Life Of Pi Coming Of Age Essay

Martel’s “Life of Pi” is a coming-of-age story containing a young boy who reaches maturity through a tragic yet miraculous account of tremendous loss and survival. The story is based on a journey which encompasses humor, tragedy, and adventure. The examination from the hero archetype, it is the perfect testimony towards faith and divinity. Martel’s exploitation of Pi’s development serves to accomplish the purpose of others believing in God.

Like a mythological hero, Pi embarks on a journey from the ordinary world of India into a land of uncertainty. Though unwillingly at first, he ultimately succumbs to fate and proceeds into the threshold of adventure. Before embarking on his journey, however, Pi lives in a world where everything and everyone holds a place. In fact, his spiritual guidance from a triad of religions brings forth a sense of nostalgia, bliss, and wisdom. Nothing is misplaced in his paradigms as a child. Religion enforces in Pi a “paradoxical mix of pulsing energy and profound peace” (Martel 62). In these early stages of exploration and innocence, Pi is vulnerable and trusting in the goodness of the world. In essence, his strong faith in God

During his narration of the tragic ordeal, his voice resonates with an attitude of acceptance and overcoming. Pi realizes he was visited by the strangest sensations and thoughts as a castaway. Pi comes to a conclusion on unfixed things in natural phenomenons. Pi’s thoroughly resolute state is demonstrated in his actions at the end of his interrogation. He states, “I guess I’ll go back to Canada”. (Martel 318). It is evident that he feels a sense of security and sense of moving forward. Pi’s resolute state was also evident after his interrogation as the author receives a letter stating that “...Piscine Molitor Patel [was remembered] as being ‘very thin, very tough, [and] very bright [by the Japanese Maritime Officials] ” (Martel