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Write a perseverance essay
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Write a perseverance essay
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The Life of Pi by Yann Martel, is a classic true story about a seventeen year old boy who finds himself in the middle of the ocean with no family and no company, except for a tiger named Richard Parker. Pi must do whatever it takes to survive, but not only off of brains or brawn, but also from the things he learned as he was growing up in India. Pi learned many things throughout his childhood, but there are three that he applies when on his journey that truly stand out and help him survive in the end. When Pi was young, he learned the importance of perseverance and endurance, things aren’t always as pleasant as they seem, and different species can find common ground and live in harmony if they try. At the age of seven, Pi was taught to swim …show more content…
There’s only so much a person can take when trying their best to survive. The mere stress of the situation can make people go crazy and even beg for an end to their suffering, causing them to make rash decisions. It's true, Pi had many terrible experiences. He often reflected on them and told about them throughout the story. Pi never let the situation get the best of him. He persisted and persisted and did all that he could just to live. And though he didn't swim because of the distance being too long, he used that endurance in another way. He took on whatever challenges came his way, but even when he thought all hope was lost, he never gave …show more content…
I couldn't be more wrong. Pi learned a lot of things back in India that he used when he was in the lifeboat. Without them, Pi most likely would've either cracked under pressure or died in some way or another. But no, he used quick thinking to make it through with his beliefs. The most notable of these beliefs is the importance of perseverance and endurance, things aren't always A's pleasant as they seem, and different species can live in harmony. Without these beliefs, there would be no story of the boy who survived the ocean with only a tiger for company. The Life of Pi wouldn't
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.
In conclusion, this is why I believe the book “Life of PI” is a story about a hero’s journey in the book. Pi is thrown into the situation without doing anything wrong. Pi doesn’t deserve this, infact he is a bright and smart kid as mentioned in earlier pages from the book. You want Pi to live, mainly because Pi doesn’t deserve to die. This, in the end, is why I believe Pi’s journey of survival in the harsh Pacific Ocean is a hero’s journey type of
...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.
The novel The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho, and the novel Life of Pi, by Yann Martel, both describe two journeys where the characters learn about life, survival, and patience. First, they understand themselves better, followed by learning to communicate with nature. Then they learn to face their fears, and lastly, understand religion better. The former is about a young shepherd named Santiago, who has a recurring dream of a treasure in Egypt, for which he makes a journey to achieve his personal legend with the help of a man who claims to be a king. The latter is about a boy named Pi, who is on a ship to Canada from India, which sinks and he has to learn to survive on a lifeboat with a tiger.
Pi miraculous journey was as emotionally draining as physical. Pi animal story gives great insight of his spiritual journey whereas the human story was gruesome, harsh and straight to the point. “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
The most dangerous fear that Pi deals with is Richard Parker who has no mercy on his victims. Pi knows that he should deal with Richard Parker in a small damaged lifeboat. He can't run away from his fears, so he makes a border between Richard Parker and himself. Pi says, " I started thinking seriously about how I was going to deal with Richard Parker. This forbearance on his part on hot, cloudless days, that is what it was and not simple laziness, was not good enough. I couldn't always be running away from him. I needed safe access to the locker and to the top of the tarpaulin, no matter on what time of day or the weather and no matter of his mood. It was rights that I needed, the sort of rights that come with the might. It was time to impose myself and carve out territory," (Martel, 224). If one runs away from self-fears, the person will not achieve the goals for which Pi is no different. Despair has had the most destructive effect on Pi that has really stopped him to try rescue him. The only factor that forces despair to diminish is taking practical steps. Pi could survive 227 days on the lifeboat with faith. He reminds himself everything in this world is a creature of God. He says, " Despair was a heavy blackness that let no light in or out. It was a hell beyond expression. I thank God it always passed. A school of fish appeared around the net or a knot cried out to be reknotted. Or I thought of my family, of how they were spared this terrible agony. The blackness would stir and eventually go away, and God would remain, a shining point of high in your heart.
...ction of Richard Parker kept Pi aware, by showing Pi the reality of the current situation, assisted him with making the right decisions, committing certain actions, and is his sub-consciousness, his id that fights for survival. In Martel’s Life of Pi, Pi’s coping mechanism has been proven more useful in his projection Richard Parker rather than his beliefs in his religions, which has done nothing for Pi and was useless at that time. Humans and animals are very alike in certain aspects. When it all comes down to survival, humans and animals are almost alike. The human mind brings back the inner id from the human consciousness while in drastic situations to help them cope with it in order to survive. The human psychology has a very interesting way of creating coping mechanisms.
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.
His love and understanding of zoology was the reason he survived on the life raft. Even though Pi went against his morals and ate meat, Pi saw it as necessary to survive. His will to survive and to eliminate all personal boundaries allowed him to do what ever deed needed to survive. And finally using his knowledge of animals as a means of maintaining a psychological level of sanity, which kept him motivated and sane throughout his time at sea. With the extreme circumstances that Pi lived through, and the means he used to cope with them, it is obvious that his choices were
“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.
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.
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
‘Life of Pi’ is a complex and philosophical novel written by Yann Martel. It tells the story of a sixteen year old boy named Piscine Molitor Patel on board a lifeboat for 227 days with a hyena, orangutan, zebra and eventually, solely, a Bengal tiger, named Richard Parker. In Part 3 of the novel, however, Pi tells a second story of his ordeal, in which the animals from the first become metaphors for people who survived on the lifeboat with him, and Richard Parker becomes a metaphor for Pi’s savage side which emerges after the brutal beheading and murder of his mother so he can avenge her death and survive physically. Symbolism in very important in this novel as it allows Martel to fully explore his themes of survival, faith and the importance of storytelling.
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
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.