How Does Yann Martel Use Figurative Language In Life Of Pi

In the book Life of Pi Yann Martel tells the story of a man, Pi Patel, who survives a shipwreck and has to live on a lifeboat for months with a wild tiger named Richard Parker. Throughout the book, Pi struggles to survive on the lifeboat in the middle of the ocean. He had limited resources and had to deal with challenges, such as bad weather, and Richard Parker. Pi survived in the end, but it was because of his determination to survive throughout the whole journey. Yann Martel displays the theme that people must have the will to survive by his use of figurative language, such as similes, metaphor, and personification.

Martel portrays the theme that people must have the will to survive through his use of similes. For example, Martel says “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.” (231). In this quote, the character Pi is comparing himself to someone else, a person who killed his brother, after he killed a fish. Pi had to kill the fish in order to survive, and even though it left him feeling guilty, he did it because he wanted to survive, and knew that he needed to do it.

Martel portrays the theme that people must have the will to survive through his use of metaphors. Martel uses a metaphor when he says “I was giving up. I would have given up - if a voice hadn't made

itself 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 everyday. I will put in all the hard work necessary. Yes, so long as God is with me, I will not die. Amen” (186). In this quote, Martel compares his situation of being stranded in the middle ocean in a lifeboat to a nightmare. Martel shows that Pi did consider giving up, but he was willing to survive and willing to live through the “nightmare” because God is with him and he believes that he can survive with God. In comparison, Martel says “I had to stop hoping so much that a ship would rescue me. I should not count on outside help. Survival had to start with me. In my experience, a castaway's worst mistake is to hope too much and do too little. Survival starts by paying attention to what is close at hand and immediate. To look out with idle hope is tantamount to dreaming one's life away” (212). Martel also uses a metaphor when he says “To look out with idle hope is tantamount to dreaming one’s life away”. Martel compares the look for hope to dreaming life away. Also, in this quote the theme is displayed because Pi is saying that he cannot keep waiting for help, he is willing to help himself in order to survive.
Martel uses a personification to portray his theme.

“The sea hissed and coiled and tossed me about…” (Martel 198). Martel says that the sea “hissed” using personification. The character Pi suffered greatly throughout the entire book. Pi suffered through storms, like the quote displayed, when he was struggling to survive. He really could've just given up at any point, but Pi didn't give up because he was willing to survive. He had to be willing to survive to make it through the storm or else he could've just not fought against the storm and simply given

up.
In his book, Life of Pi, Yann Martel displayed the theme that people must have the will to survive by his use of figurative language, such as similes and metaphors. Pi was willing to survive throughout the entire journey. Martel made this theme easier to understand with his use of figurative language. Having things like metaphors and similes allowed the reader to see comparisons to things they are familiar with outside of the book, allowing them to understand the theme, people must have the will to survive.