Yann Martel's Life Of Pi

In the book Life of Pi the author Yann Martel wrote about a young boy named Pi Patel surviving on a lifeboat by himself. Throughout the entire book Pi was very close to religion and in the end his religions were the main reason he had survived. At the start of the book Yann Martel introduces three religions, Islam, Christianity, and Hinduism. There are three main points that aided in Pi’s survival. One being that Pi was open to religions and started to follow the Islamic faith. The second reason is that Islam believed that one should pray five times a day, and Pi did exactly this. The last reason is that the religion

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

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.

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

"You must take life the way it comes at you and make the best of it." In the fiction novel, Life of Pi by Yann Martel, Survival is a major topic. Personally, I feel this is one of the biggest themes of the book. It is easily identifiable based on the various settings, characters and events.

The value of life is so ingrained into human nature that we will murder and cannibalize before we yield to death. In Yann Martel’s novel, The Life of Pi, a protagonist named Pi is marooned at sea with only a tiger for companionship. Pi is a young and introspective adherent to Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam. Facing death, he is forced to reconsider a few of his heartfelt beliefs. In order to survive, Pi is forced to sway from his lifelong dedication to vegetarianism and even to eat another human being; however, he maintains his morality in trying situations through prayer and responsibility for his actions.

Both story and religion share the common thread of giving life purpose and meaning. I formed this critique about how story and religion intertwine after reading the novel Life of Pi written by Yann Martel. Story and religion can also make life easier to get through by helping people to escape their reality. This common thread that story and religion share is not only found in Life of Pi. I can relate the close connection between story and religion in several other works we read this semester, including John D. Caputo’s On Religion, Leanne Simpson’s Dancing On Our Turtles Back, Craig Martin’s A Critical Introduction to the Study of Religion, and William James’s The Varieties of Religious Experience, Chapter 2 - Circumscription of the Topic. Ultimately, when story and religion are used in conjunction with one another, the impact on the reader is much more profound than it would be if only one or the other was used.

The book The Life of Pi by Yann Martel is about a young man who survives a traumatic shipwreck and months in a lifeboat with a large Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. The beginning of the novel covers Pi’s childhood and youth such a witnessing a tiger eat a sheep and school experiences. We are also walked through Pi religious awakening, eventually practicing variety of religions: Hinduism, Catholicism, and finally Islam, and how his family reacts to it. We also learn how much knowledge Pi has of animals due to his family owning a zoo.

The movie, Life of Pi is a movie that is one of my favorites and is most inspiring for many reasons. The director, Ang Lee, wanted the movie to have “depth and realism.” It is a story-within-a-story that is based on a fictional novel written in 2001 by Yann Martel, a Canadian author. The author tells the story about a boy named Piscine Molitor Patel (known as Pi) who survives insurmountable odds. Pi loses his entire family when their ship sank. He is left to the shipwreck’s inhabitants of a lifeboat. In the lifeboat is a tiger, named Richard Parker, who survives with Pi for 227 days in the vast Pacific Ocean after shipwrecked by an atrocious storm. There are four major themes in the movie. They are 1. Primacy of Survival; 2. Religion and Faith; 3. Power of Storytelling; and 4. Loss of Innocence. Focusing on Primacy of Survival theme, the movie Life of Pi explores this theme at sea through the main character, Pi. The obstinate pursuit for survival demands perseverance mentally, physically and spiritually.

Since the beginning of time, Religion has influenced the life of millions. In “Life of Pi,” we learn exactly how vital Religious beliefs and practices can be to our survival. Yann martel, the author of “Life of Pi,” attributes the themes in this story to fear. Throughout the novel, Pi is confronted with truly disastrous situations, and he seems to miraculously make it out intact. Martel further explains his reasoning by stating that “Religion and Higher Powers have always influenced humans. From Asia, to America and everywhere inbetween. Though these continents have vastly different beliefs, there is one common factor; fear. The many gods of Hinduism are always watching and the vengeful, wrathful God of the old testaments instills a proverbial fear in all. Fear is our greatest driving factor but it is also our one opponent.” Three major religions are used in this novel to further illustrate Martel’s Beliefs, and each of the religions play an extremely important part in Pi’s story.

It is difficult to talk about the Life of Pi text without making a reference to faith, and the same goes with explaining Pi’s survival. Pi’s belief in pluralism and acceptance of the three religions, Hinduism, Christianity and Islam aid his future and is a crucial part of his survival at sea. His faith in knowing “so long as god is with me, I will not die” gives him the mental strength and will power to survive his ordeal. Even in the middle of the ocean, Pi practices all his religious rituals such as ‘‘solitary masses without consecrated Communion Hosts’’

Opposition inhabits all corners of earth. In turn, opposites create balance, an essential element in mental and physical well-being. All too often, two extremes lose balance, and rather than creating equality and positive change, a series of conflicts arise. War, in the current era, comes frequently and concerns a multitude of unbalanced opposites, ranging from religion to property lines to ancestry. While external conflict affects a greater number of people and can be seen, internal battles often prove more difficult to resolve. Each individual copes with struggle, both internal and external, with different mechanisms. Some rise and conquer, others succumb to the opposing force, and some learn to live alongside it. Life of Pi, written by Yann Martel, illustrates the significance of internal struggle and awakening as paralleled to its external counterparts through the voice of boy enduring intense trials of both mind and body.

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

Life of Pi, a bestselling novel by Yann Martel was published back in 2003 by Random House of Canada. It is always good for the reader to learn about the authors background to see any connections made to the book. Yann Martel is a Canadian citizen born in Spain who lived most of his childhood years in several different countries. He lived in places like Mexico, France, Turkey, America etc. and discovered that writing in English rather than his original language (French) was a better way to express the exquisiteness of life. One connection between the main character Pi that we see in Martel’s real life is that they are both religious, but both have many doubts. Pi believes in three different faiths, Christian, Muslim, and Hindu, stating that all of them have some truth to them. Similarly, Martel stated in an interview that all religions have some truths to them, but on the other hand, they all have their faults.

Religion is used as a key issue in Life of Pi, which states that all religions lead to the same goal. “‘All religions are true.’ I just want to love God.” This idea is carried throughout the book and is firmly believed by the main protagonist Piscine. Piscine’s belief in God is tested regularly with obstacles that hinder his path towards salvation. The island which Piscine inhabits for a period of a time symbolises the binary oppositions of religion. The island is carnivorous during the night and self sufficient and benevolent during the day. Martel suggests the darker side of religion can destroy its surroundings and in the end destroy itself. Pi has a unique aspect to share with the reader as he is born a Hindu but decides to practise Islam and Christianity. This emphasises the commonality of