Life of Pi: This Story Takes Places Almost Entirely on the Lifeboat
In Life of Pi, by Yann Martel, we are introduced to the young Indianboy named Pi Patel. The novel follows Pi as he goes from India to Canada,and the challenges he faces along the way. These challenges are moreextreme than most. As the son of a zookeeper in Pondicherry, India, Pi andhis family travel on a cargo ship along with the animals from his father'szoo. "Animals were sedated, cages were loaded and secured...the ship wasworked out of the dock and piloted out to sea...I wildly waved goodbye toIndia...I was terribly excited." (chapter 35). When the ship sinks, Pi isforced onto a lifeboat with a hyena, an orangutan, a zebra and a Bengaltiger. Life of Pi tells the story of how the protagonist survives thisordeal and makes it to North America, against all odds. The story of Life of Pi takes places almost entirely on the lifeboatwhere Pi is stranded with Richard Parker, the Bengal tiger. Although thiscould seem far-fetched or become boring after several hundred pages, YannMartel manages to keep our interest, and, at the same time, keep Life of Pifrom seeming too incredible. He does this by expanding on the focus of hisnovel. Although Life of Pi is, on the surface, an adventure tale,
He then decides to become a Muslim as well. "Things didn't turnout the way they were supposed to, but what can you do' You must take lifethe way it comes at you and make the best of it. Although borna Hindu, Pi learns to open his mind to other religions as well. Although it seems an almost impossible task, Pi trains RichardParker to respect his authority, using training methods that his father(the zookeeper) taught him. Once Pi's authority is established on the lifeboat, he must then finda way to keep himself (and Richard Parker) alive. Throughout the novel, Pi encounters things that seem fantastic, andwe must decide whether we think they are real or not. All of the acts ofviciousness can be ascribed to Richard Parker, and Pi, the unfortunatenarrator can be held separate. I preferred to setoff and perish in search of my own kind than to live a lonely half-life ofphysical comfort and spiritual death on this murderous island. Henotices that it seems to be listing to port so he goes on deck to see ifanything is wrong. Pi then finds himself on a lifeboatwith some animals from the zoo.
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Acceptance Essays
