Hope In Life Of Pi

The book Life of Pi has various themes throughout the entire book. My favorite theme and the theme that I feel is best conveyed throughout the story is the theme of hope. Hope is the driving force throughout the book that truly leads him to the end result of survival and reaching land to eventually be able to relocate to Canada. The theme of hope is clearly shown through the plot, the characters, and the setting. The theme of hope ties the book together to create an important tale of dreams and upsets to finally achieve victory and success.

Throughout the whole novel, Pi is constantly enduring challenges in the Pacific that test him to his wit’s end. However, he constantly reminds himself of pleasurable things to come and the great

successes he could achieve had he faced the challenges. He decides that his struggle against external and internal challenges are important to fight because he wants to continue to have the willpower to live and survive. The first external conflict that he has to endure is that he must tame this enormous, 450 beast and Bengal tiger know as Richard Parker. Overnight, Pi struggles to come up with plans so that he can comprise his living space for the purpose of his survival. He comes up with six plans that he personally believes are key if he wants to survive. He must tame Richard Parker! He deeply stresses about the predicament that he is occurring. However, his stress is soon forgotten because he hears a noise muttered out of Richard Parker’s mouth that he never would have imagined. He hears the noise of a prusten. “It was Richard Parker who calmed me down. It is the irony of this very story that the one who scared me witless to start with was the very same who brought me peace, purpose, I dare say even wholeness.” (Pg 162) This quote shows that Richard Parker in some way must manage to calm Pi down. But, in what way does Richard Parker appease Pi and force him to cease his worries? “ He made a sound, a snort from his nostrisl. I pricked up my ears. HE did it a second time. I was astonished. Prusten? A puff through the nose to express the friendliness and harmless intentions. My panic was gone. My fear was dominated. Survival was at hand (Pg 164-165)” In this quote, we see that Pi is now appeased because Richard Parker wants to be peaceful with Pi rather than being hostile. Also, Pi has to endure the heavy storms that come at random intervals of time. “ Once there was lightening. The sky was so black, day looked like night. The downpour was heavy. I heard thunder far away. I thought it would stay at that. But a wind came up, throwing the rain this way and that. Right after, a white splinted came crashing down from the sky, puncturing the water…(Pg 232)” From this catastrophic event, we can see how badly the storm is affecting Pi and changing his orientation. However, Pi sticks with himself and prays to the gods with some much hope of survival and his prayers of hope do not go unnoticed. He eventually survives through the storm. These quotes show that throughout the plot how many struggles Pi endures and how he uses hope to get through them.

Hope is also evidently present in the setting. Hope for Pi first comes early on when he sees the beautiful Orange Juice, floating on a raft made out of bananas. Instantly, he feels much more comfortable with Orange Juice because he feels protected by her motherly instinct. He realizes how motherly she was in his time spent at the zoo. He remembers seeing her coddling her young ones and loving them treating them like any mother would: with respect and with love. “She came floating on an island of bananas in a halo of light, as lovely as the Virgin Mary. The rising sun was behind her. Her flaming hair looked stunning. Oh blessed Great Mother, Pondicherry fertility goddess provide rof mulk and love, wondrous arm spread of comfort, terror of ticks, picker-up of crying ones, are you to witness this tragedy too. How bitterly glad am I to see you. You bring joy and pain in equal measure. We can sit together. But it’s a sad view. I love you, I love you , I love you (Pg 111)” This quote shows how Pi’s hope is regained through the setting. He is elated to see Orange Juice again because she reminds him of his mother who he associates with only the most pleasant and fond memories. He is glad he can have someone to share and too imaginarily talk with. She is his sole mate until she passes from fighting the hyena. Also, in the setting when Pi finds the survival equipment in the locker he is ecstatic. He finally can have some supplies to help curb his thirst and eternal hunger. The supplies also bring him hope that he could possibly survive one day. There is hope in the food. He also has hope when he first learns to kill the fish or the turtles because it is a means of providing plenty of food for himself. Without, the setting occurring Pi would have never had any hope. For example, had Pi not learned to hunt or fish he would not have had hope in his abilities to provide for Richard Parker and himself. It is important that Pi learned to hope in his situation and predicaments.

Lastly, Pi learned to find hope through the characters.

Pi found hope through himself. He found ways to survive that ultimately did work. He first noticed the recurring theme of orange all around him. The color orange brought hope to everything around him. For example, the lifeboat was orange, the life jackets were orange, Orange Juice was named Orange and the life raft was orange. Alter on in the novel orange is also the color cat that Pi’s daughter Usha has. Pi also learns that religion is tried together so strongly with hope. If he prays to the gods and hopes they hear and respond, the end result ultimately turns out successful. Every day he prays to the gods and hopes they listen. Not one day goes by where he doesn’t pray to the gods to help him. He wishes that his hope will be transferred into something positive. For example he says, “ Praise to be Allah, Lord of All Worlds, the Compassionate, the Merciful, Ruler of Judgment Day! This is a miracle. This is an outbreak of divinity. This is…This is…” He is praying to the gods to help him in his struggle to survive. The theme of hope is also very strongly conveyed through Pi’s thoughts. “I was giving up. I would have given up- if a voice hadn’t made itseld heard in my heart. The voice said, “ I will not die. I refuse it. I will make it through this nightmare. I will beat the odds, as great as they are. I have survived so far miraculously. Now I will turn miracle into routine. The amazing will be seen every day… Pg 148” This quote show how Pi’s character refuses to give up hope. He has this small ounce of hope that won’t give up. He learns hat hope is with in him if he chooses to take advantage of it. He believes in himself throughout whatever happens and he does survive. He is Pi, the ambassador of life. He never ceases to believe in

himself.
In conclusion, the theme of hope is ever-present through out the whole novel. Pi survives through his challenges in the plot, He learns to use and find hope from those around him, and lastly he learns that hope is within him if he chooses to believe in it. Hope is always present throughout the plot, the characters, and the setting. Hope is responsible for allowing Pi to survive.