Life of Pi Essay
Trevor Smith
Ms. Favro
ENG4U-01
April 13th, 2013
Life of Pi: Quest or Enlightenment Over the course of this unit, I have read the so called “life changing” novel “The Life of Pi” by Yann Martel. This work of art happens to be a national best seller and has collected many literature awards. Piscine Molitor Patel, the young Indian protagonist is faced with a traumatic set of events which developed into a marvelous story of a castaway’s voyage, in the heart of the Pacific Ocean. This essay will discuss the essential factors which enabled Pi to overcome the extreme circumstances and survive, to fulfill the archetypal quest hero pattern. The three main factors that saved Pi’s life are his religion, sanity, and will power. Pi Patel, a native of India is born and raised and lives at his father’s Pondicherry Zoo. Pi believes in three faiths, Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam which plays a major role in his development as a character. At the age of 16, Pi’s family boards a Japanese cargo ship with their animals, in hope of starting a new life in Canada. However, the ship sinks and Pi is forced onto a lifeboat with his three other companions. Over the course of the story, Pi endures gruesome events on the ocean in his lifeboat. Pi overcomes all the conditions and survives, due to the motivation of his best friend, Richard Parker the Bengal tiger. Pi Patel was successful in his quest to survive, and demonstrated the archetypal hero quest pattern. The outrage stage begins when his ship sunk, and mostly everyone dies except for him and three others. Pi “commits to the journey,” but it’s not as if he has a choice; he’s about to be on a voyage for two hundred and twenty seven days. Pi faces the challenge and adventure stage, when he becomes companions and Richard Parker’s master on the boat. He faces the “heart of the storm” when he goes against his religion, and green diet and starts to eat meat to survive. Pi finds out that his reward is the fact of living. Pi is blessed by
Ms. Favro
ENG4U-01
April 13th, 2013
Life of Pi: Quest or Enlightenment Over the course of this unit, I have read the so called “life changing” novel “The Life of Pi” by Yann Martel. This work of art happens to be a national best seller and has collected many literature awards. Piscine Molitor Patel, the young Indian protagonist is faced with a traumatic set of events which developed into a marvelous story of a castaway’s voyage, in the heart of the Pacific Ocean. This essay will discuss the essential factors which enabled Pi to overcome the extreme circumstances and survive, to fulfill the archetypal quest hero pattern. The three main factors that saved Pi’s life are his religion, sanity, and will power. Pi Patel, a native of India is born and raised and lives at his father’s Pondicherry Zoo. Pi believes in three faiths, Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam which plays a major role in his development as a character. At the age of 16, Pi’s family boards a Japanese cargo ship with their animals, in hope of starting a new life in Canada. However, the ship sinks and Pi is forced onto a lifeboat with his three other companions. Over the course of the story, Pi endures gruesome events on the ocean in his lifeboat. Pi overcomes all the conditions and survives, due to the motivation of his best friend, Richard Parker the Bengal tiger. Pi Patel was successful in his quest to survive, and demonstrated the archetypal hero quest pattern. The outrage stage begins when his ship sunk, and mostly everyone dies except for him and three others. Pi “commits to the journey,” but it’s not as if he has a choice; he’s about to be on a voyage for two hundred and twenty seven days. Pi faces the challenge and adventure stage, when he becomes companions and Richard Parker’s master on the boat. He faces the “heart of the storm” when he goes against his religion, and green diet and starts to eat meat to survive. Pi finds out that his reward is the fact of living. Pi is blessed by
Cited: Cole, Craig. "Pi 's Fascination With Religion & His Ordeal at Sea." Scribd. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Apr. 2013. <http://www.scribd.com/doc/13453363/Pis-Fascination-With-Religion-His-Ordeal-at-Sea>. DeMichele, Lynne. "Life of Pi Book Review." Life of Pi. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Apr. 2013. <http://archives.umc.org/interior.asp?mid=2228>. Martel, Yann. Life of Pi: A Novel. New York: Harcourt, 2001. Print. The Life of Pi. Dir. Ang Lee. Perf. Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Adil Hussain. 20th Century Fox, 2012. DVD. Zaleski, Jeff. "LIFE OF PI (Book)." Publishers Weekly 249.14 (2002): 200. Literary Reference Center. Web. 7 Apr. 2013.