Yann Martel's Life Of Pi

Words: 754

Pages: 4

Open Document

Life of Pi by Yann Martel epitomizes the themes of twisting reality for understanding of personal beliefs. Throughout the novel, the main character, Pi, is stranded in extreme conditions of survival, and his faith is tested. The original story he tells is him on a lifeboat with a tiger, orangutan, hyena, and zebra. He is eventually alone with the tiger, Richard Parker, and when he tells his story, investigators do not believe him. He reiterates his story, replacing the zebra with a Taiwanese sailor, the orangutan with his mother, the hyena with a brutal cook, and Richard Parker with himself. It is up to the investigators to choose which story to believe, and they use the story with the animals in the report. It is not known for sure which story is the truth, but both versions exemplify the same message. Martel himself believes fiction is “the selective transforming of reality, the twisting of it to bring out its essence” (Martel). His work in Life of Pi truly captures his thoughts about reality and using different versions of it to send a clear message. Pi’s coping mechanism with loss is his creation of another story with animals, to help his mind …show more content…
The way Pi creates two parallel stories opens many eyes to see God. God cannot be seen but his power and influences on a person can be influential. A person can see God’s effects if they view them the way Pi sees his experience on the boat. There is the truth, and then there is the alternate truth that is a transformed reality, that a person can believe in rather than see. God is something to believe in, and the story with the animals is what Pi believes in. The story with the humans is what he actually sees, and so God is seen in the natural occurrence of the world. The entire novel circles around testing faith and ultimately, Pi uses his heart and beliefs rather than sight to tell about his miraculous

Yann Martel's Life Of Pi

Pi’s story, in Life of Pi by Yann Martel, claims to have him stranded on a lifeboat with little more than his faith, a small assortment of zoo animals, and a Bengal tiger. He spins a web of unimaginable scenes phenomena, but ultimately leaves the reader in doubt. Towards the end of the novel, a few Japanese reporters ask him to tell them what really happened on the boat. Pi tells them he was actually on a lifeboat with his mother, a cook, and a sailor. Many startling parallels can be drawn between…

Words 624 - Pages 3

Perspectives In Yann Martel's Life Of Pi

Throughout history human kind has possessed an intrinsic ability that no other animal has. It has helped us learn grow, conquer and succeed. This faculty is the ability to understand perspectives. In the novel Life of Pi Martel uses many examples for framing this idea. Through the use of Mr. and Mr. Kumar meeting together in chapter thirty-one, Martel illuminates that humans' greatest faculty is their ability to understand other perspectives even if human beings’ do not agree or experience it for…

Words 764 - Pages 4

Life Of Pi: Yann Martel's Survival

seems like impossible conditions? Yann Martel has created a story that describes how a young boy can overcome the many obstacles that are standing in the way of his survival. Martel was born in Salamanca, Spain, however, he moved often due to his parent’s professions. He became a writer at the age of twenty-seven and wrote about topics such as death, sexuality, battle, and illness. Martel’s big break came when he published the New York Times Number 1 Bestseller Life of Pi, which “was praised by critics…

Words 1601 - Pages 7

Yann Martel's Life Of Pi

The author, Yann Martel, of this book offers descriptive and symbolic passages. He wants us to know the importance of storytelling and the nature of religious beliefs. This is expressed through his book, Life of Pi. A young boy, Piscine Molitor, has a brother, mother, and father. His father, who owns a zoo, teaches Pi and his brother about the dangers of animals through a harsh lesson. In addition to learning about animals, Pi is introduced to three religions, Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity…

Words 249 - Pages 1

Yann Martel's Life Of Pi

survive the physical forces of nature, one must first have inner strength. To begin, in order to survive a life and death situation, one must have emotional strength by finding a balance between one’s savage and civilized self. The initial example found in Life of Pi is when Pi realizes that he must not kill Richard Parker, but instead he must keep Richard Parker alive to ensure his survival. Pi then devises a training program so that he can live in harmony with Richard Parker in order to survive: “I…

Words 406 - Pages 2

Yann Martel's Life Of Pi

Life of Pi by Yann Martel, tells a story of a boy who is stuck on a lifeboat and is maddened. Pi and his family own a zoo in India, and are moving, along with most of the animals, to Canada. The ship goes down leaving Pi and a few animals on the boat with him as survivors. Eventually, all of the animals die, besides Pi and a bengal tiger named Richard Parker. Pi looks for supplies and comes up with ways on how to survive in the same boat as a tiger; he eventually decides not to kill Richard Parker…

Words 223 - Pages 1

Yann Martel's Life Of Pi

After reading the Life of Pi I was able to see that the main character changed a great deal through his story. As the main character Pi underwent many changes in his life. They were simple changes but they all had a huge effect on his life. One of the changes that had a lasting effect would involve Pi’s first name. When he was in school most of the students were making fun of how his first name which was Piscine but they would call him Pissing. Pi points out that the name calling had taken too much…

Words 258 - Pages 2

Comparing Pi And Yann Martel's Life Of Pi

In Life of Pi, there are two presentations of the story that Pi tells the reader, the first is the better story, "So tell me, ... which story do you prefer? Which is the better story, the story with animals or the story without animals?"... " The story with animals." (Martel, Yann. Life of Pi. New York: Harcourt, Inc., 2001.) Through the first story, the reader is able to see Pi's emotional range and character growth change visibly. The evolution of Pi becoming someone who feels deeper knows deeper…

Words 304 - Pages 2

Yann Martel's Life Of Pi

The protagonist of the novel, Life of Pi is Piscine Molitor Patel. The characteristics that will allow Piscine to achieve his goal is his belief in God and faith, and his ability to understand animal behaviour. Despite his family being an atheist, Pi not only believes in and loves God, but has faith in three different religions, which are Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam. Also, Pi understands the way animals behave and react to different situations. Pi talks about how an animal will change the way…

Words 297 - Pages 2

Key Passages In Yann Martel's Life Of Pi

and enhance the plot, character and the theme of the novel, Yann Martel’s Life of Pi. To truly understand a text the reader must first understand and discover the underlying meaning of words and sentences. This will aid the reader to uncover the key passages that will help analyze the overall, story. The theme, diction, mood, perspective and worldview comparison can be analyzed from the three passages I have picked from the novel Life of Pi. In the passages, the main theme which is evident in the…

Words 1162 - Pages 5