The Life of Pi Essay Example

The Life of Pi Paper The book Life of Pi by Yann Martel is a story about a young Indian boy named Piscine Molitor Patel and his Journey stranded in a lifeboat in the Pacific Ocean with only a tiger, Richard Parker. The Japanese cargo ship carrying his fathers zoo animals, his family, and workers, was traveling from India to Canada, where the Patels hoped to start a new life. Unfortunately, the ship sank from an unknown cause and Pi along with a tiger, orangutan, zebra, and hyena were the only survivors of the wreck. Eventually, Pi and Richard Parker were the last ones remaining. A part in the book hat really stuck out to me was in the beginning of the book where Piscene, known to all as P' (Martel, 22), was in Pondicherry, India with a strong desire to learn about different religions. Although the rest of his family believed they didnt need religion, Pi went his own way and let his curiosity get the best of him. His first religion was Hindu. Later, along with Hinduism, he practiced Christianity. Finally, he added Islam to his list of practicing faiths. I admire his steady devotion for learning about the different religions. Pi would show up as often as he could with a new question urning within him. I want to become more like P, having a strong desire and fascination to learn something new. In my opinion, it is one of the most fascinating quests in life. Practicing three different religions caused a lot of trouble between his family and his different religious leaders, who together all found out he was devout in all three sects. After much arguing between the pastor, imam, and pandit of which church he should Join, saying he must only choose one, Pis mother turned to him and asked what his thoughts were. We will write a custom essay sample on The Life of Pi specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The Life of Pi specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The Life of Pi specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Pi responded by saying, Bapu Ghandi said, All religions are true. I Just want to love God (Martel, 69). Whether your desire is to love God or something else, it is important to Just have that desire. Without it, what is the purpose of existing? From this, I was reminded that it is important to learn as much as you can and that it is okay to still be confused about life, for that will only help you to understand it more so long as you have a deep desire to understand, Just like Pl. I loved the way Martel opened my eyes showing me a new and positive perspective on such an abstract subject: the beauty of the relationship between life and death. I have never thought of this relationship as one being beautiful, nor have I ever sympathized with death before happening upon this quote. The reason death sticks so closely to life isnt biological necessity†its envy. Life is so beautiful that death has fallen in love with it, a Jealous, possessive love that grabs at whatever it can. But life leaps over oblivion lightly, losing only a thing or two of no importance, and gloom is but the passing shadow of a cloud (Martel, 6). The way he personifies life and death is truly a delightful image to apprehend. I wish I could sit down with he author and discuss this further over some tea. For the topic of life and death being one of the most fascinating and complex ideas known to mankind, he seems to have a lovely view on it. Martel describing life as being beautiful in a personified way enticed me to think about it in a way I havent before. I realized that yes life is indeed very beautiful; its stunning. Life is a sacred gift given to each of us and though we have the agency to spend it as we choose, I prefer to spend it wisely and with gratitude, not wasting a moment dwelling on anything that would not benefit or make ay Journey, Pi was interviewed in the hospital by two men from the Japanese Ministry of Transport who were hoping to find the cause of the sinking cargo ship. Pi told them the story of his Journey. In his story, he noticed the cargo ship was starting to sink in the midst of a terrible storm. He frantically alerted the crewmembers, which only spoke Chinese. They put a life Jacket on him and tossed him into the lifeboat, where a tiger was hiding under the tarpaulin. Soon after, a zebra Jumped in breaking its leg on the landing followed by a hyena. After the ship had sunk, an rangutan appeared floating on a large bundle of bananas. Because the zebra was helpless, the hyena decided to start eating it. This upset the orangutan, but it couldnt put up with a fght against the vicious, starving hyena. Once the hyena was finished eating what it could of the zebra and orangutan, the Bengal tiger also known as Richard Parker, attacked the hyena, which hopelessly surrendered. The Japanese men didnt believe him. They found it impossible that there could have been a tiger on the lifeboat and that an orangutan floated its way to the lifeboat on a bundle of ananas, saying that bananas dont even float. To test the validity of the story, Pi insisted that they fill the nearby sink with water and a bundle of bananas. To their surprise, the bananas floated. Still, they had plenty of doubts. The Japanese men wanted to bring back a story that was more believable. So, Pi told a different story. Instead of a hyena, it was the cook; his mother took place of the orangutan, and the sailor represented the zebra. He paralleled his original story to the second one, in disturbing, graphic detail. Instead of the hyena killing and eating the zebra and rangutan, it was the cook who killed and ate the sailor and his mother; instead of Richard Parker killing the hyena, it was Pi who killed the cook. The two men decided that they liked the first story more. Pi represented himself as Richard Parker. I am still struggling to figure out what the stories mean, especially the one about the Meerkat Island, where Pi and Richard Parker drifted to an island covered in algae and populated with thousands of meerkats. One night, after a few weeks of making themselves feel at home, Pi noticed something strange as he was getting his bed situated in a tree. As it got dark, all of the meerkats ran towards the forest and up the trees. He started to wonder why they were all frantically running away until he saw many dead fish floating to the top of one of the fresh water ponds. Meanwhile, Richard Parker slept in the lifeboat. It turned out that at night, the ground scorched their feet. In the morning, Pi noticed some fruit wrapped in vines and leaves hanging in only one specific tree and Just a small part of it. He climbed up the tree to pick one of the fruit, but as he unraveled the leaves, he found something else: a human tooth. Puzzled, he checked the rest of them. There were a total of thirty-two rotting human teeth. This caused him to suspect that the island was carnivorous and that an unlucky soul must have found the island but made the mistake of staying too long. Pi took this as his sign to leave the island and continue on his way in the Pacific. Though I dont know the meaning of some of these stories, I do have an idea that the Bengal tiger represents Pis animal instinct. With this in mind, I find it interesting that the only time Pi and Richard Parker were separated was when they were on the island. They were rarely seen together and Richard Parker even slept in the boat off the shore of the island while Pi slept high in a tree. But once he left the island, he and have survived. For example, on the Journey he had to apply it by killing and eating fish, which as a vegetarian he had never thought he would do. Life of Pi challenged me to think in ways I normally wouldnt. It took me out of my happy, blessed world, and instead put me in one life-threatening situation after another. Every time an event would happen in the book, I had to stop for a moment and ponder how I would have reacted or what I would have done in Pis position. Its easy for me to say that I would never hurt a living soul such as a fish even if I were under the influence of starvation, but maybe I would be so desperate that I wouldnt have to think twice. I certainly know I wouldnt be able to last as long as P. I think part of what helped him survive was his task of keeping Richard Parker alive. It gave him a sense of purpose and a reason to continue living. Perhaps it is important that I find my Richard Parker so that I may have a purpose to living a satisfying life. Works Cited Martel, Yann. Life of Pi: A Novel. New York: Harcourt, 2001. Print. The Life of Pi Essay Example The Life of Pi Paper Comment on the writers presentation of loneliness and companionship in the novels The Old Man and the Sea by Hemmingway and The Life of Pi by Martel. In the novels Life of Pi and The Old Man and the Sea, the authors present the protagonists sense of loneliness and contrasting companionship through various themes linked to survival against nature and the elements. A famous quote by Albert Einstein explores survival as, Hunger, love, pain, fear are some of those inner forces which rule the individuals instinct for self preservation. As both novels are significant in that the characters are at struggle with the sea, the authors use comparative themes linked to nautical survival to emphasize a characters determination and will to overcome their personal loneliness in their challenge for survival, with similar emotions linked to the quotation echoed through the texts. The novels are structured differently in contrast to their similar subject matter of survival, with both authors adopting different literary presentations to express their own individual views of the protagonists challenge. The Life of Pi is presented to the reader in varied length chapters, with some chapters only containing several lines compared to longer length chapters which conveys the story as a survival guide, randomly structured to explore Pis frustration at sea. The reader identifies the presentation as a form of diary which Pi has used to express his emotions of his isolation, which through first person narrative explores this on a personal level. In contrast Hemmingway in The Old Man and the Sea presents the novella with no clear structure of chapters, which creates a flowing survival record for the old man. We will write a custom essay sample on The Life of Pi specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The Life of Pi specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The Life of Pi specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The reader identifies Hemmingways technique of adopting realism and simplicity into his novella with the first line He was an old man who fished in a skiff clearly emphasising the sparse description of the protagonist. Martel in contrast uses a frame narrative to begin the novel, placing emphasis on the narrator. Even though the majority of the book is presented in the first person, the narrator can be seen by the reader as an authorial voice, placing the author personally into the structure of the novel to bridge the divide between fact and fiction. The author progresses from the frame narrative to the first section of the novel Toronto and Pondicherry, which through the first line presents the suppressive tone of tragedy as My suffering left me sad and gloomy. The reader immediately identifies Pis experience to have had an effect, with the author presenting Pi in his adult life before moving into his child narrative of his survival. This technique to include different passages of time is used effectively for the reader to relate to the character, to understand his background before and after the tragedy. In comparison The Old Man and the Sea begins with a depressed tone as he had gone eighty-four days now without taking a fish. , which illustrates the Old mans frustration linked with loneliness as In the first forty days the boy had been with him, demonstrating the old mans first compassion for the boy. Compassion for objects of nature is a clear comparison between both Pi and Santiagos attributes, with Pi seen strongly linked to religion as a form of companionship. The reader identifies Pis affliction for nature using extensive description of the sloth, Sleepiness and slothfulness and seeing everything in a Mango-like blur expresses Pis detailed observation using alliteration and metaphor to attract the attention of the reader to the simplicity of the sloth. Pis love for nature is immediately compared with his interest in religion as his religious studies on the cosmogony theory of Isaac Luria is an important motif as this foreshadows the sinking of the Tsimtsum as the theory explains the contraction of the universe. Religion is viewed in this novel as a form of companionship, as Pi finds friendship and kindness in his religious ideologies that play a significant part in his survival. As the reader can identify Pis exclusion from society as a young boy, Pis religious exploration into Hinduism, Christianity and Islam can be seen as stories which spread the teachings of a faith, but to offer comfort in Pis challenge of social acceptability. Pis exclusion is presented with humour, but the reader can sense the empathetic tone as, Its Pissing Patel! The sound would disappear, but the hurt would linger the cruelty of children comes as news to no one unprovoked uncalled for. The author has linked childhood exclusion to enforce religious importance to the character, which is in contrast to The Old Man and the Sea as he is excluded in adult life. Santiago is seen in the first part of the novella to be ostracized from society as many of the fisherman made fun of the old man, but the author expresses the bond between Manolin and Santiago as a companionship, which is expressed through dialogue. Hemmingway has used dialogue between these characters to further portray their emotional bond, revealing their relationship with paternal qualities, The old man had taught the boy to fish and the boy loved him. Manolin wants to help Santiago to get sardines and to offer him a beer on the Terrace, expressing Manolins devotion to the Old man against his fathers wishes for him to fish on another boat. The reader recognises conflict in that Manolins parents had told him that the old man was now definitely and finally Salao, illustrating the strength of relationship and companionship between both characters. Hemmingway uses Salao to establish the Latin American influence and setting of the novella. This is used repeatedly throughout the novel to furthermore establish the culture from which this fishing tale is set. In contrast Pi can be seen to have a strong relationship with his father, with clear admiration in that his father is a zoo keeper, linking his affliction for animals and nature. The zoo is a symbol of freedom for Pi, a place in which his problems could be forgotten as the author uses language to create a place of tranquility, with the reader identifying Pis personal relationship with the animals as he, left for school under the benevolent gaze not only of his mother but also of bright -eyed otters and burly American bison and stretching and yawning orang-utans. This conveys a level of friendship with nature, as personification is used to create a sense of youthful observation which echoes Pis relationship with Richard Parker. Furthermore Martel makes use of vivid imagery to elaborately place the animals importance for Pi silver diamond doves, Cape glossy starlings, peach-faced lovebirds. The use of alliteration shows Pis deep observation, seeking acceptance from nature. Hemmingway presents the theme of nature in comparison to Martel, which is used to comfort the characters in their seclusion as their need for companionship places significant importance on the animals. Santiagos first observation of nature is when the reader identifies the characters dream of Africa, a sign of the old mans child hood which is used three times in the novel to signify peace with nature, the long, golden beaches and the white beaches, so white they hurt your eyes he smelled the tar and oakum of the deck The author has used colour and sense of smell to depict the scene, offering a sense of regeneration which is used to create a cycle of nature comparing dreams of youth with old age, which leaves the realism and negatives of survival and his isolation with tranquility. In the same way Martel uses the Zoo as a symbol for freedom from his isolation, but the structure of the novel in its three parts echoes the three stages of life in Birth, Life and Death. The first section explores Pis youthful exploration of nature and religion emphatically illustrated as A germ of religious exaltation, no bigger than a mustard seed, with continuation through maturation with Richard Parker to the realisation of his families death at the end of the novel. Anthropomorphism is a theme which can be seen in both texts, as the author uses this form of personification to create a clearer relationship between man and animal, with Martel using Richard Parker as the predominant animal in Pis survival, with the Old mans relationship with the Marlin. The striking use of a human name to represent the tiger is appealing to the reader as the author presented the character at the start of the novel as Pi reminisces Dare I say I miss him?. I do miss him. I still see him in my dreams. The writer uses short sentences to provide an empathetic response from the reader, the reader wants to know who Richard Parker is as he is seen to be an important character in Pis life. The use of this animal links Pis relationship to his mother, father and his brother, as the tiger is a symbol of family life which he harnesses to resolve his loneliness. Pis expression of love for Richard Parker is seen in Pis desperation for him to survive, What are you doing, Richard Parker? Dont you love life Through the use of rhetorical questioning the reader can identify Pi finds comfort in communicating with the animals, with Orange Juice presenting the maternal figure linking his own mother in his thoughts. In comparison Hemmingway uses personification to explore the Old mans affection for the sea and nature, with the author presenting the Old mans love for the sea as la mar. It is explained that la mar describes the sea as a feminine object, which links the Santiagos loneliness from losing his wife with his affection for the sea. At the start of the text the characters emotional pain is represented as Once there had been a tinted photograph of his wife he had taken it down because it made him too lonely. Hemmingways simplicity in style immediately explores the characters loneliness, with the boy and nature seen as objects which Santiago can confide in to forget his isolation. As in similarity with Pi, Santiago shares a relationship with the marlin which shows clear indication of compassion but at the same time hatred for the fish as Fish Ill stay with you until I am dead.. I have never seen or heard of such a fish. But I must kill him.. These quotations explore Santiagos changing view of the marlin placing his life before the fish in one view but on the other hand realising that killing the fish is what he must do. This can be compared with .. Together? Well be together? Have I gone mad?.. from Life of Pi which in the same way explores the realisation of what is needed to survive against a characters need for companionship, with both characters deciding what is the most important attribute, survival or companionship. Survival as explained in the introduction quotation is an individuals instinct for self preservation, which can be split into several categories. The Old Man and the sea clearly presents the theme of determination, a theme which links the relationship between himself and the boy. Santiago views his challenge for survival with the Marlin as something which he must prove to the boy I told the boy I was a strange old man Now is when I must prove it. This represents to the reader that Santiago views his survival as a personal challenge, linked with the boys fascination with the Old mans skill at fishing And the best fisherman is you There is no such fish if you are still strong as you say. These quotes clearly illustrate the boys admiration for the old man, with the old man realising his compassion for the boy as I wish I had the boy repeated through the novella places the boy in high regard.