Canada Reads

Within us all, there is a drive to live; an instinct to survive at all costs. This instinct may push one to their limits, and cause them to do anything in order to survive. In the novel Life of Pi by Yann Martel, this is a common theme throughout the entirety of the story. Pi explains this lifesaving instinct in the tenth chapter of the novel, “All living things contain a measure of madness that moves them in strange, sometimes inexplicable ways. This madness can be saving; it is part and parcel…

In Yann Martel’s Life of Pi the reader is introduced to Piscine Patel. On route to Canada aboard the Tsimtsum with his family, the ship sank. Pi then recounts two different versions of the following events. These events closely follow the path in which Joseph Campbell dictates as the Monomyth Cycle of a Hero. The cycle is said to have three stages, separation, initiation, and return; which each have five of their own substages. This cycle bears massive resemblance to the theme of loss of…

“‘Religion will save us," I said. Since when I could remember, religion had been very close to my heart. ‘Religion?’ Mr. Kumar grinned broadly. ‘I don 't believe in religion. Religion is darkness.’” (Martel 16). Over history, and since the beginning of human society, religion has had its effect on humans and the way people behave and act. Life of Pi, the novel by Yann Martel, is one of the best novels to analyze for this topic. Martel incorporates religious faith and trends enough in the novel…

Tiger Vs. Lion Time and time again,we wonder about random things. An example of this would be the question, who would win a fight between a male lion and a male tiger? Since they have completely different lifestyles, it would be interesting to catch them in the act. Some things that are different about them are their physical characteristics, and where they live. Although, they have a very low chance in meeting in today’s day and age, they did a long time ago. In this paper, I will discuss the…

Soul Surfer: A Survivor She was bitten by a shark, but her Bethany’s big courage motivated her to recover and get back to the surfboard. The novel Soul Surfer by Bethany Hamilton is about a girl named Bethany whose arm was bitten by a shark making her ability to surf almost “impossible” There are lots of historical events that cover the same theme of courage. Two courageous surfers that rescued a man that was drowning in the turbulent ocean, a pilot that saved 155 lives by landing a plane on…

Introduction Survival is possible even in the most dire situations. In order to survive, a person must be willing to overcome obstacles in their path. The examination of a monomyth provides evidence that determination is a major influence of survival. Martel demonstrates this through Pi, who conquers emotional, moral, and physical obstacles. Emotions Throughout the novel Pi goes through a range of emotions. When Pi is lost at sea he faces emotional obstacles that he must overcome in order to…

Book and Movie Comparison Life of Pi the book and movie is a story about a boy, Piscine Patel, who must face surviving being stranded in the middle of the ocean, and questioning his religious beliefs. The tale opens with the backstory of Piscine’s childhood. Piscine is a Hindu who goes to a Christian school- which is where he professes himself as Pi- and who lives at a zoo. Pi’s adolescence is filled with the fascination of more than one religion: Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam, but also…

On the other hand, Pascine keeps himself occupied by doing daily tasks to keep him sane and mentally stable. Firstly, all Pi had with him on the lifeboat was a survivors manual and it read “Unnecessary exertion should be avoided. But an idle mind tends to sink, so the mind should be kept occupied with whatever light distraction may suggest itself” (Martel, 184). Notably, Pi creates a system where he does things daily so he would keep…

Question One: “I have a few people to thank. I am most obviously indebted to Mr Patel my gratitude to him is as boundless as the Pacific Ocean and I hope that my telling of his story does not disappoint him.” (xii) I believe the person speaking in the author’s note is not Yann Martel, it is in fact another character in his story. This book is fictional so it would make little sense for Martel to thank his made up character in an author note that he wrote. Meaning that the ‘author’ is another…

Life of Pi is about a sixteen year old boy named Piscine Molitor Patel who goes by Pi from India who was in a family of zookeepers and searches for faith by following several religions. On their way to move to Canada on a cargo ship with his family and his family’s zoo animals the ship sinks and all the survivors are Pi, a hyena, an orangutan named Orange Juice, a zebra, and a tiger. As the days pass, little by little the animals die and/or eat each other until the only survivors are Pi and the…