...Humility and Pi In Life of Pi, Yann Martel uses the journey of Pi out in the ocean to show us the transformation Pi goes through from a boy who is angry about the situation he is currently in to a survivor trying to survive while taking care of Richard Parker. The article Miraculous Survivors: Why they live while others die, lists humility and humbleness as a trait of a survivor. The article applies to Life of Pi because of the transformation Pi goes through in which, humbleness allows Pi to learn to appreciate Richard Parker in helping him survive while also becoming his care taker. The reason Yann Martel displays such a transformation is to make us believe in God through showing how humbleness can allow people to appreciate what they have in any situation, and that people should just take what they get because it is all in the hands of God. Pi goes...
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...Even though the act of surviving and living can share common factors, In Life of Pi, Pi tells a story of survival compared to Big Fish where Edward Bloom tells a story of life and is conveyed as two completely different lifestyles. Pi tells his story as he has to do anything to be alive, and overcoming many obstacles such as staying alive with all the animals on the raft with him and changing his beliefs, developing as a character mentally and physically, in order to survive. Edward Bloom tells his story as how he makes his life better by chasing the girl of his dreams just so he can be happy, Edward does not develop as character, he continues his beliefs of storytelling and maintains his emotions as a joyful and positive man. In many situations...
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...After finishing the novel Life of Pi, there is one quote from the second half of the novel that has continued to circulate in my mind. For multiple chapters, the main character Pi recognizes the fear he encounters every day while stranded at sea, and contemplates how it hinders his ability to survive. During this inner monologue, he concludes that, “if your fear becomes a wordless darkness that you avoid…you open yourself to further attacks of fear because you never truly fought the opponent who defeated you” (Martel, 179). Pi has realized that in order to conquer his fear he cannot continue to hide from it. He must be brave and face what he is afraid of if he wishes to survive, or else this fear will build until it is too difficult for him to overcome. This quote is so memorable to me because this is something I learned when I was struggling with social anxiety. In grade eight, I used to skip as much school as possible in order to avoid any and all situations that could possibly strike my anxiety. However, I quickly discovered that this was not a good idea. Every class that I did not attend for fear of my anxiety, I missed a chance to grasp and control it, effectively allowing it to snowball out of control. I think that Pi’s thoughts on the topic of fear are of vital importance to everybody. When one avoids their fear, they are essentially feeding the fire. One must try their best in this internal battle, as when they do nothing they are giving fear what it needs to grow stronger...
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...Anthony Pulicicchio Mr. Cook ENG4U Tuesday, January 12th, 2016 Pi and his Religious Survival Throughout many novels such as, The Lord of the Flies, The Road, and Then We Were None, there were many instances where God and the values of religion came into play, as the characters had to subdue their loneliness. Many of these novels had characters whom survived solely on the life skills they were taught as a kid, or they were given assistance from God. This ideology of God relates to the novel The Life of Pi. The novel incorporates and explains the central theme of the nature of faith, and how faith is one. This is shown as the novel’s protagonist, Piscine ‘Pi’ Patel, a character that dedicates himself and practices many different types of religions such as Islam, Christianity, and Hinduism. Yann Martel makes a clear indication on how faith brings a person together and how faith and religion brought Pi to the person he is today. These 3 religions play an important role in Pi’s life as Pi refers to God many times throughout his devastating journey on the lifeboat. The novel, The Life of Pi, by Yann Martel offers and gives the reader the most accurate definition of religion, which is incorporated by simply and basically having faith. At the beginning of the novel Francis Adirubasamy states that Pi’s story of survival is “…a story that will make you believe in God” (Martel. 21). This story makes you believe the ideology of religion and notion of God due to the fact that Pi’s devotion...
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...Life of Pi by Yann Martel is a story about a young Indian boy who finds himself alone in a lifeboat after his ship sinks - his only companions are a hyena, an orangutan, a wounded zebra, and Richard Parker, a 450-pound Bengal tiger. Throughout his journey, the protagonist, Piscine Molitor "Pi" Patel, an Indian boy from Pondicherry, explores issues of spirituality and practicality from an early age. The book was published in 2001 and was adapted by Ang Lee for the big screen in 2012, winning four awards from eleven nominations, including Best Director. Unlike several book-to-film adaptations, Life of Pi did not disappoint its many fans. Instead of losing fans and falling victim to critics, it gained more fans. This was largely due to how they handled the original material. The book is well know and well loved for the inner struggle and triumph of Pi, whose main goal is simply to survive, while his secondary goal is to spiritually come to terms with what has happened. What is most surprising, though, is that the screenplay is only 75 pages compared to the 400 plus pages of the book. As a general rule of thumb, one page in a screenplay equals one minute on the screen. However, due to the stunning cinematography and the computer graphics, the movie is 127 minutes long. These visuals replace the inner monologues that the book uses to show the changes in Pi. Excluding the monologues was the biggest risk David Magee, the screenwriter, took when he adapted the book. The book focuses...
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...raised when we try to find a positive correlation between following one’s moral compass and the success of survival; which there is none. If one does not succumb to their survival instincts – that kick in to aid in an unfamiliar situation – you cannot survive. In Yann Martel’s Life of Pi, Pi Patel is faced with despairing hardship when the ship he has boarded sinks and he is led astray on a lifeboat with four wild animals along with him. Furthermore, Pi faces the issue of morality versus survival which is especially difficult for him because of his religious nature, the usage of Richard Parker as an emotional and psychological crutch to get through this chaotic circumstance and also, the constant fixation on food and the lack of it. Being lost at sea gives the story a perspective very different from the normal life of Pi Patel. Pi’s will to survive coordinates with his loss of spiritual purity – though those acts of survival are needed for Pi to thrive, in which societal norms of behavior are irrelevant when ones sole priority is to survive in a circumstance that is nearly impossible to overcome. Morality and survival do not go hand and hand in dire circumstances. In order to survive, you must lose your morality and do things to survive that are far from your usual behavior. In Pi’s case he was forced to eat feces and walk around naked to accommodate himself in these severe surroundings. “All living things contain a measure of madness that moves them in a strange, sometimes inexplicable...
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...Life of Pi is an interesting journey through life and faith in an extraordinary experience. Pi Patel is a man who speaks of his loss, his gain, and a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. Pi Patel is a Christian Hindu who underwent a series of unfortunate events. Troubles about his own name, chaotic exposure to different religious beliefs, his proximity to his family, his ultimate loss against natural causes, his strive to survive and the adequacy of his whole experience. Imagining how his life could be so surreal, there’s no part in the story that is not interesting enough to not tell. He involved everyone who made a difference in his life. His uncle, who taught him how to swim; the one who swam in the clearest of waters in a French hotel, gave the idea of his name to his own father. The name he dare corrected to his peers and professors. By memorizing every number in the equation of pi, he proved that he is pi. Complicated as it were, no matter how different your name is, challenging your belief of anything brings you closer into harnessing the essence of it. In his quotes, lines as it were, he emphasized that religion should be challenged in order for your faith to grow stronger as climbing through the metaphorical ladder to God. As Pi grew, so did his religious beliefs. Meeting or being introduced, discovering three different religions made him see that there is one god and many gods to believe in. He met Christ as his older brother dared him to drink from the...
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...In the novel Life of Pi by Yann Martel, Pi decides to to have faith in three religions to convey his love for God. Pi is a born Hindu, but discovers Christianity and Islam when he is 14-15 years old. Pi’s parents did not agree with his polytheistic belief until he shouts, “I just want to love God” (Martel 74). Religion can have a huge impact on someones personality and morals; It can also help someone through difficult times. Yann Martel illustrates how religion helps shape Pi’s personality through: his experience at sea, and his difficult experiences in life. Firstly, Pi’s religious devotion shapes his personality as a young man by allowing him to be non-judgemental, open-minded, and kind. While being devotedly faithful to three religions,...
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...The Life of Pi, by Yann Martel, is about a 16-year old boy who is stranded in the Pacific Ocean for 227 days. He is accompanied by a zebra, an orangutan, a hyena and a Bengal tiger, all fighting for survival on a tiny raft. Yann Martel uses characters to show that the absence of hope can either weaken a character or allow the character to realize that perseverance is needed to make him/her stronger. Pi’s evolution as a character is portrayed throughout his journey at sea: at first he is scared, fearful and is mourning the painful loss of his family. Though, as days pass, he learns to adapt with his surroundings and becomes courageous and intelligent with his lifestyle at sea. His relationship with the tiger, Richard Parker, also evolves from fear and hate to admiration and love. When Pi’s family decides to make a life in Canada, this leads Pi and his family to take aboard the Tsimtsum along with the many animals from their family zoo. One night the ship sinks and Pi is forced to take aboard a rescue boat, and later realizes that he is to share it with multiple animals. The presence of animals adds to the amount of trouble Pi must handle now that he is stranded at sea. All hope seems lost based on his situation, as Pi explains, “I was alone and orphaned, in the middle of the pacific… had I considered my prospects in the light of reason, I surely would have given up and let go of the oar, hoping that I might drown before being eaten” (Yann 118). Pi has already accepted the fact...
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...150 10/03/2009 Why they survived The novel “Life of Pi” by Yann Mantel is one of the most interesting ones I have ever read. The protagonist Pi Patel really impressed me with his amazing story. He survived 227 days after a shipwreck, while stranded on a boat with a Bengal tiger in the Pacific Ocean. After reading the novel, I was pushed strongly to find more information about survivors like Pi. And I was so surprised when I found out that all these survivors shared the same traits. First, a survivor must have saved his precious energy and not wasted time confronting the others who were on the same boat. That means he must have stood calm in the difficult situation. Pi did that when he tried not to fight against dangerous animals such as a hyena, an orangutan and a tiger. He kept away from them and let them fight against the other. Then Richard Parker killed the hyena and Pi tried to tame the tiger. In addition to Pi, Kiley, whose story was mentioned in the article “Miraculous survivors: Why they live while others die” by John Blake of CNN, also kept away from her two male companions in the boat who bickered and cursed with the others. Because the two men wasted much energy on fighting so they died shortly after the shipwreck. And due to her ruthless decision, Kiley survived. Second, all these survivors were able to control themselves and hope for the best. What helped them most was the act of prayer. Both Kiley and Pi always prayed all the time they were stuck on the...
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...Conflicts in Life of Pi Gary Chen Trinity Western University Teacher: Andy Casali July 25, 2011 Literary Analysis of Conflicts in Life of Pi Yann Martel (2001) reveals a story about a young boy’s conflicts in his novel, “Life of Pi”. Pi is the main character who has experiences of legendary in this story. The main plots of this story are happened in the Pacific Ocean. Pi is an Indian boy who moves from Indian to Canada with his family by boat. His father owned a zoo when their live in Indian. Pi learns a lot of knowledge about animals from his father. As political instability in India, Pi’s family decides to move to Canada. Unfortunately, their ship sank in the Pacific, and only Pi and a tiger Richard Parker survive. The story shows us that Pi how to survive with a tiger in a lifeboat through the conflicts between Pi and others, and Pi and environment. Pi has a conflict with his parents and three wise men because of he believes three religions at the same time. When he asks his father that he believes three religions, he father says, “You [cannot] be both. You must be either one or the other… They [are] separate religions! They have nothing in common” (p.91). His father thinks Pi is just an ignorant and childish boy. His father thinks only believing one god is the pious performance. Every religion is independent, because every religion has its own background and history. His mother also thinks that he must be either “a Hindu, a Christian or a Muslim” (p .93). Pi is an...
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...The Quest of Pi The Life of Pi a quest with an strong influence of religion that is apparent throughout the story. “We are all born like Catholics, aren't we--in limbo without religion, until some figure introduces us to god” (Martel 58). Piscine Molitor Patel a young Indian teen has a unique infatuation with religion. Yann Martel, the author of Life of Pi, Gave Pi or Piscine an interesting life that is different from others. Piscines’ life is a constant struggle or a quest.. In the book How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster, the first chapter of Fosters’ novel “Every Trip Is a Quest (Except When It's Not)” The chapter is clearly visible within the Life of Pi. Including what Pi had: the problems endured through...
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...Template I. Introduction A. Lead: The "Monomyth" is a simplistic pattern for stories that has been used for many years worldwide. Yann Martel's Life of Pi is an excellent story about the life altering journey of a 16 year old boy Pi Patel. B. Thesis Statement (Includes Life of Pi and poem that you close read): C. Life of Pi is an exquisite example of a Monomyth. Pi's journey is sequenced into 3 sections. Each containing one of the elements of the Monomyth; the Call to Adventure, the Initiation, and the Return. D. Three Supporting Arguments (Your Blueprint) : 1. Pi's vast and scholarly ambience allows him to measure up as the hero of the story and welcome the Call to Adventure with supervision from Supernatural Aid. 2. Pi's dedication to his faith allows him to endure the stage of Initiation with his monotonous indemnification with his Spiritual Father. 3. Pi's adequacy to acclimate and welcome the position he is in allows him to embark on the Return stage while using the point of view of Freedom to Live (Living within the moment). II. Body 1st Idea E. Topic sentence: Your topic sentence will consist of your Thesis and supporting argument. You must write out the entire topic sentence as it would appear in your actual essay. : F. Life of Pi is an exquisite example of a Monomyth. Pi's journey is sequenced into 3 sections. Each containing one of the elements of the Monomyth; the Call to Adventure, the...
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... His belief in God was evidently extremely strong and this was demonstrated in several different parts of the novel. Although his belief and faith was constant in the book, it wasn’t as strong as it was in the beginning. The trauma that he went through while lost at sea and the experiences he had had an impact on his faith understandably so. Many of the things he had to go through made him question God at times and wonder why such a higher power considered so amazing and giving, would allow Pi to go through all this suffering and difficulty. Although all of this made him doubt and question his faith, it still never went away. His faith overall gave him the courage, power and hope needed to survive at sea which all proved how religion had an extremely significant role in the novel. Religion is used in Life of Pi to help Pi persevere through his struggles and essentially give him a sense of hope, sanity and individuality. Religion is fundamentally what kept Pi alive throughout the journey he experienced. It was the one motive he had that reminded him to remain hopeful through all the adversity. There were many scenarios he found it very difficult to have hope in, and he could’ve easily given up on everything as I think many others would have done if they were in his situation. He kept his hope and pushed through it and that primarily was the reason he survived. “I was giving up. I would have given up if a voice hadn’t made itself heard in my heart...
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...tiger in a life raft and tyrannical pigs can give readers a very strong message about their lives. Animal Farm was written as a warning about governmental collapse and tyrants taking advantage of power. Through the story of the rise of evil pigs in the hierarchy of a new system of government in the farm, it portrays a clear message about tyrannical government. Life of Pi also tries to get the reader’s attention, though it tries to urge the reader into having faith in religion rather than warn them. With animals and numbers, the story of a boy stuck at sea guides the reader into understanding the power that religion can give to those who have faith. Both Animal Farm and Life of Pi use the beast...
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