Essay about Fiction Fused With Reality

In contrast to the background of Lord of the Flies, Pi, the main character in Life of Pi, has a relatively peaceful childhood. He grows up in the 1970s in Pondicherry, South India, during a time of peace and prosperity. Except for school bullies, he is largely ignorant of violence, bar the time his father exposed him and his brother to the dangerous tendencies of the zoo animals. Furthermore, Pi explores religion for himself, and while he does have values impressed upon him by his parents, such as not eating meat, he is largely responsible for creating his own unique set of values that revolve around three major religions.

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

Religion is “the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods” (Dictionary). In society, many people follow the ethics of certain religions in order to make decisions about their life. The author Yann Martel uses Piscine Molitor Patel in the novel Life of Pi to send a message to readers about using ambiguity to create a theme about morality through the use of religion as spiritual beliefs can stabilize and nourish one in times of hardship. The use of religion, story-telling and science compared to religion resulted in ambiguity and therefore illustrated the theme of the importance of morality.

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.

“I have a story to make you believe in God” (Martel ix). However, the interpretation of “God” is very fluid. There are hundreds of religions throughout the world, each of which has thousands of followers. The four main ones however, are Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Buddhism. All but one, Buddhism, focus on one or more God(s). In Yann Martel’s book, Life of Pi, Pi breaks the social norm and follows all four religions as opposed to one. Throughout the novel, Pi follows Christianity, Hinduism and Islam, while subconsciously practicing Buddhism.

“To travel is to take a journey into yourself” (Logothethis 1). We are the heroes of our own lives and are given the opportunities to make decisions that will shape our own personal stories. Life of Pi is a beautiful novel which fits Joseph Campbell’s Monomyth (Hero’s Journey) archetype, a pattern which has been used to structure stories for generations from all around the world. Piscine Molitor Patel (Pi), the protagonist of the novel, finds himself shaping his life, knowing that each mistake puts his survival at stake. Yann Martel has written a breathtaking story about the voyage and erudition of Pi. He uses the Monomyth archetype to show the measures one would take to survive, even if it requires putting their religion

The Life of Pi: The Will To Survive When a story consistently rides the line between reality and fiction, it is safe to assume that a life at sea can be taxing on one’s physical and mental state; The Life of Pi is a story that does just that. In The Life of Pi, Piscine, who is the main character, uses religion, knowledge, animal bonds, and sheer willpower he has gained in life up until the point of being cast at sea to persevere through the mental and physical agony that he endures. Of all the variables the enable Pi to survive, religion is the main key that contributes to both Pi’s sanity and character development throughout the entire story. Regardless of Pi’s conflict with wanting to practice three religions he wants to practice, one thing

Even after he kills a fish in a seemingly careless fashion, in his sleep “[his] mind lit up by the…flickering of the dying [fish]” seems to haunt him with resentment (Martel 186). This subconscious image is a product of Pi’s internal conflict with his new methods of survival. Therefore, Pi is unable to completely eliminate his feelings while trying to survive due to his torn thoughts between morality and necessity.

The origin of Pi’s considerably unwavering faith in Life of Pi is his conversation with Father Martin in the church near Pondicherry Zoo. Through the author’s use of simplicity in dialogue, we learn why Pi becomes so committed to religion despite the many inconsistencies of the Christian bible in comparison to other religions.

There are many ways to supplement a story in order to add lucidity. It is done through literary devices and Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried" is no different. "The Things They Carried" is a narrative about a soldier at war in Vietnam. However, this story provides multiple layers of meaning through O'Brien's tone and style that help the reader further understand it. Both of these literary devices are embedded in the story and gradually help define it.

Religion was a very important aspect in Piscine Molitor Patel’s (Pi) life. When the story begins, Yann Martel (The Author) meets a man that says he will tell him a story that will make him believe in God (“Martel”). This started off the story by establishing that religion was going to be a major theme in the book. Pi followed three different religions, Hinduism, Christianity, and Muslim.

The evident motif of religion plays a major factor in Pi’s life; however the author chooses not to focus on one religion specifically but instead enforces a glorification of more religions. Martel creates a main character who is a curious young boy who decides to learn about Christianity, Hinduism and Islam all at once. Even though Pi is primarily

Piscine personifies human traits and emotions to Richard Parker during their journey and the author makes clear how Richard Parker provides the vital companionship and living presence that the humanistic Pi so desperately yearns for in his time of tribulation and loneliness. Richard Parker also serves as a constant, looming, and deadly obstacle albeit a conquerable one that ensures that Pi always stay on his guard. This bizarre yet symbiotic function of Richard Parker’s character and its relationship with Pi serves to illuminate the rapidly eroding barrier between the human character – Pi Patel, and the animalistic character – Richard Parker. Martel makes clear that it is ironic that despite the ever-present danger Richard Parker poses to Pi’s very survival, he is the one thing that allows Pie to escape complete madness and ultimately death alone at sea. Yet by attaching human characteristics to Richard Parker, Pi also opens up the door for the negative effects of such actions.

One of the largest impacting controversies today is Science vs Religion. A controversy that is outdated back to the 14th century, an era when society started questioning, their religions and started to grasp reality. The two major themes in Life of Pi by, Yann Martle are Science and Religion. In Life of Pi, the author uses Pi (Piscine Molitor Patel) the Protagonist to express that society needs both science and religion equally. Throughout Pi’s life before being trapped at sea, Pi displays education, beliefs, and survival.

Life of Pi, written by Yann Martel, is a story of a boy named Pi Patel. In the beginning of the story, Pi tells us how he is named after a swimming pool named the Piscine Molitor. His parent’s friend whom he calls “Mamaji” was a swimmer and tells Pi’s parents how that was the most elegant pool he has ever swam in therefore becoming his namesake. Piscine’s family was Hindu but as he explores more religions, he says he wants to practice two more, such as Christianity and Islam. Throughout the book, he is a very religious person.