Does God Pardon Us if We Have to Sin in Order to Survive? In the novel The Life of Pi by Yann Martel, the author expresses a potent message, being that God pardons us if we have to sin in order to survive desperate circumstances. Pi Patel obtains a very conservative definition of the word “sin.” While living in India Pi was a child who possessed strong morals, believing that a sin is an evil act like killing a living thing and eating it. However, while on the lifeboat Pi cannot survive on his vegetarian diet and must therefore resort to killing and eating meat to sustain himself. Since starting to kill food, Pi woefully states, “Lord to think that I’m a strict vegetarian. To think that when I was a child I shuddered when I snapped open a banana because it sounded to me like the breaking of an animals neck. I descended to a level of savagery that I never imagined possible,” it is then obvious that Pi is disappointed in his new …show more content…
Pi spoke in a guilty tone when recounting one of his stories of sea, “I will confess that I caught one of his arms with the gaff and used it for bait. I prayed for his soul every day,” by having Pi “confess” what he did to the sailor Martel provides the character with a guilty tone (256). After the incident with the Dorado, Pi understood that God forgives sins necessary towards survival. However, it is obvious that Pi has an internal struggle with guilt since he still feels the need to pray for the sailor years after cutting his arm. While on the lifeboat, there were some desperate situations in which a sin had to be committed in order for Pi Patel to survive, and although God proved that the boy’s actions in those times of stress where forgiven, the child still struggled to relieve his memories of certain dramatic
In the short story, “The Story of An Hour”, written by Kate Choppin, a woman with a heart trouble is told her husband had passed away in a railroad disaster. Mrs. Mallard was depressed, then she came to a realization that she was free. Back in the day this story was written, women did not have many rights. They were overruled by their husband. As she became more aware of how many doors her husband death would open, she had passed away. The doctors had said she had died of heart disease--of the joy that kills. The irony in the situation was that as she was dying, her husband walked through the door, alive.
Many characters have hopes and dreams which they wish to accomplish. Of Mice and Men has two main characters that go through obstacles to get what they want. In the beginning it is George and Lennie running away trying to get a job. Once both George and Lennie have a job they try to accomplish their dreams. Unfortunately they both can't get their dreams to come true since lennie does the worst and George has to shoot Lennie. Steinbeck uses characterization, foreshadowing, and symbol as rhetorical strategies to make George's actions justified.
Contrast. Tone. Metaphors. These literary elements are all used in Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s in relation to a larger theme in the novel – confidence. In the book, a man named McMurphy is put into a mental ward run by Nurse Ratched, who has complete power and control over the men. They all fear her and submit to her due to fear, suppressing their confidence and manhood. When McMurphy came, he was like a spark that ignites a roaring fire in the men; they gain back the confidence that they lost and become free. In one passage, McMurphy takes the men on a fishing trip where he helps them stray away from the Nurse’s power and learn to believe in themselves. Throughout the passage, the use of contrast, positive tone, and metaphors of
“People who had incurred the displeasure of the party simply disappeared and were never heard of again.
Hosseini’s purpose of writing the Kite Runner was to teach the readers the different ethnic groups in Afghanistan. The main character, Amir, is a Pashtun and Pashtuns are Sunni Muslims, then there are Hazara’s that the Pashtuns do not get along with. Hazara’s are not welcomed by the Pashtuns because they are different social classes.
Guilt is a result of sin, and sin is a result of misaction. In the novel, The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, the protagonist, Amir, goes on a journey to redeem himself for his sins. When Amir was 12, he witnessed his best friend, Hassan, get raped in an alley. Instead of standing up for his friend, Amir ran away in selfishness and cowardice. The guilt of his choice plagues Amir for the rest of his life, until one day, he gets a call from an old uncle, who tells him that “there is a way to be good again.” (2) The Kite Runner follows Amir on his odyssey to redeem himself for his hurtful actions. Through this journey, Khaled Hosseini delivers the message that sins and guilt can always be atoned for.
With the goal of demonstrating Pi´s conflict between emotions and survival, Martel illustrates reason and non-reason throughout section two in Pi´s decisions aboard the lifeboat. With his options limited, Pi considers what may be his greatest chance of survival: ¨I hatched several plans to get rid of him [Richard Parker] so that the lifeboat might be mine,¨ (Martel 157). Reason takes root in the mind of Pi as he contemplates his most rational options. He doesn't let his unreasonable emotions cloud his thought and judgement. However, accepting that he is unable to remove Richard Parker, Pi decides to keep the tiger alive and touches upon the peace he has brought him: ¨It was Richard Parker who calmed me down,” (Martel 162). Martel utilizes
The subject of death is one that many have trouble talking about, but Virginia Woolf provides her ideas in her narration The Death of the Moth. The moth is used as a metaphor to depict the constant battle between life and death, as well as Woolf’s struggle with chronic depression. Her use of pathos and personification of the moth helps readers develop an emotional connection and twists them to feel a certain way. Her intentional use of often awkward punctuation forces readers to take a step back and think about what they just read. Overall, Woolf uses these techniques to give her opinion on existence in general, and reminds readers that death is a part of life.
With the lifeboat symbolising faith and Richard Parker as Pi’s primal instinct, Martel depicts Pi’s prolonged fight for survival as assuming the behaviour of a tiger allows him to endure the voyage. By foreshadowing Pi’s tense relationship with a tiger and the tragic sinking of the ship, the audience speculates that Pi will persevere, despite his unfortunate circumstances. Lastly, the recurring motif of food, water and territory requires both castaways to respect and depend on each other for their survival. Through the literary techniques of symbolism, foreshadowing and motifs, Martel enables the audience to explore the central theme of survival as they too experience being a castaway in the Pacific Ocean through Pi’s life
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
“The presence of God is the finest of rewards.” (Yann Martel, Life of Pi 63) In Yann Martel’s riveting novel “Life of Pi” The basic plot of survival unfolds, however, this essay will show how the hidden yet the dominant theme of religion throughout the story is what helped the main character Piscine Molitor Patel (Pi) survive.
At the start of novel, and when Pi is a child, he is extremely religious. He devotes his life to loving God, and even practices three religions to do so. He practices Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity. His explanation for practicing all three is that according to Bapu Gandhi, “‘All religions are true’”(69). Pi explains that he practices all three religions because, “[he] just wants to love God”(69). Pi’s major religious values and faith in God continue to shape his life daily, until the shipwreck leaves him stranded on the Pacific, with a tiger for 227 days. Although Pi still remains religious and continues to praise God most days, the shipwreck does change Pi’s religious morals. Richard Parker is the factor that begins this change in Pi, because Pi knows that in order to survive he will have to fish to provide for Richard Parker if he wants to avoid being eaten himself. Fishing, however goes against the religious practice of Hinduism, which requires vegetarianism. Also, killing animals goes against Pi’s whole religious morals to not hurt another living being. Pi says the idea of killing a fish, and of “beating a soft living head with a hammer [is] simply too much”(183). It goes against everything he believes in. So, he decides to instead cover to fish’s head and break its neck (183). He explains that, “he [gives] up a number of times.
Everybody has their own morals and limits, this includes Pi Patel. Pi is a very nice young man who would be considered to be a person with many good traits: he is religious, a pacifist, very peaceful, and loves animals. Most humans are generally very kind and gentle towards other living creatures and don’t do much outside of their own comfort zone. Unfortunately, life is very unforgiving and some people end up in extremely dire situations in which they have to resort to drastic measures. Throughout the book, Yann Martel uses Pi as a symbol to represent all humans and suggests that in order to survive; one must give up their morals. Over the course of P...
He also realizes that continuing his strict vegetarian diet will not give him the sufficient amount of nutrients needed for survival. Pi ultimately has to resort to eating meat. Eating the fish was not the problem, killing the fish is what stood strictly against his morals. Pi states, “ I wept heartily over this poor little deceased soul. It was the first sentient being I have ever killed. I was now a killer[…] I never forgot to include this fish in my prayers”(Martel 183). It is clearly shown that killing went against what Pi stood for. Pi states how “He will never forget this fish in his Prayers”(Martel 183), which is quite symbolic in that he would never forget that first fish. After this event, Pi killed many other sea creatures, but the first fish he killed was the largest sin he had. He felt the need to constantly pray to his Gods for a sense of relief for committing his sins. Pi quickly adapts to his new lifestyle of eating meat. Even though his morals see this as wrong, he quickly realizes that it is necessary for survival. “It is simple and brutal: a person can get used to anything, even to killing”(Martel 185). Understanding that killing
Once, Pi almost gives up on the sea, but prayers let him take heart of grace again: “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 far, miraculously. Now I will turn miracle into routine. The amazing will be seen every day. I will put in all the hard work necessary. Yes, as long as God is with me, I will not die. Amen.’” (Martel p.186). When Pi stays on the lifeboat and hopes for being rescued, he keeps busy with daily rituals. Pi prays more than he does anything else on the raft. He considers prayers just as important as any other physical preparation. Religion is Pi’s emotional anchor, it gives him the sense of belief and hope for survival. Therefore, religion is significant in Pi’s