life of pi better story essay

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Literary Essay: Life of Pi by Yann Martel

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Words: 609 |

Updated: 15 November, 2024

Words: 609 | Page: 1 | 4 min read

Table of contents

An unforgettable journey in "life of pi", the role of faith in tough times, storytelling as a tool for coping, conclusion: reflections on faith and storytelling.

• Martel, Y. (2001). Life of Pi . Toronto: Knopf Canada.
• Dwyer, J., & Muecke, S. (2007). Narrative across media: The languages of storytelling . University of Nebraska Press.
• Sullivan, H.W., & Sherman L.G., (2010). Narrative Identity Development And Storytelling In A Cross-Cultural Context: Implications For Mental Health Intervention Design And Implementation." Social Science & Medicine.
• Brockmeier J., & Carbaugh D.A., (2001). Narrative And Identity: Studies In Autobiography Self And Culture." John Benjamins Publishing Company.
• Egan K., (1999). Children's Minds: Talking Rabbits." New York Review Of Books.

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by Yann Martel

Life of pi quotes and analysis.

"'So tell me, since it makes no factual difference to you and you can't prove the question either way, which story do you prefer? Which is the better story, the story with animals or the story without animals?' Mr. Okamoto: 'That's an interesting question?' Mr. Chiba: 'The story with animals.' Mr. Okamoto: 'Yes. The story with animals is the better story.' Pi Patel: 'Thank you. And so it goes with God.'" Chapter 99, page 317

This quote is essential to the story-Yann Martel himself has described 'the better story' as the novel's key words. Here Pi enlarges the themes of truth, and story versus reality to encompass God, and all of life. If there is no way to prove that God's existence is true or untrue, and if the assumption of the truth either way in no way makes a factual difference, then why not choose to believe what Pi believes to be "the better story"-that God exists? This passage thus connects these central themes in the book, and so weaves everything together.

This passage contains several of the important themes and motifs of the novel. The final question, posed to the author, calls attention both to the fact that this story is being told through an intermediary, and to the arbitrariness of the telling-the book does indeed have a hundred chapters, and it would seem that the reason was a simple challenge from Pi. Similarly, Pi's injunction that "we must give things a meaningful shape" connects two of the novel's prominent themes, storytelling and belief in God. He believes that the act of storytelling, of giving things shape, can apply in life too, and thus one can shape one's own story in the most beautiful way by believing in God. Chapter 94, page 285

This passage contains several of the important themes and motifs of the novel. The final question, posed to the author, calls attention both to the fact that this story is being told through an intermediary, and to the arbitrariness of the telling?the book does indeed have a hundred chapters, and it would seem that the reason was a simple challenge from Pi. Similarly, Pi?s injunction that ?we must give things a meaningful shape? connects two of the novel?s prominent themes, storytelling and belief in God. He believes that the act of storytelling, of giving things shape, can apply in life too, and thus one can shape one's own story in the most beautiful way by believing in God.

"This was the terrible cost of Richard Parker. He gave me a life, my own, but at the expense of taking one. He ripped the flesh off the man's frame and cracked his bones. The smell of blood filled my nose. Something in me died then that has never come back to life." Chapter 90, page 255

This passage shows Pi in one of his darkest moments. The relatively shorter sentences here seem to imply a closing off. Pi can only bear to remember so much; he can list the sensations but he does not delve into the awful event's effect on his psyche. This moment, more than any other in the text, seems to mark an absence of God; it is also the moment where Pi's life is most explicitly threatened. Pi's guilt here is more easily understandable in the second version of the story, where it is he who kills the Frenchman. Either way, if Richard Parker is seen as a symbol of the pure survival instinct, this is the one moment in the text where that instinct wins out completely over morality and control.

"I can well imagine an atheist's last words: 'White, white! L-L-Love! My God!'-and the deathbed leap of faith. Whereas the agnostic, if he stays true to his reasonable self, if he stays beholden to dry, yeastless factuality, might try to explain the warm light bathing him by saying, 'Possibly a f-f-failing oxygenation of the b-b-brain,' and, to the very end, lack imagination and miss the better story." Chapter 22, page 64

Pi here, in a short chapter, elucidates his opinion on atheists and agnostics. He sees atheists as capable of belief in God, for they have always had faith, just faith in science, rather than in God-which Pi believes is not inherently incompatible. On the other hand, the agnostic's doubt is to him an active choice not to believe, not to have the 'better story.'

"Animals in the wild lead lives of compulsion and necessity within an unforgiving social hierarchy in an environment where the supply of fear is high and the supply of food low and where territory must constantly be defended and parasites forever endured. What is the meaning of freedom in such a context? Animals in the wild are, in practice, free neither in space nor in time, nor in their personal relations." Chapter 4, page 16

This passage is at the core of Pi's philosophy on freedom. He does not define freedom by a lack of bars, but by the ability to exercise free will with one's time, space, and relations. Animals, and anyone whose survival is continually threatened, do not have this luxury. This passage also foreshadows Pi's own prolonged fight for survival, which restricts his freedom and brings him down to the level of animals in other ways as well.

In this passage Pi again draws a connection between his two majors, Zoology and Religion. In both fields, he sees the human tendency towards self-centeredness as dangerous. In religion it leads to a lack of faith in God; in zoology, it leads to a possibly fatal misunderstanding of dangerous animals, or to a cruel treatment of an essentially innocent animal. The two lessons that Pi refers to in this passage are that of his father feeding a goat to one of the tigers in the zoo, and that of Richard Parker killing the Frenchman. It is interesting, however, that Pi, in telling his story, focuses more on Richard Parker's betrayal of him by leaving him without saying goodbye. Here, it seems, Pi has himself anthropomorphized Richard Parker; he is hurt by Richard Parker because he sees a mirror in him. Thus Pi himself, although he has claimed to have learned this important lesson, has not truly done so. Chapter 8, page 31

In this passage Pi again draws a connection between his two majors, Zoology and Religion. In both fields, he sees the human tendency towards self-centeredness as dangerous. In religion it leads to a lack of faith in God; in zoology, it leads to a possibly fatal misunderstanding of dangerous animals, or to a cruel treatment of an essentially innocent animal. The two lessons that Pi refers to in this passage are that of his father feeding a goat to one of the tigers in the zoo, and that of Richard Parker killing the Frenchman. It is interesting, however, that Pi, in telling his story, focuses more on Richard Parker's betrayal of him by leaving him without saying goodbye. Here, it seems, Pi has himself anthropomorphized Richard Parker; he is hurt by Richard Parker because he sees a mirror in him. Thus Pi himself, although he has claimed to have learned this important lesson, has not truly done so.

"As an aside, story of sole survivor, Mr. Piscine Molitor Patel, Indian citizen, is an astounding story of courage and endurance in the face of extraordinarily difficult and tragic circumstances. In the experience of this investigator, his story is unparalleled in the history of shipwrecks. Very few castaways can claim to have survived so long at sea as Mr. Patel, and none in the company of an adult Bengal tiger." unattributed

This passage is the last paragraph of Life of Pi. It is an appropriate ending, because it essentially represents Mr. Okamoto accepting Pi's first story, and by extension, accepting God. Pi presents Mr. Okamoto with the possibility of shaping life as one would like to, seeing it in its most beautiful form. While Mr. Okamoto believed Pi's second, more tragic and horrible story, he prefers the first, and so Pi tells him to believe that one. It is not clear what choice Mr. Okamoto makes, until this final paragraph, which shows him accepting the tiger story which he at first finds so hard to believe.

Life of Pi Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Life of Pi is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

how pi describe the hyena

"I am not one to hold a prejudice against any animal, but it is a plain fact that the spotted hyena is not well served by its appearance. It is ugly beyond redemption. Its thick neck and high shoulders that slope to the hindquarters look as...

What is flight distance? Why is this important for zookeepers to know?

Flight distance is the amount of space that one animal will allow another animal before fleeing. Zookeepers need to be aware of this distance in order to keep from frightening the animals.

Please state your question.

Study Guide for Life of Pi

Life of Pi is a novel by Yann Martel. Life of Pi study guide contains a biography of author Yann Martel, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About Life of Pi
• Life of Pi Summary
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• Character List

Essays for Life of Pi

Life of Pi essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Life of Pi written by Yann Martel.

• Living a Lie: Yann Martel’s Pi and his Dissociation from Reality
• A Matter of Perspective: The Invention of a Story in Martel’s Life of Pi
• Religion as a Coping Mechanism in Life of Pi
• Hope and Understanding: Comparing Life of Pi and Bless Me, Ultima
• Religious Allegories in Life of Pi

Lesson Plan for Life of Pi

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to Life of Pi
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
• Related Links
• Life of Pi Bibliography

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