Viktor Frankl once said, “ Man is a being who can get used to anything”(Frankl, Man Search for Meaning) in reference to the millions of men and women who survived the Concentration camps during the holocaust. Was Frankl correct to assume that people are able to adapt to their surroundings, even in the most difficult of situations? The idea that human beings can assimilate to their condition is evident in two award winning novels: Yann Martel’s Life of Pi and Toni Morrison’s Beloved. The main characters from these novels, Pi and Sethe, not only learn to adjust to their surroundings throughout hard times, they also discover themselves along the way. Pi discovers himself and sorts out his religious questions while drifting in a life raft on the Pacific Ocean and Sethe adjusts to freedom after a life of slavery. Life of Pi and Beloved not only show two great examples of adaptability; they also show the development of religious and identity issues. These two tales of two very different people who have the ability to evolve as individuals prove that human beings can find themselves, even in the worst of times.
Many people today are astounded at the atrocities that the prisoners of the Nazi Death Camps survived; I can presume what my fate would be if I were ever forced into such a situation. Similarly, it is hard to imagine surviving a shipwreck in the middle of the largest ocean, but that is what Pi Patel did. On his way to Canada with his father and a shipment of a variety of large zoo animals, Pi’s journey on a large freight is ended due to an accident, and a new one begins on a life raft. Pi and a Bengal Tiger, named Richard Parker, are the last survivors on the lifeboat, and Pi manages to survive despite the elements and shark infested water. “It is pointless to say that this or that night was the worst of my life. I have so many bad nights to choose form that I’ve made none the champion,” Pi describes of his 227 days at sea. The experience at sea was not only horrific because Pi struggled to save his own life, but also because he witnessed the death of his mother and father, as well as his beloved zoo animals. The sinking of the freight carries great symbolism because Pi’s entire life as he knew it was sank along with the ship: “I looked about for my family, for survivors, for another lifeboat, for anything that might bring me hope.
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.
The protagonist, Pi is initially apprehensive to accept Richard Parker on the raft, but later comes to appreciate the tiger once he realizes this animal’s presence is crucial for his survival on the boat. First, Pi is scared and reluctant to accept his shadow self because it conflicts with his character and complicates his beliefs. This is evident when he says, “Together? We’ll be together? Have I gone mad? I woke up to what I was doing […]. Let go […] Richard Parker […] I don’t want you here […]. Get lost. Drown! Drown!!” (Martel 123). Though Pi recognizes his shadow self by encouraging Richard Parker to come on the boat, he soon realizes that he is about to accept his shadow self. He instantly regrets his decision and throws an oar at him in an effort to stop Richard Parker. His action symbolizes his denial and confusion he feels towards the extent of br...
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 lifeboat and survive the wreck. The disaster left Pi, along with a few animals, to be the only survivors all in one lifeboat.... ... middle of paper ...
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.
The son of a zookeeper, Pi Patel has an encyclopedic knowledge of animal behavior and a fervent love of stories. When Pi is sixteen, his family emigrates from India to North America aboard a Japanese cargo ship, along with their zoo animals bound for new homes. The ship sinks. Pi finds himself alone in a lifeboat, his only companions a hyena, an orangutan, a wounded zebra, and Richard Parker, a 450-pound Bengal tiger. Soon the tiger has dispatched all but Pi, whose fear, knowledge, and cunning allow him to coexist with Richard Parker for 227 days while lost at sea. When they finally reach the coast of Mexico, Richard Parker flees to the jungle, never to be seen again. The Japanese authorities that interrogate Pi refuse to believe his story and press him to tell them "the truth." After hours of coercion, Pi tells a second story, a story much less fantastical, much more conventional — but is it more true?
What would you do if your entire family was gone, you were surrounded by sharks, stranded in the middle of the ocean after a storm, with multiple animals including a tiger with you on a lifeboat? “The Life of Pi” begins when a boy named Pi is stranded on a lifeboat in the middle of the Pacific ocean. He is also accompanied by a bengal tiger. In the middle of the text, Pi finally finds biscuits and water in the lifeboat to sustain himself. By the end of the text, Pi has wisely rationed his food and water and decided that he needs to find a way to keep the tiger alive. Although the text and the movie both show the story of Pi in great detail, there are more differences than similarities. This means that the movie didn’t stay completely true to the text.
Have you ever wondered what the animals on Pi’s lifeboat represent? In the adventure fantasy novel, Life of Pi, written by author Yann Martel, a Canadian author whose books had won numerous awards, tells a story of an Indian teenage boy, Piscine Molitor “Pi” Patel, and his incredible 277 day journey in the Pacific after sinking of a Japanese cargo ship, Tsimtsum. Pi tells the story of his adventure, and also creates an alternative story which he tells the two Japanese investigators which substitute the animals with different people to make the story more believable. However, the animals on the lifeboat with Pi symbolize different person and different human natures. The three most significant symbolism in this book are of the animals are the
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.
The scenes throughout the award-winning film, Life of Pi, have captured the hearts of those who have watched them. The unique way in which the filmmaker utilized light and color through CGI, helped develop these incredible images that conveyed the powerful messages behind the film. The films cinematographer Claudio Miranda, won an Oscar for Best Cinematographer in 2012 (Picone, 2014). This award not only demonstrated the incredible work that went into the cinematography and all its elements, it also revealed how the audiences who watched this film felt about it. The film itself was also one of the movies that "won the most Oscars in 2012" (Picone, 2014).
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.
However, on the lifeboat, Pi had to assume this role by accommodating Richard Parker with everything that was necessary to sustain him. Despite the obvious challenges that come with feeding a 450-pound tiger, these daily chores were indeed an asset to Pi’s overall well being. The daily life on the boat was very difficult and these small tasks kept Pi busy. “Life on a lifeboat isn’t much of a life... Physically it is extraordinarily arduous and morally it is killing.”
Life of Pi is a novel by Yann Martel about a teenager who goes by the name of Pi Patel, who survived 227 days on a lifeboat filled with animals in the Pacific Ocean. The animals on the boat were an orangutan named Orange Juice, a hyena, a zebra, and a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. Near the very end of the novel, a story second story is revealed where the animals are replaced with people and the reader is left to choose which is real. I am going to justify both stories because there is clear evidence that one story is based off a religious standpoint and one story is based off an atheistic standpoint. Also, Pi’s reflection on a conversation with his teacher, Mr. Kumar, sheds some light on the situation of the two stories.
Written in 2001, Yann Martel’s philosophical literature Life of Pi follows Piscine Patel, a South-Indian boy, as he embarks on an eventful journey of self-discovery and coming-of-age. When viewed through archetypal and psychoanalytical lenses though, the text changes shape dramatically, giving the audience two contrasting perspectives. Deepening the meaning of the postmodernist novel and drawing attention to the common use of heroic patterns in literature, such as the hero’s journey generally having three stages; departure, initiation, and return, the application of an archetypal lens encourages readers to consider the heroic quest Pi embarks on and the leap in which he takes from child to adulthood. Examining the text from this standpoint
Juwairiya Muneem Mrs. Milam December 16, 2014 Humans VS Animals’ Story in Life of Pi Pablo Picasso once said "We all know that art is not truth, art is a lie that makes us realize the truth." Throughout Life of Pi, The author, Yann Martel follows the protagonist, Piscine ‘Pi’ Molitor Patel during his disconsolate journey trapped in the Pacific Ocean with wild animals after the Tsimtsum sinks. Pi struggles to survive at sea in treacherous conditions and succumbs to savagery in order to do so. Once Pi is saved, he offers the question of whether or not he was truly trapped on a boat with wild animals or if it was a figment of his imagination used to cover up the awful things that occurred with his human companions on the lifeboat. Readers may believe that the animals’ involvement provides more of a religious experience and is implied as the truth
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.