Life Of Pi Allegory Essay

993 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Themes of life of pi

In Life of Pi, Yann Martel illustrates the main allegory is, religion is the better story because while religion may seem unlikely its not impossible the story without animals is like life without God, and Pi said “and so it goes with God” when the two Japanese men agreed that the first story was the better story. Life of Pi takes place in the pacific ocean when Pi and his family were moving from India to Canada on a cargo ship with all of their zoo animals aboard the ship. In a sudden turn of events the ship sinks and Pi is stranded in the ocean on a lifeboat with a zebra, a hyena, an orangutan, a tiger, Richard Parker. Pi is later saved when he washes up on the beaches of Mexico. When Pi is in the emergency two Japanese men from the cargo ship company question Pi in efforts …show more content…

The second story is horrific and graphic. The story without animals is like life without God. Without God the world would seem boring, terrible, and meaningless. The animals represent the magic of life. While the second story is real life. Just like the William Blake quote, “Art is the tree of life. Science is the tree of death.” The first story, the one with the animals, is outside of what seems like the laws of nature. The second story causes the event to lose its beauty. Looking at the first story you see the relationship between Richard Parker and Pi, the magnificent yet carnivorous algae island, and the incredible encounter with the frenchman. But from the second story's point of view you see the brutal murder of the sailor, the cook, and Pi’s mother. Looking at life with God accounted for, the world was created with beautiful purpose and everything was intricately made giving the world a feel of magic. The scientific and atheistic viewpoint simplifies the world. Mountains simply follow the rules of tectonic plates and trees are the result of photosynthesis turning one thing into another through chemical

Show More
Related

  • Use of Literary Devices in Yann Martel’s Life of Pi

    556 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Allegory In Lord Of The Flies Essay

    865 Words  | 2 Pages

    Have you ever thought about six to thirteen year olds ever acting like savages and turning into a serial killer? After reading Lord of the Flies, this is exactly what happened. Ralph, Piggy, Jack and other kids cash land on a gorgeous island with leaving no trace for the world to find them. Ralph tries to be organized and logical, but in the other hand, Jack is only interested in satisfying his pleasures. Just like in the short story, The Tortoise And The Hare, Lord of the Flies, stands for something. This novel is a psychological allegory, the island, as the mind, Ralph, the leader, as the ego, Jack, the hunter, as the id, and Piggy, an annoying little boy, as the super ego. As we read Lord Of

    Read More

  • A Hero: S Journey In Yann Martel's Life Of Pi

    982 Words  | 2 Pages

    Pi’s journey starts out in a town in India known as Pondicherry. Here he finds a great interest in both Zoology( the study of animals), and religion. Pi also as well shows much knowledge in Zoology as shown in this quote from the book. “I got every possible student award from the department of Zoology.” (Pg.6) Pi, relating to religion(his other great interest), believes in multiple religions of which include Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity. Pi also finds great enjoyment in going to the Zoo, a zoo in which his own father owns. Pi’s great home life before his journey doesn’t last too long however. Soon the Tamil

    Read More

  • Atheism In Yann Martel's Life Of Pi

    743 Words  | 2 Pages

    Pi’s story minorly changed my perspective about God and/or Religion. Pi’s idea that atheism is an opposite of religion on a spectrum rather than merely a lack of religion is a unique concept. Throughout the story there are moments where it is clear why Mr. Adirubasamy would claim that this story “will make you believe in god” (Martel X). In an essence, the story is a large symbol, each element representing their real world equivalent, and as the story progresses, the true story begins to unravel. On page 209, Pi shouts into the sky “‘THIS IS GOD’S HAT!’... ‘THIS IS GOD’S ATTIRE!’... ‘THIS IS GOD’S CAT’... THIS IS GOD’S ARK!’... ‘THESE ARE GOD’S WIDE ACRES!’”, all referring to his belongings.In the first story Pi represents many things, such as God. Because Richard Parker is essentially Pi, it is similar in that Pi keeps the tiger alive by feeding him.

    Read More

  • Life Of Pi Essay

    523 Words  | 2 Pages

    The novel Life Of Pi by Yann Martel is the story of a 16 year old boy stranded on a life boat. Religion is of the utmost importance to Piscine Molitor Patel, also know as Pi. Throughout Pi's life he practices three religions, that shape who he is. As a result of Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam Pi survives on the life boat, because of the morals he has from his faiths.

    Read More

  • Religion In Yann Martel's The Life Of Pi

    880 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the book the Life of Pi by Yann Martel, religion plays an important role in Pi’s life. When on the lifeboat, Pi used his faith as a way to motivate himself to live. Without his religious beliefs, there is no way to guarantee he would have made it off the lifeboat.

    Read More

  • Yann Martel's Life of Pi

    357 Words  | 1 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Theme Of Religion In Yann Martel's Life Of Pi

    1508 Words  | 4 Pages

    “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.

    Read More

  • The Better Story in Life of Pi by Yann Martel

    1775 Words  | 4 Pages

    On its surface, Martel’s Life of Pi proceeds as a far-fetched yet not completely unbelievable tale about a young Indian boy named Pi who survives after two hundred twenty-seven days on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. It is an uplifting and entertaining story, with a few themes about companionship and survival sprinkled throughout. The ending, however, reveals a second story – a more realistic and dark account replacing the animals from the beginning with crude human counterparts. Suddenly, Life of Pi becomes more than an inspiring tale and transforms into a point to be made about rationality, faith, and how storytelling correlates the two. The point of the book is not for the reader to decide which story he or she thinks is true, but rather what story he or she thinks is the better story. In real life, this applies in a very similar way to common belief systems and religion. Whether or not God is real or a religion is true is not exactly the point, but rather whether someone chooses to believe so because it adds meaning and fulfillment to his or her life. Life of Pi is relevant to life in its demonstration of storytelling as a means of experiencing life through “the better story.”

    Read More

  • Zoomorphism In Life Of Pi

    1024 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Dualism In Life Of Pi

    943 Words  | 2 Pages

    This unimaginable tale, is the course of events upon Pi’s journey in the Pacific ocean after the ship that Pi and his family were aboard crashes, leaving him stranded with a tiger named Richard Parker, an orangutan, a zebra, and a hyena. Pi loses everything he has and starts to question why this is happening to him. This is parallel to the story of Job. Job is left with nothing and is experiencing great suffering and he begins to demand answers from God. Both Pi and Job receive no answers, only being left with their faith and trust. To deal with this great suffering Pi begins to describe odd things which begin to get even more unbelievable and ultimately become utterly unrealistic when he reaches the cannibalistic island. Richard Parker’s companionship serves to help Pi through these events. When the reader first is intoduced to Richard Parker he emerges from the water, making this symbolic of the subconscious. Richard Parker is created to embody Pi’s alter ego. Ironically, each of these other animals that Pi is stranded with comes to symbolize another person. The orangutan represents Pi’s mother, the zebra represents the injured sailor, and the hyena represents the cook. Pi fabricated the people into animals in his mind to cope with the disillusion and trails that came upon him while stranded at the erratic and uncontrollable sea,

    Read More

  • Yann Martel's Life Of Pi

    328 Words  | 1 Pages

    In Life of Pi there were two main and obvious themes, belief in god and survival. Life of Pi’s structure is the best to develop these two themes because douring Pi’s adventure and unplanned journey, he relies on these two things, survival and the belief in god to finally reach civilazation.There are quotes to help me prove this statement. On part 2 chapter 93, the author writes, “It was natural that, as bereft as I was, in the throes of unremitting suffering, I should turn to god,” In this quote, the author says that after so much suffering, it was natural to turn to god, as he did. Turning to god gave him hope and more strength. The structure of this book, Pi having to go through all of that and in that way, made Pi have to turn to god for

    Read More

  • Life Of Pi Illusion Vs Reality Essay

    889 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the first place, Pi spends more time telling the animal story, instead of the true account, which shows that he prefers a zebra, a tiger, a hyena, and an orangutan over the real people involved because with real people the tragic events must also be real. While telling his story to the two Japanese men investigating him once he

    Read More

  • Symbolism and Survival in Life of Pi, Yann Martel

    940 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Adversity in Yann Martel's Life of Pi

    1107 Words  | 3 Pages

    People don't truly accept life for what it is until they've actually tasted adversity and went through those misfortunes and suffering. We are put through many hardships in life, and we learn to understand and deal with those issues along the way. We find that life isn't just about finding one's self, but about creating and learning from our experiences and background. Adversity shapes what we are and who we become as individuals. Yann Martel's Life of Pi shows us that adverse situations help shape a person's identity and play a significant role in one's lief by determining one's capabilities and potential, shaping one's beliefs and values, and defining the importance and meaning of one's self.

    Read More

More about Life Of Pi Allegory Essay

Open Document