creation was Pi’s goal to keep his humanity and beliefs in god apart from his other inhuman half created as a result of surviving instincts. Eventually these two parallel roadways merged into one person which resulted in Pi at the end of the book reflecting upon his journey across the ocean and stating,” And so it goes with God.”(pg.399). His last significant quote of the novel is explained when the two writers chose the version of the story where the Pi survived on a lifeboat with animals rather than the humans.
In the movie “Life of Pi”, Pi goes through an unexpected journey that lasts 277 days.Pi depends on survival by having faith. Pi believed eating meat was wrong, but he still depended on fish and turtles. Pi was trapped in the middle of the ocean in a small boat with cans of food and a tiger that was able to survive. During
Richard Parker is a major symbol from the novel life of Pi. He is pi’s companion throughout 227 days on the sea. Richard parker represent an animal that is ferocious, strong and scary however his presence on the boat is a big factor of why Pi survives. As days go by Pi realises that his main issue on the raft is this tiger. He either dominates the tiger or gets eaten by this tiger.
Picture this: You’re stranded on a fragile boat in the middle of the ocean. No food, water, security or even protective clothing. A gush of fear just hovers around you. When existence flow towards uncertainty, and believes shatter due to internal conflicts. When you’re alone. When currents seemed unleashing its rage to engulf the boat for unknown reasons. When instincts play god in assortment. When horizon seems to have painted with vibrant pictures of past. How would you survive? You have no one around you other than an untamed, terrifying tiger, which makes you all the more petrified. What would you do to survive? Would you know how to survive? Or is it possible to sustain the notions of survival by hoping someone would perceive your beats of hope? The movie I have chosen to analyze is Life of Pi. Life of Pi is a movie that revolves around courage, resilience and hope. The protagonist Pi Patel experiences an internal journey of resilience after the unfortunate shipwreck incident. Additionally, the strong bond built between the tiger and Pi generated some trust in each other and that strengthened the courage Pi had through the
Furthermore, his vast knowledge of animals, having grown up at a zoo, helps him to tame Richard Parker. Pi knows tigers’ psychological thinking and exploits this by classically conditioning Richard Parker. Likewise, Pi’s experience of watching a tiger kill a goat in his early childhood taught him the fundamental lesson that ‘an animal is an animal’, enabling him to strategically and mentally survive his long and testing time at sea. In addition to that, during the early parts of Part 2, Pi comes across a survival manual, a crucial object for his continued existence. The book gives him critical information on the do’s and don’ts of survival at sea and it is hard to imagine that Pi could have survived without this book which also gave him the opportunity to write down his words which were “all he has left’’.