Symbolism, Essay Example

Life of Pi was written by Martel Yann and illustrated by Torjanac Tomislav. It is one of the most extraordinary, imaginative and famous works of modern fiction. The book shows the deeper meanings of fiction and abstract components of truth. The person may study something new from Life of Pi. This is because not only the remarkable story, but also the symbolism behind the whole book.

Times online pays attention that the “book gives the story a rebirth”. Byng underlines that Life of Pi is “writ in colors, a book of painterly qualities”. The author emphasizes that the novel, has become a book world over. Byng says that it “appealed to readers of all ages and will almost certainly continue to do so for decades to come”.

Martel underlines that most of his stories, among which is Life of Pi, “come from the same mix of three elements: influence, inspiration and hard work”. The author tells that Life of Pi was written after reading a story by Moacyr Scliar, a Brazilian writer, about Jewish family in Berlin, which decided to emigrate to Brazil. The ship they used for moving to Brazil sinks and “one lone Jew ends up in a lifeboat with a black panther” (Martel). The inspiration to write the story gave the visit to India where the author saw beautiful views and met different people. Animals and religions in India pushed Martel to “come up with a story”. The author visited all the zoos in the south of India for writing the story. Martel spent time in churches and temples. He read books on animal psychology and religious (Suarez and Martel).

The book consists of three parts. The first part is one, where the narrator and the main character of the story Piscine Molitor Patel, tells about his life, about changing of his own name to Pi and about school. Pi describes how he a Hindu boy at the age of fourteen became interested in Islam and Christianity. Right in the first part of the story, Martel shows that because of the economic reasons, Pi’s family had to sold zoo with all animals and move to Canada to live there (Suarez and Martel).

The second part of Life of Pi shows that the ship, Pi’s family used to move to Canada, sinks. After a terrible shipwreck, Pi finds himself adrift in the Pacific Ocean miraculously survived in a small lifeboat with a Bengal tiger, an injured zebra, a seasick orangutan, and a hyena. The supplies of food and water were low. For surviving in the boat, the tiger ate the hyena, which ate the orangutan and zebra. Pi and Richard Parker remain the lifeboat’s only passengers, staying in the shark-infested water. 227 days passed when Pi’s lifeboat reached the coast of Mexico.

The last part of the story describes the conversation between two people from the coastal department and Pi. They were talking about the harrowing shipwreck and the reason Pi was the only one who survived during it. Two investigators of the shipwreck do not believe Pi’s story about his trip and the way he managed to survive. That is why Pi told another more believable and disturbing story, where, he was the only survival of four people. Pi asks which “story is the better story” (Martel 317) and as the second story was more logical the men believed the second story. It is likely that the main hero created the story with the animals for escaping the terrible reality of the story with people. Although the story with animals is undoubtedly less real than the story with humans, it is far better in describing the savage and wild environment on the lifeboat. It shows the veracity creatively and is indubitably the better story.

Although Life of Pi is an interesting narrative, Martel Yann uses a wide range of literature devices for showing various themes in the story. One of such devices is symbolism. The construing and interpretation of what Pi sees and what he feels is demonstrating through colors, symbols, perspective, gestures etc. Martel uses Pi’s name, color, animals, to symbolize human’s reaction to death and life.

Piscine Molitor Patel’s chosen moniker is more than just a short-cut version of his name. In reality, Pi’s name is a symbol of how some things are difficult to face. It illustrates Pi’s character as a personality with various layers of meanings and associations. Pi is irrational mathematical number, which is used to count distance in a circle always shortened to 3.14. Pi has so many decimal points that our mind cannot understand it right the character Pi has. It is hard for people to grasp.

In Life of Pi Martel pays attention to the religious. From the beginning of the story, it is understandable that Pi is practicing three different religious due to the reason he wants to know more about God. Pi used this three different religious to keep hopeful due to there is no hope, there is no desire ti live and survive. Once, after a Christian priest tells Pi, a Hindu boy, the narrative of Jesus, Pi is interested to hear more Christianity stories (Suarez and Martel). “Religions abound with stories” (Martel 53). For comparing Christianity and Hindu, Pi compares the Hindu gods and Jesus. It is possible to say that Pi’s travel on the lifeboat can be comprehended as a travel towards God. Even though Pi’s travel during 227 days was difficult, he believes in God. His thirst and hunger illustrates Pi’s spiritual thirst for God during his long trip.

The main hero of the story narrates how amazing it is that he cannot see the tiger, yet he knows that is alive. Throughout the story, the author describes how Pi states of being able to feel anything yet never practically seeing it. Such description and behavior could symbolize human believe in God because during its life a person faces in believing without seeing.

In Martel’s story, the colors play an important role too. The orange color symbolizes life, survival and hope. Before the ship sinks, Martel shows the grown-up Pi and his family. The author describes Pi’s daughter with an orange cat. This symbolizes that even though in case the ending of Pi’s traveling in the Pacific Ocean is not happy, the story is not a complete tragedy because Pi survived. It is possible, that small cat, which Pi’s daughter has, is Bengal tiger that helps Pi to survive during his long trip. A vest with an orange whistle and an orange lifebuoy saved his life when the ship sinks. While struggling for survival an Orange Juice, the orangutan and tarpaulin give Pi a hope and an emotional connection.

Martel describes the ship, as a circular on the outside, yet square on the inward. This could symbolize life and views for the future on it. Human view lives through the restriction of its organs of sense, yet outside there is many possibilities that cannot be restricted within the border of small human world. On the other hand, the lifeboat, which Pi uses during his long trip, can symbolize human condition. That means that each person strive for justice, religion and rescue, but at the same time each of it is entrenched in its own primary animal needs. In its everyday life a person creates boundaries, which are crucial to a successful life.

Martel spent a lot of time to decide what animal could be the main animal in the story. First, the author thought about an elephant, but the image of the elephant was “more comical than wanted”. Than the author, thought about rhinoceros, but it was not possible to imagine how it is possible to “keep a herbivore alive in the high seas”. Finally, Martel “settled upon the choice that in retrospect seems the obvious one: a tiger”. The name of Bengal tiger Richard Parker is another description of symbolism.

His name can be associated with anthropophagy and shipwrecks. It is seen, that the author chosen all the names for a reason and they were very guileful indeed.

In describing how he wrote the story Martel underlines that the other animals in the lifeboat arose naturally. The author underlines that each animal is a “function of a human trait wanted to embody”. The hyena characterizes a cowardliness, zebra characterizes exoticism, and orangutan shows maternal instincts.

The water and food are playing an important role in the story. Pi must boil the water before drinking it and the fish are difficult to catch. He eats everything he can catch and find. Pi puts aside his vegetarian and understands that he must become a fish and meat eater to live and to survive. It is astonishing what a person can do in time when survival is threatened.

The algae island is a symbol of paradise. It proposes short-term rescue and life saving to Pi, but he must leave the island once he finds out the forbidden fruit. Pi’s mare’s-nest of the island is destroyed. There is a hell and a heaven associated with night and day. During the day, no one shows terror and fear, but at night, there are terrible things in the island. In that way the author wants to test the reader’s faith in what was going on and show the reader what he or she believes in.

Martel describes that meercades, strange creatures in the island, were chosen because he wanted “a small ferret-like creature without the connotations that ferrets have”. The author underlines that he wanted a natural animal, which are associated with meekness and mirage (Martel). Martel tells that the algae island came to mind from the same “dark luminous place from whence came the meerkats, the Frenchman and, indeed, the novel as a whole”.

Martel’s Life of Pi is the novel, which teaches, inspires, and gives knowledge to help human understand life a little better. The story is very impulsive, but the author manages to make it believable. With a help of Pi, Martel shows that even after horrible things, such as having your family die and staying in the sea for more that seven months, a person can still live an amazing life and achieve so many after having nothing. With a help of philosophical allegory, Martel shows the distinction between bad and good, metaphysical and physical, will and instinct, reality and fancy.

Works Cited

“Life of Pi: The Illustrated Edition by Yann Martel and Tomislav Torjanac” Times online. 15 Sept. 2007. 01 Apr. 2010. <http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/fiction/article2452877.ece>.

Byng, Jamie. The story behind the Illustrated Life of Pi. N.d. 02 Apr. 2010. <http://www.themanbookerprize.com/perspective/articles/103>.

Martel, Yann. How I Wrote Life of Pi. N.d. 02 Apr. 2010. <http://www.powells.com/fromtheauthor/martel.html>.

Martel, Yann. Life of Pi. Orlando, FL: Harcourt, 2007.

Suarez, Ray, and Martel, Yann. Conversation: Life of Pi. 11 Nov. 2002. 03 Apr. 2010. <http://www.pbs.org/newshour/conversation/july-dec02/martel_11-11.html>.