Life Of Pi By Yann Martel's Life Of Pi

In Life of Pi, Pi is on a boat with a Tiger trailing behind on a life raft. Pi feels obligated to make sure this Tiger lives because it is the only animal left from his family’s zoo; he wants to tame the Tiger.

At the beginning of Life of Pi, Pi Patel has to adapt to his new situation, and the constant fear of his newfound boatmate, a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. Pi, a vegetarian must learn to survive, which in his situation, involves the killing and eating of animals. To preserve his life, he must distance himself from his former life of vegetarianism. “I wept heartily over this poor little deceased soul. It was the first sentient being I had ever killed. I was now a killer. I was now as guilty as Cain. I was sixteen years old, a harmless boy, bookish and religious, and now I had blood on my hands. It’s a terrible burden to carry. All sentient life is sacred. I never forget to include this fish in my prayers.” (Martel, 183). Pi has

In addition, Pi decides to feed a “450-pound” (Martel 61) bengal tiger named Richard Parker for his own self preservation. He acknowledges, “I had to tame him. It was at that moment that I realized this necessity…More likely the worst would happen: the simple passage of time, in which his animal toughness would easily outlast my human frailty” (Martel 164). This means that Pi fears that the fierce animal strength and power of Richard Parker would eventually kill and eat him for food.

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

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

“Dictionary.com” defines survival as an aspect of “remaining alive, especially under adverse or unusual circumstances” . This quote specifies that when one’s under significant circumstances, survival will become a priority. This is a theme that is very important in both novels studied this year, “Life of Pi” by Yann Martel, and “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding. This means that staying alive will become a task. People can depend on survival and become desperate to do anything for life.

The most humanized, yet most animalistic, was Richard Parker, the tiger, Pi’s boatmate for 227 days. Pi explained his ironic feelings towards Richard Parker, “...the one who scared me witless to start with was the one that brought me peace, purpose, I dare say wholeness,” (162). Richard Parker gave Pi the reason to wake up everyday on that boat, he cared for him like a father would care for a son. Without purpose in humans lives, lives aren’t worth living. So the thing that scares him the most makes him feel the most ‘whole’. This animalistic, ferocious yet graceful being is what gave Pi the purpose and drive to survive. Richard Parker is a part of all humans, just like he was a part of Pi. He was the part of Pi that needed to be taken out of him in this situation. He was the part that kept him human and alive. He was the coexisting personality that caused Pi to be the ruthless survivor he was. The theory of Richard Parker’s existence allowed Pi to cope with the fact that, there was no tiger, preying on a hyena. The death of the hyena or the cook was pure vengeance seeked out by Pi’s instinctual personality, that allowed for him to thrive and be the only survivor of the shipwreck. This side to him, scared him the most, yet relieved him in a way of his sins, allowing him to move on with his life, it allowed him to cope. Richard Parker wasn’t

He has reached an island! Made entirely of algae, freshwater ponds, and all the meerkats Richard Parker could ever eat. No more killing helpless animals, settling for rainwater, and keeping Richard Parker fed. However, the island hides a dark secret. “The island was carnivorous.”(355). When Pi is introduced to the fact that the island is carnivorous all the happy thoughts of this perfect island are gone. He could not remain on this island any longer. Pi states, “By the time morning came, my grim decision was taken.” (357). His mind was made, he must leave the island to survive. If he stays, he will be eaten alive. Pi prepares for the departure,“I filled my stores with fresh water and I drank like a camel… I ate algae throughout the day until my stomach could take no more...I killed and skinned as many meerkats as would fit… I could not leave Richard Parker… When he was aboard, I pushed off.” (357). Pi gathered as much as he possibly could and set out to sea, unknowing of whether or not he would be rescued. All he knew was that he would not be eaten by that island. This in fact would prove his determination to survive, as he sacrifices the comfort he received from the island for his chances on his raft out at

It is helpful when someone has an object, person or belief that provides them with a source of joy and comfort when times are tough. For some people, this may be a photograph, for others, a dog, and for many more, God. However, if someone relies on only this specific item for their happiness and hope, there can be consequences. What if they discover a disturbing fact about the item? What if the item gets lost? In Life of Pi by Yann Martel, a deeply religious sixteen year old named Pi becomes lost in the Pacific. His health dwindles as he struggles through the ordeal, until he miraculously stumbles upon a floating algae island. Unusual characteristics of the island, both lifesaving and dangerous, mirror Pi’s religious beliefs. In the novel,

In Life of Pi, written by Yann Martel, a young boy named Pi decides to differ from the religious path he is intended for. Instead he decides to embrace three religions even though he is ridiculed by his parents and religious leaders. The three religions he decides to put his faith in are Christianity, Hindu, and Islam. When his family decides to board a ship to Canada, the trip seems to be going well until the storm. The ship sinks leaving Pi as the only survivor, or so he thinks.

While stranded at sea, Pi is forced to forego his strong commitment to vegetarianism in order to survive. Many days after his ship is wrecked at sea, flying fish begin raining over and into his lifeboat. Pi realizes that the lifeboat rations will eventually run out, and that the tiger, Richard Parker, will eat him if he is not fed. Thus, he must kill fish in order to survive. However, Pi grew up in India as a strict vegetarian. In fact, he was so sympathetic towards animals that “always shuddered when [he] snapped open a banana because it sounded to [him] like the breaking of an animal’s neck”(197). Pi holds all sentient life to be sacred. This is a crucial part of his outlook on life, stemming from his faith and remarkable empathy. As a result, he “was appalled” at killing the fish, and “gave up a number of times. Yet [he] knew it had to be done, and the longer [he] waited, the longer the fish’s suffering would go on”(183). Pi does not make the decision to kill the fish lightly. He is very hesitant to go through with it, and only perseveres because of his driving will to survive. However, Pi’s apprehension at killing animals rapidly lessens. Pi uses the fish as bait and soon catches a Dorado. Unlike

Often the mind easily and distinctly separates the contrasting ideas, events, and moments displayed to them in life. Those people that make such a separation then proceed to choose a side and stick to it. Stubbornly, these people will continue to back their decisions through and through, rarely again truly looking at their previous verdict. But against this reality in the novel, Life of Pi by Yann Martel, Piscine (Pi) Molitor Patel creates his own harmonious unity between life’s own contrasts in his mind, sculpting a story true to himself. Constantly throughout his journey, Pi is faced with his own opposing views in which others in his life find that he must choose between. Nonetheless, Pi holds true to his own decisions and fights for his own views as he decides to dissolve the separation between conflicting ideas in order to keep his sanity and life on the ocean. Along Pi’s adventure, Martel displays both Pi’s physical and spiritual journeys, ultimately displaying the absolute necessity of both science and religion in the two stories to ensure one’s survival.

Level 1: The "Basic needs or Physiological needs" of a human being: food, water, sleep and sex. Pi decides to fish. He is not successful at fishing on his own, but flying fish begin to jump into the boat. Pi feeds one to Richard Parker, who then eats many on his own. Pi stores several fish, then uses the flying fish's head as bait and kills one himself. "I was now a killer. I was now as guilty as Cain." The cook built a raft to help with fishing; Pi also built a raft to flee the tiger. Pi must survive 227 days without any human company, and yet somehow he is able to grow from his suffering and “write” this novel. “The first time I went to an Indian restaurant in Canada I used my fingers.

Yann Martel’s account on the evolution journey of Pi The Life of Pi is a beautifully constructed book by author Yann Martel. Yann Martel published this mesmerizing book in September, 2001. The Life of Pi digs down into the inner depths of the reader’s mind, and leaves the reader perplexed as the plot unravels. The Life of Pi isn’t filled with exemplary lucidity, but rather challenges the reader to think deeper than the surface.

“All living things contain a measure of madness that moves them in strange, sometimes inexplicable ways.” ‘Life of Pi’ written by Yann Martel, is a figurative novel that tells the story of struggling to survive through seemingly insurmountable circumstances. Within ‘Life of Pi’, there are many key elements of symbolism and motifs that are repeatedly explored throughout, that reflect the struggle of survival when it is threatened. These elements are explored as the protaganist, Pi Patel, faces the obstacle of loss, the significance in establishing territorial dominance, and the importance of storytelling through the epitomy of survival expressed through the character of Richard Parker. Consequently so, Martel is able to convey his ultimate message of the need for belief and faith in something in order to survive with the aid of these symbolic elements.