Life of Pi: Takes place on a 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,
Initially,Pi adopts Christianity, and remains a Hindu. As we read more about Pi's days on the lifeboat with Richard Parker,we see that in a sense, the Bengal tiger represents part of Pi himself. Once Pi's authority is established on the lifeboat, he must then finda way to keep himself (and Richard Parker) alive. Why enter this jungle of foreignness where everything is new,strange and difficult'" (chapter 29). Martelalso intends for it to be a story of the human spirit. Martel makes the point once more that what matters is how we interpreta situation, and leaves it up to the reader to choose an upliftinginterpretation, or a mundane one. Martel introduces the idea of a higher human spirit at the beginningof Life of Pi, by showing Pi's philosophical nature. He does this by putting Pi in the most extremecondition one can imagine; trapped at sea (for months on end) with a Bengaltiger. This is the casewhen Pi finds a floating island that has abundant fresh water and foodsources. Once again, Martelconveys that life events may be ambiguous, and it's the response to eventsthat really matters. "It was Richard Parker who calmed me down.
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Acceptance Essays
