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

556 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Essays on life of pi

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.

Similies are a reacurring element in "Life of Pi". Similes are figures of speech comparing two unlike things, that are often introduced by like or as. Similie...

Show More
Related

  • Techniques Used in Morris Glietzman's Boy Overboard

    777 Words  | 2 Pages

    Similes are used throughout Boy Overboard to show a comparison in the readers mind. By using a comparison with another obje0ct and using like or as to show this comparison the object can be shown to be something normally not possible for the person or object to be or do. One example in the story B...

    Read More

  • Similes In Rikki-Tavi

    603 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the short story “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi” there are many similes. A simile is a comparison of two unlike things using like or as. An example of a simile from the story is “he sat on his tail and hind legs like a little kangaroo and looked all around and chattered with rage.” (77). This is an important simile in the story because it is describing how it shows that he was mad and he would strike the next time.

    Read More

  • Truth And Reality In Yann Martel's Life Of Pi

    1543 Words  | 4 Pages

    Yann Martel’s Life of Pi, an award winning novel offers not only one but two stories within its pages. Yann Martel emphasize the truth and reality is often far more complex than we perceive. Readers cannot deny the similarities of both stories, and perhaps understanding Pi’s experience lie somewhere between the two versions.

    Read More

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

    2074 Words  | 5 Pages

    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. Mr. Patel continues explaining how his father contracts a Japanese ship to transport his family, along with a number of their zoo animals, from India to Canada in order to avoid political upheaval. While traveling the ship began sinking and Pi was the only one to manage to make it onto the life boat and survive the wreck. The disaster left Pi along with a fe...

    Read More

  • Choices In Yann Martel's The Life Of Pi

    1704 Words  | 4 Pages

    Choices play a prominent role in ensuring comfort and happiness in life. People make choices, which ultimately shape their lives. In Yann Martel’s The Life of Pi, the main character, Pi Patel is forced to make choices, which go against his morals, but ultimately keep him alive. This becomes clear when Pi chooses to change his person by eating meat. Pi then chooses to eliminate all personal boundaries, due to his incredible will to survive. Finally, he chooses to view all of the people on the life boat as animals in order to cope with the psychological distress of being lost at sea. When faced with choices, Pi puts all morals behind him to survive.

    Read More

  • Sound Of Thunder Similes

    132 Words  | 1 Pages

    Lastly, an author might choose to use similes in their writing to show comparisons like in the short story, “A Sound of Thunder” by Ray Bradbury. Writers use similes when trying to relate one thing to another but they are not exactly alike using the words “like” or “as”. Bradbury used a simile in the story as one of the characters stated, “This make Africa seem like Illinois” (584). This grabbed the reader’s attention because Africa and Illinois are so different in so many ways that it sticks out. People do not like to read the same kinds of things over and over again so when you use a simile that stands out from the rest, it is more apt to make the reader hone in on what the story is

    Read More

  • Life Of Pi Rhetorical Analysis

    947 Words  | 2 Pages

    Transition – Yann Martel is a Canadian author that has spent time in Europe, Asia, South America, and North America. Martel created a multi-cultural work that combines magical realism and survival fiction in his 2001 novel, Life of Pi. Life of Pi is the story of Pi Patel, an Indian boy with unique experiences with religion and animals, surviving 227 days as a castaway with animals after the cargo ship transporting Pi and the zoo creatures makes an unscheduled stop at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. Martel uses a philosophical, reflective tone as he illustrates the monumental changes Pi undergoes as his time at sea increases.

    Read More

  • Similarities Between Human and Animal Characters in Life of Pi

    829 Words  | 2 Pages

    As the reader examines the novel Life of Pi by Yann Martel, the reader recognizes the similarities between the story of the animals and the factual story. The main character Piscine Molitor Patel, known as Pi, goes through many struggles once he is stuck on a lifeboat in the Pacific Ocean which are shown between both of his stories. Throughout the novel, Martel describes to the readers the relationships the Pi has between the animals in the story of animals and the real people in the factual story. In Life of Pi, Pi meets many different animals on his journey on the lifeboat that influence him in many ways, including the zebra, which represents the Taiwanese sailor; the hyena, which represents the chef; Orange Juice, the orangutan, which represents Pi’s mother; and the Royal Bengal tiger, Richard Parker, which represents Pi himself.

    Read More

  • Pi And Pi In Yann Martel's Life Of Pi

    819 Words  | 2 Pages

    Yann Martel is a Canadian writer born on June 25th 1963 in Salamanca, Spain. He lived in: Alaska, Costa Rica, France and Mexico. He moved many times because his father was a teacher and a diplomat. He loves to travel, and later in his life he also lived in: Iran, Turkey and India. He studied philosophy on the Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario.

    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

  • Themes In Life Of Pi

    840 Words  | 2 Pages

    One of the many themes Yann Martel explores in the Life of Pi is the will to live. The will to live plays a major role in the movie because Piscine Patel faces an internal battle between giving up hope of rescue or to remain fighting for his survival. This is first demonstrated during one of the first scenes on the lifeboat. Pi had to suffer and watch while the hyena attacked and ate the zebra plus the monkey. Eventually, the carnivore tried to strike Piscine and his will to live was first shown as he fought to survive (Life of Pi). The animal attacks revealed Pi’s initial survival instinct and also how much he was willing to fight to stay alive. Martel decided to display this idea to his audience

    Read More

  • Religion And Religion In Life Of Pi By Yann Martel

    730 Words  | 2 Pages

    The novel, Life of Pi by Yann Martel, talks about a sixteen-year old man named Pi Patel, who unbelievably survives a dreadful shipwreck after 227 days with the animals in a lifeboat in the Pacific Ocean. Different ideas and themes in the book can be found in which the readers can gain an understanding about. The author communicated to the reader by using an ample amount of symbolisms to talk about the themes. The main themes of this novel are religion and faith. His religion and him being faithful have helped him throughout the journey, and this eventually led to an incredible precedent.

    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

    People don't truly accept life for what it is until they've actually tasted adversity and went through those misfortunes and suffering. We are put through many hardships in life, and we learn to understand and deal with those issues along the way. We find that life isn't just about finding one's self, but about creating and learning from our experiences and background. Adversity shapes what we are and who we become as individuals. Yann Martel's Life of Pi shows us that adverse situations help shape a person's identity and play a significant role in one's lief by determining one's capabilities and potential, shaping one's beliefs and values, and defining the importance and meaning of one's self.

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

Open Document