Wednesday, November 09, 2005
Life of Pi Essay
Cody Chance Nov 9/05
Life of Pi Essay
A theme found in Life of Pi, by Yann Martel, is that whatever one’s physical condition may be, it is really his or her spiritual health that matters.
The first setting, the algae island upon which Pi Patel finds himself after quite a while at sea, is, though it may seem lovely, is really devoid of good. With its lush green ‘trees’ and vegetation, Pi at first doesn’t even believe that the island is real. He says, “My foot entered the sea…I stretched. I expected the bubble of illusion to burst at any second.
“It did not. My foot sank into clear water and met rubbery resistance…I put more weight down. The illusion would not give…Still I did not sink. Still I did not believe” (Life of Pi, pg 286). This island is so beautiful, especially after so long at sea, that Pi cannot believe that it is real. This is heaven to him, at least for a while. The algae, he realizes, is delicious, and he begins eating it almost constantly. Pi soon ventures inland, meets the island’s inhabitants, millions of meerkats, and falls in love with them. After a few nights in the boat, he decides to sleep in the trees, where he realizes how cute and cuddly the meerkats, who sleep with him, are.
Pi later realizes that the island isn’t all that it seems. When he is first getting used to the island and its luxuries, Pi describes his day like this, “I passed the day eating, resting, attempting to stand and, in a general way, bathing in bliss” (pg 289). His days are spent enjoying the physical comforts of his new home, and not relying on God for sustenance, and strength, and hope. On the boat, he prays regularly (five times a day, plus spontaneous prayers throughout), but on the island, he rarely looks to God for any reason (praise, worship, thanksgiving, asking, etc). Because he is no longer in need of anything, and his life is going ‘great’, he doesn’t talk to God like he did before.
He first notices that the island isn’t perfect when he discovers the powerful acidity of the algae, which kills and digests fish for the island, and which is harmful to any living creature that touches it after the moon rises. This is revealed to Pi when he ventures inland and finds a tree with ‘fruit’. After peeling the leaves off the outside, he discovers a human tooth, and another in a second ‘fruit’, and another, and another, until he unravels thirty-two teeth, and infers that a human being had died in that tree and was digested by the acid, leaving only his or her teeth preserved, at least for a while. Pi sees several things. First, the algae isn’t as great as it first seemed to be. He says, “The radiant promise it offered during the say was replaced in my heart by all the treachery it delivered at night” (pg 313). He then recalls, “By the time morning came, my grim decision was taken. I preferred to set off and perish in search of my own kind than to live a lonely half-life of physical comfort and spiritual death on this murderous island” (pg 313). His belief is that the evil of the island outweighs the good, and that life without God is nothing.
Pi’s life on the boat, although physically taxing, keeps him in tune with God and himself. From the time Pi leaves the Tsimtsum, he is faced with physical difficulty, ranging from salt-water boils, to constipation, to the threat of death by a tiger, to cold, to starvation, to dehydration, to many other ailments. But, through it all, he continues to pray regularly, and must petition God in order to make it through. He remembers the desperation he felt after such a long time away from God, saying, “It was natural that, bereft and desperate as I was, in the throes of unremitting suffering, I should turn to God” (pg 315). He had been spiritual since he was young, and the island removes him temporarily from his closeness to God, yet he quickly recovers and returns to his regular rituals of prayer and contemplation.
Pi discovers a powerful lesson through his time on the boat, his brief stay on the algal mass, and his return to life on the ocean. He discovers that physical comfort is meaningless if God is not a part of everything one does. He discovers that personally, he would rather die at sea with God at his side and in his life, than live a long, yet empty and Godless life on the carnivorous island. The meerkats, after their generations-long life on the island, are oblivious to new dangers introduced to them (Richard Parker savagely mutilating hundreds or thousands of them daily). They are so content with their lives that they don’t see danger when it arises, and many die for their naïvety. The person in the tree also lived there for a long time, and consequently, died there too. He or she was content with the life presented by the island, and died with nothing to show but thirty-two preserved teeth. The same is true for everyone. Anyone content with a life apart from God will die with nothing to show but a few bones, and a gravestone, which will eventually be forgotten as well. But, people who decide to reside with God will leave the island of lush beauty and physical contentment, and go through rough times (physically, and mentally, and maybe even spiritually), but will one day meet up with their “own kind” (pg 313), other Christians, in heaven. The idea the author is putting across in that a life of spiritual satisfaction, whether someone dies on that journey or not, is better than certain and absolute death due to a life of physical contentment apart from God.
Works Cited
Martel, Yann. Life of Pi. Toronto, Ontario: Vintage Canada, a division of Random
House of Canada Limited, 2002.
Life of Pi Essay
A theme found in Life of Pi, by Yann Martel, is that whatever one’s physical condition may be, it is really his or her spiritual health that matters.
The first setting, the algae island upon which Pi Patel finds himself after quite a while at sea, is, though it may seem lovely, is really devoid of good. With its lush green ‘trees’ and vegetation, Pi at first doesn’t even believe that the island is real. He says, “My foot entered the sea…I stretched. I expected the bubble of illusion to burst at any second.
“It did not. My foot sank into clear water and met rubbery resistance…I put more weight down. The illusion would not give…Still I did not sink. Still I did not believe” (Life of Pi, pg 286). This island is so beautiful, especially after so long at sea, that Pi cannot believe that it is real. This is heaven to him, at least for a while. The algae, he realizes, is delicious, and he begins eating it almost constantly. Pi soon ventures inland, meets the island’s inhabitants, millions of meerkats, and falls in love with them. After a few nights in the boat, he decides to sleep in the trees, where he realizes how cute and cuddly the meerkats, who sleep with him, are.
Pi later realizes that the island isn’t all that it seems. When he is first getting used to the island and its luxuries, Pi describes his day like this, “I passed the day eating, resting, attempting to stand and, in a general way, bathing in bliss” (pg 289). His days are spent enjoying the physical comforts of his new home, and not relying on God for sustenance, and strength, and hope. On the boat, he prays regularly (five times a day, plus spontaneous prayers throughout), but on the island, he rarely looks to God for any reason (praise, worship, thanksgiving, asking, etc). Because he is no longer in need of anything, and his life is going ‘great’, he doesn’t talk to God like he did before.
He first notices that the island isn’t perfect when he discovers the powerful acidity of the algae, which kills and digests fish for the island, and which is harmful to any living creature that touches it after the moon rises. This is revealed to Pi when he ventures inland and finds a tree with ‘fruit’. After peeling the leaves off the outside, he discovers a human tooth, and another in a second ‘fruit’, and another, and another, until he unravels thirty-two teeth, and infers that a human being had died in that tree and was digested by the acid, leaving only his or her teeth preserved, at least for a while. Pi sees several things. First, the algae isn’t as great as it first seemed to be. He says, “The radiant promise it offered during the say was replaced in my heart by all the treachery it delivered at night” (pg 313). He then recalls, “By the time morning came, my grim decision was taken. I preferred to set off and perish in search of my own kind than to live a lonely half-life of physical comfort and spiritual death on this murderous island” (pg 313). His belief is that the evil of the island outweighs the good, and that life without God is nothing.
Pi’s life on the boat, although physically taxing, keeps him in tune with God and himself. From the time Pi leaves the Tsimtsum, he is faced with physical difficulty, ranging from salt-water boils, to constipation, to the threat of death by a tiger, to cold, to starvation, to dehydration, to many other ailments. But, through it all, he continues to pray regularly, and must petition God in order to make it through. He remembers the desperation he felt after such a long time away from God, saying, “It was natural that, bereft and desperate as I was, in the throes of unremitting suffering, I should turn to God” (pg 315). He had been spiritual since he was young, and the island removes him temporarily from his closeness to God, yet he quickly recovers and returns to his regular rituals of prayer and contemplation.
Pi discovers a powerful lesson through his time on the boat, his brief stay on the algal mass, and his return to life on the ocean. He discovers that physical comfort is meaningless if God is not a part of everything one does. He discovers that personally, he would rather die at sea with God at his side and in his life, than live a long, yet empty and Godless life on the carnivorous island. The meerkats, after their generations-long life on the island, are oblivious to new dangers introduced to them (Richard Parker savagely mutilating hundreds or thousands of them daily). They are so content with their lives that they don’t see danger when it arises, and many die for their naïvety. The person in the tree also lived there for a long time, and consequently, died there too. He or she was content with the life presented by the island, and died with nothing to show but thirty-two preserved teeth. The same is true for everyone. Anyone content with a life apart from God will die with nothing to show but a few bones, and a gravestone, which will eventually be forgotten as well. But, people who decide to reside with God will leave the island of lush beauty and physical contentment, and go through rough times (physically, and mentally, and maybe even spiritually), but will one day meet up with their “own kind” (pg 313), other Christians, in heaven. The idea the author is putting across in that a life of spiritual satisfaction, whether someone dies on that journey or not, is better than certain and absolute death due to a life of physical contentment apart from God.
Works Cited
Martel, Yann. Life of Pi. Toronto, Ontario: Vintage Canada, a division of Random
House of Canada Limited, 2002.
