Piscine Patel peephole is his small existence on the lifeboat, while he is going through his ordeal fending for his life the world around him is still going on without him, the world is not stopping for his problems. When Pi says "how can I not dwell on this brief, cramped view I have of things," I believe he is saying that even though his situation, or "peephole" is small to the world(in the grand scheme of things), he can't help but focus on it because it consumes his whole life at that point in time. Corresponding to my peephole Pi fending for survival is similar in the that I am fending for my heart. Even though I have this problem that is big to me the world around me keeps moving forward, no matter how far I feel I am being pulled back,
...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.
Piscine Molitor Patel, widely known as Pi throughout the riveting novel, strives himself to handle instances in a manner opposite to his previous beliefs in his time on the open ocean. Encountering a sea of distresses that alter him completely, Pi’s ability to extensively grasp situations aid him in his time of need. Ultimately, Pi’s aptitude reaches its brink. Initially, Pi professes his vegetarianism, but given his predicament he applies new logic. Moreover, with consideration of his survival, he recognizes that he must consume fish. As the novel progresses,...
The projection of Richard Parker helps Pi to be aware of this current situation, which was him being stranded in the ocean on a lifeboat in comparison to his beliefs in his religions. His fear towards Richard Parker was one of the reasons of his survival. Pi says, “Fear and reason fought over answer. Fear said yes. He was a fierce, 450-pound carnivore. Each of his claws was sharp as a knife” (Martel 108). Pi describes Richard Parker as an extremely dangerous, fearful, and vicious predator. This causes Pi keep aware because he is on a boat with a deadly carnivore. He tries to keep awake at night while being on the lifeboat with Richard Parker from the fear of being attacked and eaten by the Bengal tiger. However, since Richard Parker is Pi’s id, it was actually him keeping himself aware and alive. Pi states, “If I still had the will to live, it was thanks to Richard Parker. He kept me from thinking too much about my family and my tragic circumstances” (Martel 164). This shows how Richard Parker occupies Pi’s mind and influences his thoughts about the tragic incident that has happened. The will to live for Pi is no longer his family, but Richard Parker, his id. Richard Parker taught Pi how to survive based on his instincts an...
losing only a thing or two of no importance, and gloom is but the passing shadow of a cloud...” (Martel 1.6) Pi understands the beauty of life. He mocks
After being afloat the life boat with Pi yelling out to all of the Religious leader in which he believes shows that he has not lost his faith in any religion despite of what he’s facing, Pi goes through a somewhat “oceanic” feeling.
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.
“All living things contain a measure of madness that moves them in strange, sometimes inexplicable ways. This madness can be saving; it is part and parcel of the ability to adapt. Without it, no species would survive” (Martel 44-45). Inside every human being, there is an extremely primal and animalistic trait that can surface when the will to survive becomes greater than the morals of the person. This trait allows humans to overcome their fear to do things which they wouldn’t normally be able to do in order to survive when they’re in extreme peril and in a do or die situation. Throughout the book, Life of Pi, survival is a dominant and central theme. The will to survive changes people and this includes the main character of the story, Piscine Molitor Patel. Survival will even change the most timid, religious, and law-abiding people. Yann Martel, using Pi as an example, tries to explain that all humans must do three things in order to survive a life threatening event: one must give up their morals, one must find a way to keep sane, and one must be ready to compromise and sacrifice.
Normally, when we talked about human survival ability in tough conditions, the first suggestion that people mostly thought about would be never lost hopes. However, in “Life of Pi”, only hopping for happening of miracle was certainly not enough. For Pi, success also depended on his trust for animals, skillful technique of swimming, and loyalty to gods as well.
He lives in a zoo, and is surrounded and influenced by animals daily. His knowledge of animals grows as he does, and he learns and sees new things year after year at the zoo. One peculiar, yet crucial thing that Pi learns while living in the zoo, is the concept of zoomorphism. Zoomorphism, “is where an animal takes a human being or another animal, to be one of its kind”(84). He explains that within the zoo that he spent his childhood, there were many cases of zoomorphism, from the strange friendly relationship between the goats and the rhinoceroses, to the even stranger friendly predator-prey relationship between a viper and a mouse. Pi then says that the only explanation for zoomorphism is that the “measure of madness moves life in strange but saving ways”(85). The rhinoceros and goats get along because the rhinoceros, “[is] in need of companionship”(85), and without the goats, the rhinoceros would become depressed and die. This explanation of zoomorphism is major foreshadowing and background on why Richard Parker and Pi can live together on the lifeboat. Like the rhinoceros, both Pi and Richard Parker would have died without the company of another being. The “madness” that is the relationship between Richard Parker and Pi, scares Pi and causes him stress. However, this stress and fear keeps Pi alive, and ultimately saves his life. Therefore, the story with the animals is true, because
Pi retrieves biscuits, water rations, a hand axe and other small utilities and builds a small raft to stay at a safe distance from Richard Parker in the boat. Richard Parker soon regains his strength from his long bout with seasickness and feeds his ravenous appetite with the other animals’ innards; soon Richard Parker and Pi Patel are the only two beings on board. Pi begins fishing and is able to feed himself and Richard Parker as he feels that Richard Parker is the only thing boosting his morale. He also collects rain water for them to drink. During an encounter with a breaching humpback whale Pi loses much of his supplies including water, biscuits and other rations forcing him to eat fish for the first time in his life. Pi trains Richard Parker to accept him in the boat and to act as the Alpha. Thus Pi realizes that caring for the tiger is keeping him alive. Afte...
The protagonist Piscine Patel is able to adapt to situations in his life through a strong sense of motivation.
Pi turns to God and says aloud, “‘Yes, so long as God is with me, I will not die.’” (Martel, 148). Instead of giving up, he used a miracle that God gives him and turns it into a routine. His belief of God watching over him gave him a lot of motivation Pi explains his struggles when he says “You might think I lost all hope at one point. I did. And as a result, I perked up and felt much better. We see it in sports all the time don’t we?” (Martel 134). At this moment, Pi decides to disregard Richard Parker and focus on his thirst. He thinks back to how when Jesus was crucified, that his only complaint was thirst. This gave Pi a reason to help himself by letting go of his worrying. As he slowly becomes more depressed, Pi comes to the realization that “God’s hat was always unraveling. God’s pants were falling apart. God’s cat was a constant danger. God’s ark was a jail. God’s wide acres were slowly killing me. God’s ear didn’t seem to be listening.” (Martel, 209). Whenever Pi starts to upset about his situation, he yells about how everything symbolizes God. Although sometimes it did not help, Pi says that he will continue to hope and love
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.
for coming as a fish to save him. “Even when God seemed to have abandoned me … indifferent to my suffering, He was watching; and when I was beyond all of hope of saving, He gave me rest, and gave me a sign to continue my journey.” This quote portrays how Pi felt that God was with him every time, and that is why he is willing to live and not give up. He prayed and prayed as he believes that it is one of the keys to
This side of Pi keeps him alive because it helps him step out of his boundaries that kept him devout and religious. Pi decides to keep his animalistic side alive for his own means of survival because “He pushed me to go on living. I hated him for it, yet at the same time, I was grateful” (Martel 167). The paradoxical qualities of Pi’s animalistic side, from his own perspective are that he hated that part of himself because it constantly left him afraid of what it would make him do; however, this fear was what kept Pi alive and alert on the boat; this is what kept Pi from dying. Pi having a balance between fear and gratefulness leads him to be appreciative yet wary of his animalistic side. Pi’s mixed feelings for his own animalistic side is what forced him to try to understand it. Pi recognizes that “It is the irony of the story that the one who scared me witless to start with was the very same who brought me peace, dare I say even wholeness (Martel 162). The presence of Pi’s animalistic side frightens him because it is a side of himself that he does not know he has. Pi is a stranger to his savage side and it to causes him to do things that the innocent Pi that he knew would not do. At the same time this side gives him reassurance that he can and will stay alive, almost like the side will protect his innocence and fight off the dangers he faces on the lifeboat. When first introduced to this side of