Coping With Adversity In Yann Martel's 'Life Of Pi'

1145 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Overcome adversity

Hello everyone! I am Muhes Ariyaratnam and this is speech on coping with adversity. Everyone faces adversities big or small. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team, and Steve Jobs was kicked out of his own company. They went on to have very successful careers in their respective fields. Two of the greatest humans faced adversity. Similarly the book Life of Pi by Yann Martel and the play King Lear by William Shakespeare contain the same theme of coping with adversity. In both texts characters cope with loss of loved ones, poor mentality, and nature. Firstly, Loss of loved ones is one of the main adversities that characters face in these stories. Pi faces loss of loved ones when he realizes that his family died. As Pi …show more content…

Pi’s boat sinks due to harsh weather. Pi “faced the elements” he described it as “A spectacle of wind and water, an earthquake of the senses that even Hollywood couldn’t orchestrate” (Martel 113). The author Martel uses a metaphor in this quote, he compared the earthquake to Hollywood. This quote describes how unpleasant nature was. Pi had to face the obstacle of nature to move on. Moreover, Pi went to a dangerous island which he thought he could live in. Pi states”the island was carnivorous” (Martel 312). The island would have killed Pi if he stayed there. Pi had to deal with the troubles of the dangerous island. Likewise King Lear is caught in a storm after he left Regan’s castle. King Lear shouts “Rumble thy bellyful. Spit fire! Spout rain! Nor rain, wind, thunder, fire are my daughters. I never gave you kingdom, called you children, you owe me no subscription (3. 2. 14-16). Shakespeare uses a metaphor in this quote to compare the terrible weather to King Lear’s terrible daughters. King Lear has to deal with the disaster of this storm. Edgar also braves the storm. King Lear meets Edgar disguised as poor Tom and says “Why thou wert better in thy grace than to answer with thy uncovered body this extremity of the skies” (3.4. 98-99). Edgar is outside when there is a storm while he is naked. Edgar has to face poor weather conditions. There are instances where characters cope with the adversity of nature in both

Show More
Related

  • Use of Literary Devices in Yann Martel’s Life of Pi

    556 Words  | 2 Pages

    Stranded for 227 days at sea in a lifeboat, with no one else except an adult Bengal tiger. This is exactly what the main character Pi, in "The Life of Pi" went through. "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel is a story about a boy named Piscine Molitor Patel, an Indian boy who survives more than seven months floating on a lifeboat in the Pacific Ocean, with no one else but a 450-pound tiger (Cooper). Yann Martel was born on June 25, 1963, in Salamanca, Spain. His parents, Emile Martel and Nicole Perron, were both born in Canada. He spent his childhood in several different countries, including France, Mexico, the United States, Canada, and Costa Rica. As an adult, he lived in many other places but one of them was India, which may be where he got inspiration for writing “Life of Pi”. Yann Martel uses the literary elements similes and foreshadowing, to express the theme that believing in religion can give you the faith to want to survive.

    Read More

  • Obstacles In Michael Ondaatje's 'Divisadero'

    767 Words  | 2 Pages

    Adversities are often given a negative connotation and view, as most consider them to be hurdles which impede progress. Nevertheless when taken in and accepted under a positive light, adversities can serve as stepping stones through which an individual can better their character. In the face of looming obstacles individuals who persevere come out of the situation as stronger, determined, and more hopeful for the future.

    Read More

  • Facing Adversity: Martin Luther King Jr. and My Father

    943 Words  | 2 Pages

    Most people do not actively seek out adversity, yet few can escape encountering adversity in the form of hardships and afflictions. Two people who faced great adversity in their lives were Martin Luther King Jr. and my father Brent Vickery. These men both faced adversity in different degrees and at different times and places within the United States, but what makes them similar is that their strength of character allowed them to face adversity boldly.

    Read More

  • Overcoming Adversity In The Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass

    656 Words  | 2 Pages

    Adversity can be defined as a state or instance of serious or continued difficulty or misfortune. Many things in life can bring one adversity, however some are faced with more adversity in their lives than others. Overcoming this adversity can be one of the most difficult things that a person encounters, and at times, it may consume them. People attempt to persevere through adversity in many different ways. One of the most effective ways is to keep pushing through and to never give up. If one loses sight of what is driving them to persevere through adversity, it will swallow them up with no remorse. Staying mentally tough and focused on an end goal is how people not only persevere, but thrive through adversity.

    Read More

  • The Role of Richard Parker in Yann Martel’s Life of Pi

    1248 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...knowledge his shadow self. He was able to survive his plight on the lifeboat because of the characteristics of his shadow self, Richard Parker. Even at the loss of his shadow self, Pi remains connected and constantly misses this part of his persona. After his ordeal on the lifeboat, Pi becomes rational and humane; however his experiences has scarred him, and will forever remain with him. Readers can definitely learn from Pi’s experience with his shadow self. The more we refute our shadow, the more it weighs us down. However, if we are willing to come to terms with the reality of our shadow, learn how it works, “tame” it so that it does not control us, we would be more literate and enlightened.

    Read More

  • What Role Does Adversity Play In Developing A Person's Character

    874 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant- Horace.” After analyzing this quotation about adversity from the Roman Poet Horace, it is evident that his assentation about the role that adversity plays in developing a person’s character is accurate because without some sort of hardships or trial majority of the celebrities and population wouldn’t have been as successful. For example, world renowned soccer players, Walt Disney, Famous authors, and more wouldn’t have been prosperous without their misfortune pushing and inspiring them to want a better life for themselves.

    Read More

  • A Freudian Examination of Yann Martel’s Life of Pi

    2074 Words  | 5 Pages

    A quick glance at Life of Pi and a reader may take away the idea that it is an easy read and a novel full of imagination, but take a Freudian view on the work and it transforms into a representation of the human psyche. Martel’s novel takes the reader on a journey with Pi as he struggles for his own survival. Pi experiences a breakdown of each component that makes up ones personality according to Freud throughout the novel. One by one id, ego and super ego both express a huge factor in Pi’s choices and emotions throughout his story. The readers are also introduced to an alternate ending to choose from. This alternate ending plays a key role in understanding how to view the novel through Freudian lenses. Freud’s theory of psychoanalysis clarifies many troubling issues raised in the novel Life of Pi.

    Read More

  • The Power of Imagination in Life of Pi, by Yann Martel

    818 Words  | 2 Pages

    The power of Imagination can give humans the will power to accomplish anything. In the book Life of Pi by Yann Martell Imagination helped Pi the main character get through his long journey aboard a lifeboat. Over the course of this story Pi encounters many different situations where he needs to use his imagination. Towards the end of the book you as the reader have the option to believe the story you just read or a second story, a more vulgar and less interesting story. As the reader you have to use your imagination just like how Pi needed to use his imagination. Imagination allowed Pi to survive by keeping him sane, protecting him and lastly to acquire the traits of telling a beautiful story.

    Read More

  • Setting in Yann Martel’s Life of Pi and The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

    1032 Words  | 3 Pages

    Surroundings affect how one participates in everyday life. Two settings seem entirely different, yet they create similar situations through availability of freedom offered by each setting. Life of Pi by Yann Martel possesses corresponding situations and distinct differences with “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Both compositions utilize confinement to intensify their settings, but the means of confinement have different bounds, and the things they can interact with are extremely separate. Characters of both works communicate with other beings based entirely on their setting. These stories revolve solely around the place of occurrence.

    Read More

  • The Better Story in Life of Pi by Yann Martel

    1775 Words  | 4 Pages

    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 story he or she thinks is true, but rather what story he or she thinks is the better story. In real life, this applies in a very similar way to common belief systems and religion. Whether or not God is real or a religion is true is not exactly the point, but rather whether someone chooses to believe so because it adds meaning and fulfillment to his or her life. Life of Pi is relevant to life in its demonstration of storytelling as a means of experiencing life through “the better story.”

    Read More

  • Theme Of Dualism In Life Of Pi

    943 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Life of Pi, written by Yann Martel, is the story of a young man, Piscine, or Pi for short, who experiences unbelievable and unrealistic events, which are so unrealistic ambiguity is aroused amongst the reader. Duality reoccurs over the course of the novel through every aspect of Pi’s world view and is particularly seen in the two contradictory stories, which displays the brutal nature of the world. Martel wonderfully crafts and image of duality and skepticism though each story incorporated in this novel.

    Read More

  • Life Of Pi Hero's Journey Essay

    757 Words  | 2 Pages

    Yann Martel’s “Life of Pi” shows all three of the main elements of a hero’s journey: the departure, initiation and the return, helping the story to greatly resemble Joseph Campbell’s structure of a hero’s journey. Through the trials Pi has to face, he proves himself to be a true hero. He proves himself, not just while trapped on the lifeboat with Richard Parker, but also before the sinking of the Tsimtsum. His achievement to fulfill the heroic characteristics of Campbell’s model are evident as he goes though the three stages.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Survival In Life Of Pi

    1038 Words  | 3 Pages

    Yann Martel’s Life of Pi, is a fictional novel written in 2001 that explores the primacy of survival by employing symbolism, foreshadowing and motifs. This story follows the life of the protagonist, Piscine Molitor “Pi” Patel, as he embarks on his journey as a castaway. After boarding the Tsimtsum which carries Pi and his family along with a menagerie of animals, an abysmal storm capsizes the ship leaving Pi as the only survivor, though he is not alone. The great Bengal tiger, Richard Parker, also survives the shipwreck and during the 227 days that Pi and Richard Parker are stranded at sea together, the two must learn to coexist and trust one another for survival. Through Pi and Richard Parker’s struggles to remain alive, Martel explores the primal idea of survival by employing literary techniques.

    Read More

  • Adversity in Yann Martel's Life of Pi

    1107 Words  | 3 Pages

    Adversity has the effect of evoking abilities which, in booming circumstances, would have lain dormant. Through adversity we come to see ourselves grow and advance as individuals, and realize our true potential. In retrospect, we see Pi overcoming fear and loss and realizing what he is capable of and his potential as one of God's disciples. Adversity brings out the finest in people, the most magnifcant qualities and abilities that a person can possess. Yann Martel expresses through this writing that people fall victim to adversity all the time, but our understanding for different situations makes us able to determine our capabilities as individuals. Pi has many potential talents and abilities that he just hasn't uncovered yet and could use to survive. Throughout the novel Pi goes through many life changing experiences, overcomes many obstacles and pushes his limits. Like when Pi catches the fish and kills it for the first time. He's hesitant and begins to fret over it, but he soon comes to realize that in order for him to survive he has...

    Read More

  • Symbolism and Survival in Life of Pi, Yann Martel

    940 Words  | 2 Pages

    Imagine being stranded in the middle of the Pacific Ocean in a lifeboat, not alone but with some carnivorous animals, as company. The chances of survival do not seem so high, but when one has the will to survive, they can do anything to attain it. Pi Patel and his family are on their way to Canada from Pondicherry, India, when their cargo ship the Tsimtsum sinks. Pi is not the only survivor of the ship, along with him is a hyena, an injured zebra, an orangutan and a 450-pound orange Bengal tiger. Pi travels across the Pacific Ocean in only a lifeboat, with food dwindling quickly, he needs to find land and most of all survive the voyage. In Life of Pi; Yann Martel develops the idea that having the will to survive is a crucial key to survival; this is demonstrated through symbolism of the colour orange, having religion on the protagonist’s side and the thirst and hunger experienced by the protagonist.

    Read More

More about Coping With Adversity In Yann Martel's 'Life Of Pi'

Open Document