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Personality development essay 250 words
Personality development research paper
Personality development research paper
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Life of Pi, by Yann Martel, focuses on the physical journey of Piscine (Pi) Patel, the protagonist of the story, and the challenges he faces throughout his adventure. While the novel chronicles Pi’s voyage and survival, it also depicts his process of maturation. Pi’s journey begins with the sinking of a cargo ship, the Tsimtsum and continues for two hundred twenty seven days until his rescue in Mexico. Throughout the course of the novel, the reader is able to witness Pi’s spiritual growth, which leads him to possess a more mature and developed spiritual outlook on life. This process of Pi’s spiritual maturation includes a tremendous increase in his faith in God, through observing multiple religions, and developing his own unique system of beliefs. Pi’s maturation is also seen when he becomes less dependent on his parents and more self-sufficient over the course of his journey. Furthermore, he further develops his intellect on his journey, which allows himself to outlast the sea with a Bengal tiger and few supplies. Over the course of a life-threatening voyage, Pi is able to mature in various ways to become more spiritual, independent and worldly. As described by his mother, Pi Patel’s religious zeal is “a mystery”. Pi’s beliefs begin to shift from his customary views, when he encounters multiple leaders from different religions. His religious journey begins at birth, by being born into a Hindu family. He considers Hinduism as “ the original landscape of my religious imagination”. He is able to develop a love for Hinduism that eventually leads to full devotion and observance to the Hindu Gods. When Pi is fourteen, he stumbles upon a Church in Munnar, which is the beginning of his belief in Christ. Father Martin, the priest a... ... middle of paper ... ...le also helps Pi adapt to his new life and is a key component in preventing him from losing hope. Without the realization and intellectual maturity of Pi, he would not have survived and would likely be a victim of the sea or Richard Parker’s rage. Pi’s character develops in several ways throughout the novel. Often, people mature with age, but life-threatening episodes can accelerate the maturation process. In Pi’s situation, the crashing of the Tsimtsum accelerates his maturation, which is a key component to his survival. More specifically, Pi becomes more spiritually mature, independent and intelligent afterwards. These changes allow Pi to cope with his surroundings and help him remain hopeful. Overall, Pi is a unique character whose personality is shaped by his life-threatening voyage, which makes him more spiritual, independent, intelligent and thankful.
When Pi is recovering from his time at ea in a hospital I Mexico, two men from the Japanese Ministry o Transport come to interview him about the sinking of the ship, the Tsimtsum, and Pi tells them a different version of events in which we see all of the animals from the original story become symbolic representations of fellow castaways. Pi is angered by his interviewers’ inability to believe:
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.
The story Life of Pi is about a young boy trying to discover himself in through the means of religion. He is already in the beginning phase of self-actualization until major tragedy of a shipwreck while on his way to Canada causes him to be stranded in the middle of the ocean with a tiger on a lifeboat. He is now left wit...
Piscine Patel was born and raised in an Indian town, this is where he began his own hero’s journey. Pi’s journey started out in his own ordinary world where he studied zoology and religion studies at the University of Toronto. Pi then went on to St. Michael’s College and graduated at the top of his class with awards from the Zoology Department (Martel 6). Pi was also very interested in his father’s zoo animals (Riley). In the ordinary world, Pi came across many circumstances that would later trouble him. While in India he began to practice four different religions. Pi spent a great deal of time in prayer and in the temples. Once all the priests found out about his multiple religious practices he was told not to take part in all religions and that he had to make a choice between them (Martel 85). Pi chose to still take part in all practices, but he tended to stay in the back of the temples. One day Pi’s father announced that they were moving to Canada, this is when Pi heard the call to adventure. He
Two men come along to meet him to see how the Tsimtsum actually sank. Pi shares his knowledge with the two men, but the information he gives them does not involve the Tsimtsum because he doesn’t know how it sanked in the first place. Pi now has this information and facts that will be forever in his heart, never ever to leave.
“You can't stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.” Adapting to a new situation or experience like violent crashing waves can be difficult. Nevertheless, a person needs to learn how to surf in order to outlast the pounding waves. In a similar fashion, individuals need to learn how to adapt to a challenging situation in order to survive. This idea of the significance of adapting to new situations is often explored in literature. In the novel, Life of Pi, Yann Martel makes powerful use of character development to suggest that individuals may be able to adapt to situations in life through a sense of determination, or through denying reality and using their imagination instead.
Pi’s challenge to survive unconquerable circumstances is conveyed through Martel’s use of symbolism. Within majority of the novel, Pi and Richard Parker are aboard the lifeboat and face a multitude of hardships throughout their journey, with the most obvious being their struggle to survive 227 days floating upon the Pacific Ocean.
Life of Pi begins with a man of advanced age looking back, narrating events from the early stages of his life. The narrative briefly shifts to the author, who makes note of Pi’s physical appearance. This shift in narration is effective because it gives way to the idea that Pi has endured some great tragedy in the early years of his life that he is revisiting. Pi’s narration resumes while the reader receives insight into his young life. The reader learns how Pi obtained his unique name. A close business associate of Pi’s father was extremely passionate about the sport of swimming and bestowed upon Pi a name similar to that of his favorite swimming complex, the Piscine Molitor Complex. Pi’s unique namesake in turn benefits him more than he realizes. The intense ostracization that Pi is forced to endure emotionally hardens him therefore enhancing his ability to pull through in tough...
Religion is and always has been a sensitive topic. Some choose to acknowledge that there is a God and some choose to deny this fact to the death. For those who deny the presence of a higher being, “Life of Pi” will most likely change your thought process concerning this issue. Yann Martel’s, “Life of Pi”, is a compelling story that shows the importance of obtaining religion and faith. Piscine (Pi) Patel is both the protagonist and the narrator of Martell’s religious eye-opener who undergoes a chain effect of unbelievable catastrophes. Each of these catastrophic events leaving him religiously stronger because he knows that in order to endure what he has endured, there has got to be a God somewhere.
Having just experienced the sinking of his family’s ship, and being put onto a life boat with only a hyena, Pi felt completely lost and alone. When he sees Richard Parker, the Bengal tiger from his family’s zoo, it is a familiar face to him. His initial reaction is to save the life of his familiar friend so that he may have a companion, and a protector aboard the lifeboat. Suddenly Pi realizes just what he is doing. He is saving the life of Richard Parker, by welcoming him, a 450 pound Bengal tiger, onto the small lifeboat. He experiences a change of heart when helping the tiger onto the boat. Pi realizes that he is now posing a threat on his own life. With Richard Parker on the boat, Pi is faced with not only the fight to survive stranded in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, but the fight to survive living with a meat eating tiger. The change of heart that Pi experiences might possibly mean that he is an impulsive thinker. It may mean that he often does something on impulse without thinking it through, and then later regrets his actions.
Life of Pi begins with an author’s note in which Martel describes being told by the character Mamaji that Pi has “‘a story that will make you believe in God’” (ix). This essentially sets up the basis for the entire theme of the novel. The main character, Pi, claims to practice three religions simultaneously: Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam (Martel 81). Much of Pi’s explanation of his own childhood consists of his own religious journeys. He begins with an explanation of how his aunt introduced him to Hinduism upon ...
...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.
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. Martel’s novel is about the journey of a young man being forced to test his limits in order to survive the unthinkable predicament of being lost at sea alongside an adult Bengal tiger. Life of Pi starts out by introducing an anonymous author on a quest to find his next big story and goes to a man by the name of Piscine Molitor Patel who supposedly has a story worth hearing. Patel begins his story talking about his childhood and the main events that shaped him such as his family’s zoo, the constant curiosity in religion he sought as a young boy and also how he got his nickname Pi.
It is said the a person’s process of discovery is shaped by their personality, culture, history and values, however the opposite is also true, someone’s personal, cultural, historical and social contexts and values, their personal aspects, can also be shaped by the discoveries they make, with discovery acting as the journey towards a change in one’s personal aspects. This is true of the film, “Life of Pi,” directed by Ang Lee and the illustration, “Self Help,” by Michael Leunig. The most striking features of the film is Pi’s faith to God and his connection with religion. His discovery and spirituality rely on each other, depicted as a gradual progression that spans his life, his childhood all the way to his time with Richard Parker on the life
The story Life of Pi by Yann Martel is a tale that revolves around one kid, one ship and one tiger all on the Pacific Ocean. Piscine Molitor Patel is the main character; Pi Patel is raised alongside a zoo located in a small town named Pondicherry, India. Pi’s family decides to move to Canada due to political defilement that exists within their country. While at sea, their ship sinks at sea and Pi is left on a life raft with Richard Parker [Tiger]. Being stranded at sea altered Pi’s whole life and outlook about the world. He uses the concepts of religion and god in order to find hope and faith in order to survive. Life of Pi investigates the importance of religion and faith for humanity through the main character Pi Patel. The novel explores