Yann Martel's Grandeur in "Life of Pi" Essay

Being more comfortable around such a beast, however, later proves to be a fault of Pi’s. The unpredictable behavior of such a wild animal causes a huge threat to Pi. Richard Parker exemplifies this wild behavior by “bursting over the ridge at full gallop…coming [Pi’s] way high speed” (Martel 263). Pi describes this event as a “rapid and direct approach of a known killer” which casts a different image of Richard Parker than the previous seemingly harmless companion (Martel 236). Pi’s reaction to his fear is using his method of whistle which causes more anger within Richard Parker. Richard Parker’s unexpected reaction to the training method proves how capricious a personality of an animal is. Thus, attempted taming of a wild animal was merely a distant goal Pi thought he had accomplished.

“The now living-zebra said nothing to me at all, but when it saw me it began to dance, a twisting, jerky ballet which, culminated with the zebra repeatedly thrusting its gelded groin into the face of an innocent Barbie doll. That made me quite angry, and I growled at the molester zebra, but it simply smiled and continue its assault, this time picking on a stuffed frog, which it mounted from behind and rode bareback it’s hoof in the air like a bronco rider, yelling out

The theme of empathy manifests both in Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and in Yan Martel’s Life of Pi, lending animals a central role within the narratives that raise metaphysical issues and questions of what is human. Despite belonging to different genres, they touch upon similar issues, and both encompass the process their main character experiences in which its viewpoint alters as its sense of empathy changes. In Life of Pi, Pi begins as a vegetarian who holds strong beliefs on compassion towards animals and all creatures on earth, but is forced by necessities to forsake this lifestyle while living 227 days at sea in a boat populated by other beings (animals, or humans in each version). Rick Deckard, too, begins as presumably possessing empathy towards animals, though not towards the other entities within his world – androids. Although at the novel’s outset Deckard’s vocation is to exterminate androids, and he advances his quest to earn enough money to fulfill the social expectations on which his world rests, celebrating empathy towards animals by owning them, as the narrative unfolds his

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.

To simply be alive consists of the acts of breathing and having blood pump through the body, but to be a human being consists of much more complexity. The nature composed of a human being involves having self sovereignty on our own emotions, opinions, desires, faiths as well as having a moral subconscious. Yet, what occurs when a situation allows an individual to react in a behaviour that doesn’t follow these defining factors of human nature? In Yann Martel 's Life of Pi, he creates the conflict of a cargo ship sinking, and the only notable survivors on the life raft consists of a hyena, a zebra with a broken leg, an orangutan, and a 16-year-old Indian boy. The protagonist of the novel, Pi Patel, is faced with a personal survival conflict

Lee uses low-key lighting during Appa’s lesson about Richard Parker. Pi, being the kind and innocent child that he is, automatically thinks the best of everyone and everything. He almost gets his arm bitten off trying to prove this by attempting to hand-feed the bengal tiger. When Appa catches him, he gets yelled at, and Pi tells his father “Animals have souls too. I have seen it in their eyes.” Appa is set on teaching him that an animal’s only thought is survival. The scene dims as a zoo worker ties a goat to Richard Parker’s cage.“Things changed after the day of Appa’s lesson; the world had lost some of its enchantment.” Low lighting is used again during the storm that takes the life of Pi’s family. Lee uses red flashes of light to emphasise the horror of the sinking ship. As Pi clings to the liferaft that falls into the ocean when a terrified zebra leaps to safety and breaks its leg. In this scene, Richard Parker then climbs on the raft. Out of instinct, Pi jumps off and into the choppy waters. While underwater, Pi sees the blue glow of the ship sinking to the bottom of the ocean, leaving the viewer with a sense of the heartache Pi must feel. Ang Lee uses low-key lighting and little contrast again when Pi must discuss the events of the shipwreck with the interviewers. The vivid colors and lighting effects fade away as he walks the interviewers through the identity of the zebra, the hyena,

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.

Storytelling, in many ways, allows one to express their imagination through fanciful adventures and tales; thus, serving a purpose in terms of allowing an individual to cope with their tragedies, but also to entertain one another. In Yann Martel’s Life of Pi, and in Tim Burton’s Big Fish, the audience comes to realize that the conflict between fact and truth, combined with storytelling, are the central themes; it becomes clearer that facts have to be proven, whereas the truth is usually straightforward. These stories focus around the protagonists’ views, teaching the value, truth, and purpose of storytelling; in which, it is the pieces that collectively form the importance of storytelling. Storytelling allows the protagonists of both stories to cope with their struggles, and assists them in overcoming their adversities. It partly influences their decisions, and ideas; ultimately, changing their own perspectives in their struggles. Both show that stories can be incredibly meaningful and take on significant roles for the characters, which can be used to answer important questions about the truth.

Its importance is far more than just trying to survive. This part of the book doesn’t make it better than the film because it is not shown in the movie but more because the detailed process of killing and eating the turtle provides the reader with an example of Pi’s desperation to survive.

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.

On its surface, Martel’s Life of Pi proceeds as a far-fetched yet not completely unbelievable tale about a young Indian boy named Pi who survives after two hundred twenty-seven days on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. It is an uplifting and entertaining story, with a few themes about companionship and survival sprinkled throughout. The ending, however, reveals a second story – a more realistic and dark account replacing the animals from the beginning with crude human counterparts. Suddenly, Life of Pi becomes more than an inspiring tale and transforms into a point to be made about rationality, faith, and how storytelling correlates the two. The point of the book is not for the reader to decide which

A zebra can symbolize many things; from yin and yang to individualism. With symbolism it becomes the reader’s choice to decide what a symbol becomes and symbolizes. In the Life of Pi the zebra symbolizes individualism and the dangers of passivity. Being an individual is something that all people hold themselves firmly to be. Zebras are individuals in their characteristics whether it’s their coloring or

Throughout time, humans have written books based on various genres in an effort to tell a story, whether it is fact or fiction. Storytelling is one of the most beautiful ways to express ideas, and creative thoughts, involving characters, settings, to create a plot. Life of Pi, by Yann Martel, cleverly incorporates ambiguity from the omission of information, and lack of resolution. These aspects in turn, create the ambiguity, which leaves the reader to interpret the text in anyway. The ambiguity formed develops the significance of Pi’s storytelling, to the author and the readers. The post-modern aspects in Life of Pi, leave many things open to interpretation based on Pi’s storytelling ability.

In his novel, Life of Pi, Yan Martell uses similar techniques to George Orwell’s Animal Farm in order to explore human nature. Primarily, both authors use anthropomorphism to demonstrate to readers key features of characters’ behaviour. By utilising the stereotypes associated with certain animals, each author allows readers to explore the essential nature of people and of different classes. This anthropomorphism also enables for better understanding of traumatic events. Additionally, through comparisons between humans and animals each author draws different conclusions as to the true nature of humans. Symbolism is then used to explore human hope, with the structure of

Orange Juice, a female orangutan who survives the initial wreck and stays onto the lifeboat until she is killed and eaten by the hyena.