Striped with Fear and Hope In the book Life of Pi, the author, Yann Martel, manages to give internal events a sense of excitement, suspense, and climax that is generally related to external action by using symbolism to both construct deeper meaning and simplify the actions for easier comprehension. This can be found in many events throughout the book, including Pi 's transformation, the arrival on the island, the emergence of his mother 's power, and many other occurrences throughout the book. Yann Martel gives internal events the same quintessence that comes from external events by using symbolism. A prominent example of symbolism occurs at the point in the story where the tiger emerges and kills the hyena. By the end of the story,
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Pi 's comments on Orange Juice 's resemblance to a human suggest that even as the rest of them had turned to the savagery of animals, his mother remained the most human of them all. Except for pi, of course; humans are never quick to spot the savages that live within them. Orange Juice 's usual gentleness leads Pi to underestimate her strength. When Pi 's mother hits the cook, he is both in awe of her power as well as shocked by her sudden fierceness; it seems to out of character. Being written from Pi 's perspective, the reader can only guess as to his mother 's emotional state at this moment. However, it seems that such an outburst could only come from her being in such a precarious and demanding situation that is pushes her to despair. Internal events like Pi 's realization of his mother 's true nature under stress are one of the many elements that allow Yann Martel to bring the story to life before the readers eyes, and his use of symbolism is a crucial factor when it comes to making that …show more content…
When Pi is faced with the issue of Richard Parker, he takes into consideration many options. The majority of these ideas revolve around killing him. However, just as man cannot defeat his hatred and savagery with such ease, Pi comes to terms with the fact that he cannot kill Richard Parker. Due to this, Pi decides to wage a war of attrition. In other words, he decides to do nothing. The reader sees this for its harshness after realizing that, at this point, Pi has given up. Fortunately, Pi realizes that to do nothing is the worst plan of all. He is fighting within himself, and it has become a battle between the will to survive and the exhaustion that is taxing his reserves. This is when Pi realizes that the only way to survive is to learn to live with this side of himself. It takes time and patience to train Richard Parker, but in the end, he succeeds. However, although feeding this side of himself keeps him alive, it also takes away many of his ideas about morality. An example of this is the loss of his loss of vegetarianism. This starts with a small violation of his moral code, when Pi consumes biscuits containing animal fat. The reader may note that the discovery of the biscuits arrives at the same time that Pi has his "first, unambiguous, clear-headed glimpse of Richard Parker." (Martel 140) As time progresses, Pi 's moral code regresses as the tiger is fed. At
Pi 's comments on Orange Juice 's resemblance to a human suggest that even as the rest of them had turned to the savagery of animals, his mother remained the most human of them all. Except for pi, of course; humans are never quick to spot the savages that live within them. Orange Juice 's usual gentleness leads Pi to underestimate her strength. When Pi 's mother hits the cook, he is both in awe of her power as well as shocked by her sudden fierceness; it seems to out of character. Being written from Pi 's perspective, the reader can only guess as to his mother 's emotional state at this moment. However, it seems that such an outburst could only come from her being in such a precarious and demanding situation that is pushes her to despair. Internal events like Pi 's realization of his mother 's true nature under stress are one of the many elements that allow Yann Martel to bring the story to life before the readers eyes, and his use of symbolism is a crucial factor when it comes to making that …show more content…
When Pi is faced with the issue of Richard Parker, he takes into consideration many options. The majority of these ideas revolve around killing him. However, just as man cannot defeat his hatred and savagery with such ease, Pi comes to terms with the fact that he cannot kill Richard Parker. Due to this, Pi decides to wage a war of attrition. In other words, he decides to do nothing. The reader sees this for its harshness after realizing that, at this point, Pi has given up. Fortunately, Pi realizes that to do nothing is the worst plan of all. He is fighting within himself, and it has become a battle between the will to survive and the exhaustion that is taxing his reserves. This is when Pi realizes that the only way to survive is to learn to live with this side of himself. It takes time and patience to train Richard Parker, but in the end, he succeeds. However, although feeding this side of himself keeps him alive, it also takes away many of his ideas about morality. An example of this is the loss of his loss of vegetarianism. This starts with a small violation of his moral code, when Pi consumes biscuits containing animal fat. The reader may note that the discovery of the biscuits arrives at the same time that Pi has his "first, unambiguous, clear-headed glimpse of Richard Parker." (Martel 140) As time progresses, Pi 's moral code regresses as the tiger is fed. At